Anxiety and Stress Anxiety and Stress Robert W. Westermeyer, Ph.D. Anxiety can be a nasty emotion because when it is experienced intensely, it consumes us. The physical symptoms of anxiety include increased heart rate, rapid breathing, shaking, even dizziness. Anxiety is by nature intense and quick to escalate. Anyone who has experienced intense anxiety is aware of the deficits in thinking and concentration that can occur.
Anxiety seems to cause automatically a narrowing of attention.
Anxious individuals typically say they block or just can't think. We have a limited capacity in terms of how much information we can attend to at once. When strong emotions are present, they monopolize cognitive capacity. Like depression, cognitive distortions are very much a part of chronic anxiety. Cognitively, Anxiety is always about vulnerability.