Mind Goes Blank and Anxiety
Mind Goes Blank, such as having a blank mind, no thoughts, you notice you aren’t thinking and have trouble starting to think, and have an “empty” mind are common symptoms of anxiety disorder and hyperstimulation. It is an especially common anxiety and panic attack symptom.
This article explains the relationship between anxiety and having “mind goes blank” symptoms.
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Mind Goes Blank Common Symptom Descriptions
- It feels as though your mind has suddenly gone “blank” (empty, no thoughts). The length of “blank” feeling can be as little as a moment or two or for as long as what might seem like many minutes.
- It can also seem as if your mind has suddenly become stuck on “empty,” that you can’t think, or that your mind has suddenly stopped thinking, and you have a hard time starting to think again.
- It can also seem like your thoughts have suddenly stopped, and your mind hasn’t started thinking again.
- It can also feel like there’s nothing in your mind at all – it’s blank, empty.
- It can also feel like no matter what you do, you can’t think, and your mind is stuck with nothing.
This symptom can:
- Occur occasionally, frequently, or persistently.
- Precede, accompany, or follow an escalation of other anxiety symptoms or occur by itself.
- Precede, accompany, or follow a period of nervousness, anxiety, fear, and stress, or occur "out of the blue" for no reason.
- Range in intensity from mild, to moderate, to severe.
- Come in waves where it’s strong one moment and eases off the next.
- Occur for a while, subside, and then return for no reason.
- Change from day to day and moment to moment.
This symptom can seem more noticeable when undistracted, resting, trying to sleep, or waking up.
This symptom can seem more noticeable when you aren’t busy or distracted.
All the above combinations and variations are common.
To see if anxiety might be playing a role in your symptoms, rate your level of anxiety using our free one-minute instant results Anxiety Test, Anxiety Disorder Test, or Hyperstimulation Test.
The higher the rating, the more likely anxiety could be contributing to or causing your anxiety symptoms, including feeling like impending doom symptoms.
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Causes
Medical Advisory
Talk to your doctor about all new, changing, persistent, and returning symptoms as some medical conditions and medications can cause anxiety-like symptoms.
1. The Stress Response (acute stress)
Anxious behavior, such as worry, activates the stress response, causing many body-wide changes that prepare the body for immediate emergency action – to fight or flee.
This survival reaction is often referred to as:[1][2]
- The fight or flight response.
- The freeze response(some people become so frightened that they freeze with fear like a “deer caught in headlights”). This response is thought to be a survival mechanism that allows the person to blend in with their surroundings and avoid detection by a predator.
- The faint response (some people faint when afraid). This response is thought to be a last resort for survival in situations where fighting or fleeing is not possible or likely to be successful.
- The submit response (some people easily surrender to their threats when afraid). This response is thought to be a way of avoiding further harm or injury and may be seen in situations where the person feels powerless or overwhelmed.
- The appease response(some people attempt to calm or placate the threat to avoid harm or conflict). This response is thought to be a way of avoiding or reducing the severity of the threat.
Visit our “Stress Response” article for more information about the many body-wide changes caused by the stress response.
A part of the stress response changes includes increasing activity in the fear center of the brain (amygdala and others) and decreasing activity in the rationalization areas of the brain (cortex and others). This change in brain function increases our reaction to danger rather than remaining in danger while we figure things out.
The higher the degree of the stress response, the more dramatic the changes.
Sometimes these changes are so dramatic that a person dissociates from the situation, causing periods of “mind blank,” where the mind is frozen with emptiness.
Visit our “Dissociation” symptom for more information.
As mentioned, high degree fears and stress responses can cause a person to “freeze,” including freezing thinking, causing the “mind goes blank” symptoms.
Many anxious people experience a blank mind due to high degree anxiety that causes a high degree stress response.
Since stress responses push the body beyond its balance point, stress responses stress the body. As such, anxiety stresses the body.
