From a scientific/neurobiological perspective why do generalized anxiety feel like being locked in a small room with an incessant and extremely loud and unpleasant noise, or like being stuck fast in a very high-g centrifuge.

ChatGPT said:

That’s a vivid and painfully accurate metaphor—and it maps quite well to what’s happening in the anxious brain and body. Let’s break it down neurobiologically and scientifically:

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🔊 1. The “Incessant Noise” Feeling: Hyperactive Threat Detection System

• The amygdala, a key brain region for processing fear and threat, is hyperactive in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). It fires continuously, even in the absence of immediate threat—like a smoke detector that won’t stop going off.

• This results in persistent sensory amplification—the brain is constantly scanning for danger, increasing baseline alertness and arousal. This overactivation can feel like a loud, insistent, unignorable internal alarm.

→ Why it feels like a loud noise:

• The locus coeruleus, which governs the release of norepinephrine (stress hormone), gets involved. When chronically active, it creates a heightened state of arousal—akin to being blasted with noise or flooded with adrenaline.

• The default mode network and salience network are disrupted, so intrusive thoughts and “what if” scenarios loop obsessively, like a stuck audio track of inner warnings or doubts.

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🌀 2. The “Centrifuge” Feeling: Somatic and Vestibular Dysregulation

• Anxiety alters autonomic nervous system (ANS) function—especially the sympathetic branch ("fight or flight"). This leads to:

  • Increased heart rate

  • Tight chest

  • Shallow breathing

  • Muscle tension

These all contribute to a sense of inward pressure or being pinned, not unlike the G-forces in a centrifuge, where the body is compressed and the sense of control disappears.

Vestibular and proprioceptive systems:

• Some research suggests anxiety is linked to vestibular hypersensitivity, affecting balance and spatial orientation. This mismatch between perceived safety and inner disorientation can create a bodily vertigo, reinforcing the trapped, spinning, pinned-down feeling.

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⚙️ 3. Feedback Loops: Why It Doesn’t Let Up

• In GAD, the prefrontal cortex (PFC), which normally downregulates the amygdala and helps with rational threat assessment, is weakened or overwhelmed. So:

  • Threat signals go unchecked

  • Cognitive control is diminished

  • Negative expectations and catastrophic thoughts become sticky

• This creates recursive feedback loops between:

  • Amygdala (emotion)

  • Insula (interoception—monitoring internal bodily state)

  • PFC (cognition)

Once activated, the system loops on itself—like a centrifuge stuck in “on” mode, or a tinnitus-like inner alarm that can't be silenced.

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🧠 In Summary:

The locked room + noise + centrifuge metaphor captures:

Sensation	Neurological Basis
Claustrophobic/Trapped	Amygdala hyperactivity + reduced PFC modulation
Loud/Inescapable noise	Persistent limbic activation + noradrenaline surge
Centrifuge/Pressure	Autonomic hyperarousal + vestibular and proprioceptive dysregulation

In GAD, you are not just “thinking” anxious thoughts—you are somatically and sensorily trapped inside a system that won't stop shouting at itself.