Anxiety and Memory Bias

As researchers seek to understand the root causes of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), a theory that has been gaining support is the idea that people with GAD have an increased sensitivity to threatening stimuli in the environment. Part of this system includes the view that people with GAD also have a “memory bias” toward threatening information. A memory bias is a tendency to remember something and have quicker recall of that information than other information. This means that people with GAD may remember threatening situations more intensely, may have quicker recall of these memories, and these all may be related to creating the deeper sensitivity to threatening stimuli in the environment. The following is a brief overview of research on the subject, and what people with GAD can do about it.

Research

It is now widely accepted that people with anxiety problems have an attention bias toward threatening things in the environment, which essentially makes the world seem like a more hostile place than for others who do not have significant anxiety. A large scale study has also shown support for the idea that there is also a memory bias, where highly anxious people will have more of a selective memory for threatening things than less anxious people. Both of these combined give support to the research and theory that GAD and other anxiety problems can be created or enhanced by formative situations that were threatening to one’s safety, such as physical abuse or a traumatic event.

What now

My hope in writing this article is that it may give people with GAD more of an understanding of some of the elements that make up the experience of GAD as well as other things to consider when trying to understand what caused it. Additionally, I believe that finding treatment that will disentangle distorted thoughts and perceptions of the world can make a very significant different for people with GAD.

Click here for more on Treatment Options for GAD.

Click here for more on Anxiety and Memory

_{Mitte, K. (2008). Psychological Bulletin.}