Anxiety

Animal studies have described “low road” pathways that rush sensory information from the thalamus to the amygdala. A brain imaging study of 113 people now maps several such routes in humans, with some far more consistent than others.

A massive genetic analysis reveals that while men and women share much of the underlying risk for anxiety, they also possess distinct genetic pathways. These biological differences may explain why anxiety symptoms and prevalence differ by sex.

A large study reveals that unhealthy habits like excessive screen time and poor diet tend to group together in teenagers. These behavioral clusters strongly predict the future onset of combined anxiety and depression.

Spiritual doubts are linked to higher anxiety in college students, but a new study finds that cultivating patience for everyday annoyances—like traffic and long lines—can independently predict a reduction in generalized anxiety over time.

While social anxiety and vulnerable narcissism both stem from feelings of inadequacy, a new study reveals they are driven by different types of shame. Social anxiety relies on self-criticism, whereas narcissism involves a broader fear of outside judgment.

Among Dutch adults with depression or anxiety, those who experienced more childhood trauma were more likely to report recent suicidal thoughts and past suicide attempts. Aggression, insomnia, and low social support partly accounted for this link.

Waking up out of sync with your internal clock can cause social anxiety. A new psychological study finds this temporal misalignment makes people prefer being evaluated by artificial intelligence over human beings.

A single 20-minute session of alpha-frequency brain stimulation modestly reduced anxiety after a stressful task in healthy middle-aged and older adults.

A psychological study reveals that people who view the world as inherently dangerous consistently overestimate physical risks and view strangers as untrustworthy. This broad worldview predicts individual threat perception better than underlying anxiety or depression.

A child's risk of developing anxiety and depression is influenced by both the genes they inherit and the genetic traits of their parents, revealing how a parent's DNA shapes the environment they create for their children.

People with high social anxiety tend to change their own emotions to match negative peer feedback, while mostly ignoring positive feedback. Brain wave data reveals this biased conformity is driven by intense, prolonged mental effort.

New research shows that just 10 minutes of watering indoor plants can lower blood pressure and induce a state of alert relaxation in older adults, offering a simple way to boost mental and physical well-being.

A large Danish study reveals that girls who begin puberty earlier and progress faster are significantly more likely to develop anxiety disorders, highlighting a critical window for early mental health interventions.