Anxiety is part of the emotion of fear. Unfortunately, Anxiety Disorders are the number one mental illness worldwide. They affect about 275 million people who worry that something bad might happen or that something good they want to have happen might not occur. Some cannot pinpoint anything specific—they’re just anxious. The news is filled with tragic and sensational news because it sells. If you watch a lot of news, that is being absorbed into your conscious and subconscious minds. Parts of the parietal lobe and the temporal lobe help the brain evaluate its environment. The brain switches between these two different neural networks whereby one is triggered when we perceive a situation as positive, and another is activated when we perceive it as negative. The areas apparently ‘speak’ to each other and interpret the weight or importance of the situation in order to decide which one will be switched on and which one will be switched off. Flooding the brain with anxiety-producing information. Can lead to anxious rumination and perhaps a diagnosis of Anxiety Disorder—because more negatives are going into the brain than positives.

The term Cognitive refers to the brain’s conscious, intellectual activity—thinking, reasoning, or remembering. The word Cognition refers to the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses. The American Psychological Association points out that cognitive behavioral therapy is a form of psychotherapy that combines the techniques of both cognitive therapy and behavior therapy. Treatment is aimed at identifying and modifying a client’s maladaptive thought processes and problematic behaviors. Maladaptive means a person’s thought processes and problematic behaviors are counterproductive or interfering with desirable everyday living.

 Depression literally can change the brain. It can alter neuron pathways along which information travels, interrupting the clear transmission of messages—resembling an internet that keeps dropping. It can alter the synapses or spaces between neurons that can interfere with communication between thinking cells. It can shrink the size of the hippocampus, which moves information from short term into long-term storage, and then retrieves it when you want to recall it—hopefully. The hippocampus is said to be the most susceptible brain organ to stress. If memories do not get moved into long-term storage and you “lose the data,” there is no way to retrieve it. As the hippocampus shrinks with subsequent depressive episode, its search-engine function may falter, and it cannot locate even information that was moved into long-term memory. Fortunately, the hippocampi—there are two of them—comprise one of the few parts of the brain that researchers have discovered can create new cells. That’s the reason getting treatment for depression is so critical—and the sooner the better. It is also important to learn effective stress management strategies, as stress can trigger anxiety and depression. Depressive Disorders are the leading cause of ill health, disability, and divorce worldwide—affecting over 300 million people, 50% of whom also have an anxiety disorder.

There is refreshing sleep and sleep that is not refreshing. There is depression triggered by sadness due to an adverse event or natural disaster—that may be unrelated to sleep. There is depression due to an anxiety disorder or a depressive disorder that needs medical consultation and treatment. As you can see, there may be several reasons for your depression.

In relation to sleep, your brain may need more sleep or the hours of sleep you are getting may be irregular rather than regular. A recent study reportedthat irregular sleep hours can increase the risk of depression even if the total amount of sleep is adequate. Study participants who had the most variable sleep schedules scored the highest on depression tests and also had the worst moment-to-moment mood. Going to bed and getting up at regular times is also important—since irregular sleep schedules can disrupt circadian rhythms and may actually trigger or exacerbate mental health problems.

Sociopath is an informal term for an individual who has an Antisocial Personality Disorder. In some individuals, the brain seems primed from birth, but it requires triggers from the childhood environment or perhaps a traumatic brain injury for full-blown symptoms to develop. Note that the current belief is that sociopaths are “made” while psychopaths are “born.” There is evidence that an antisocial narcissistic adult (whose brain did not learn and move toward more balanced behaviors) may eventually exhibit an Antisocial Personality Disorder—and can become quite dangerous. Current wisdom is that all sociopaths are narcissistic; not all narcissists are sociopathic.

The short answer is because of the body’s automatic alarm system. When something stressful happens, and most negative things are stressful, the brain releases cortisol, a steroid hormone. It warns you about imminent danger, triggering changes in your brain and body to prepare you for a flight-or-fight response. This all happens in a nanosecond—a billionth of a second. If you immediately assume the worst is going to happen, that potentiates the stress response and keeps the cortisol pumping. It is so easy to get into the habit of triggering this alarm system by thinking negative thoughts. Thinking positively is easy when something good happens. The brain, however, can choose to replace a negative thought with a positive, thankful thought, which releases dopamine, the feel better chemical. Therefore, thinking positive, thankful thoughts is an antidote to negativity. This process requires conscious choice. You choose.

Weather definitely can and does impact brain function. In fact, entire books have been written on how weather impacts human brains. One study of 16,400 individuals evaluated 19 aspects of weather variables including sunny, overcast, rain, snow, wind speed, and chill, and correlated data with mental health distress. While people may prefer differing types of weather, researchers found only one weather variable that impacted mental health distress—the number of daylight hours between sunrise and sunset. Not all brains react the same way to shorter daylight hours. Seasonal affective disorder or SAD, better known now as Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) seasonally related, may be experienced by brains that are sensitive to shorter daylight hours. MDD is much more common in Alaska and areas above the arctic Circle than in sunny California or Florida. Fortunately, light therapy can bring “natural sunlight” indoors, especially during the winter months, and can help weather-sensitive brains experience healthier mental health.