Powerful ideas from top nonfiction
Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 5,500+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.
Start your free trial
Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
Listen to the Intro
Rewire Your Anxious Brain summary
Catherine M. Pittman & Elizabeth M. Karle
How to Use the Neuroscience of Fear to End Anxiety, Panic, and Worry
17 mins
Table of Contents
Rewire Your Anxious Brain
summarized in 5 key ideas
Audio & text in the Blinkist app
Key idea 1 of 5
The amygdala communicates through emotional memories.
Humans have evolved with a strong fear response that protects us from potential danger. But these responses may not be well suited to situations we face today. For example, speaking in front of a large audience poses no inherent danger, so why does the anxiety response kick in beforehand?
The answer lies in a region of the brain called the amygdala, which comes from the Greek word for almond – because that’s its shape. There are actually two amygdalas, but we refer to them as one.
The amygdala is the brain’s alarm system; it constantly scans for threats and dangers. When switched on, it has direct access to other parts of the brain that can push the body into flight, fight, or freeze mode.
These include the hypothalamus, which releases cortisol and adrenaline hormones that prepare the body for action. It also activates the sympathetic nervous system, or SNS, which causes physiological changes like fast breathing, a rapid heart rate, dilated pupils, and sweating.
What’s key about the amygdala-anxiety pathway is that it operates outside of language and logic. Those are cortex-related things, which we’ll explore later.
In fact, the amygdala is capable of completely overriding your cortex – especially in moments of danger, so you may not consciously realize what you’re doing. It’s that out-of-body experience when reacting quickly behind the wheel to avoid a crash. It’s all adrenaline and amygdala.
So why does all this matter? Because when anxiety is activated in the amygdala, logic is useless against it. That’s why it never works to tell someone who’s panicking to just calm down. Instead, the amygdala operates in emotional memories, which you experience directly – not through images or conscious cues.
Once the amygdala associates a situation or object with the emotion fear, then the neurons wire together, fusing into a memory. When faced with a similar object or situation next time, the emotional memory triggers an anxiety response. So rewiring amygdala-based anxiety requires learning to communicate in the language of emotional memories.
Want to see all full key ideas from Rewire Your Anxious Brain?
Key ideas in Rewire Your Anxious Brain
More knowledge in less time
Read or listen
Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
Find your next read
Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
Shortcasts New
We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.
What is Rewire Your Anxious Brain about?
Rewire Your Anxious Brain (2015) is a powerful guide to overcoming anxiety. Based on the latest research in neuroscience, it explains how two separate regions of the brain are responsible for producing anxiety – and how each requires different strategies and approaches.
Who should read Rewire Your Anxious Brain?
- Anxiety sufferers
- Therapists looking for new strategies
- Brain science enthusiasts
Categories with Rewire Your Anxious Brain
Books like Rewire Your Anxious Brain
People ❤️ Blinkist
Sven O.
It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.
Thi Viet Quynh N.
Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.
Jonathan A.
Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.
Renee D.
Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.
People also liked
Start growing with Blinkist now
26 Million
Downloads on all platforms
4.7 Stars
Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
91%
Of Blinkist members create a better reading habit*
*Based on survey data from Blinkist customers