2. Hyperstimulation (chronic stress)
When stress responses occur too frequently, such as from overly anxious behavior, the body can remain in a state of semi-stress response readiness. We call this “stress-response hyperstimulation” since stress hormones are powerful stimulants.
Hyperstimulation is also often referred to as “hyperarousal,” “HPA axis dysfunction,” or “nervous system dysregulation.”[3][4]
Visit our “Stress Response Hyperstimulation” article for more information about the many ways hyperstimulation can affect the body and mind.
Hyperstimulation can cause all the changes of an active stress response even though a stress response hasn’t been activated. As such, hyperstimulation can dramatically affect how the brain functions, including causing episodes of the “mind goes blank” anxiety symptoms.
Having frequent episodes of the “mind goes blank” symptom is a common indication of hyperstimulation.
Hyperstimulation can cause other thinking problems, too, including difficulty thinking and concentrating; difficulty processing, storing, and retrieving information; and “brain fog,” to name a few.
For more information about these symptoms, visit the “Mind” anxiety symptoms section on our Anxiety Symptoms web page.
Hyperstimulation is a common cause of “mind goes blank” symptoms.
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Other Factors
Other factors can create stress and cause anxiety-like symptoms, as well as aggravate existing anxiety symptoms, including:
- Medication
- Recreational drugs
- Stimulants
- Sleep deprivation
- Fatigue
- Hyper and hypoventilation
- Low blood sugar
- Nutritional deficiencies
- Dehydration
- Hormone changes
- Pain
Select the relevant link for more information.
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Treatment
When this symptom is caused or aggravated by other factors, addressing those factors can reduce and eliminate mind goes blank symptoms.
When this symptom is caused by an anxiety-triggered stress response, calming yourself down will end the active stress response and its changes. This common anxiety symptom will subside as your body recovers from the active stress response.
Keep in mind that it can take up to 20 minutes or more for the body to recover from a major stress response. But this is normal and shouldn’t be a cause for concern.
When “mind goes blank” symptoms are caused by hyperstimulation, eliminating hyperstimulation will end this anxiety symptom.
You can reduce and eliminate hyperstimulation by:
- Containing anxious behavior.
- Reducing stress.
- Regular deep relaxation.
- Relaxed diaphragmatic breathing.
- Regular light to moderate exercise.
- Getting regular good sleep.
- Eating a healthy diet of whole and natural foods.
- Avoiding stimulants.
- Passively-accepting your symptoms until they subside.
- Being patient as your body recovers.
Visit our “60 Natural Ways To Reduce Stress” article for more ways to reduce stress.
As the body recovers from hyperstimulation, it stops exhibiting hyperstimulation symptoms, including “mind goes blank.”
However, eliminating hyperstimulation can take much longer than most people expect, causing symptoms to linger longer than expected.
As long as the body is hyperstimulated, even to a mild degree, it can present symptoms of any type, number, intensity, duration, frequency, and at any time, including this “mind goes blank” symptoms.
Even so, since this symptom is a common symptom of stress (acute and chronic), including anxiety-caused stress, it's harmless and needn't be a cause for concern. It will subside when unhealthy stress has been eliminated and the body has had sufficient time to recover and stabilize. Therefore, there is no reason to worry about anxiety-caused “mind goes blank” symptoms.
Remember: Focusing on your sensations and symptoms makes them more pronounced. If you'd like to lessen their impact, learn to focus your attention elsewhere through distraction, enjoying your hobbies, undertaking pleasing and calming activities, regular deep relaxation, and recalling pleasant memories or experiences.
Therapy
Unidentified and unaddressed underlying factors cause issues with anxiety. As such, they are the primary reason why anxiety symptoms persist.[5][6][7]
Addressing your underlying factors (Level Two recovery) is most important if you want lasting success.
Addressing Level Two recovery can help you:
- Contain anxious behavior.
- Become unafraid of anxiety symptoms and strong feelings of anxiety.
- End anxiety symptoms.
- Successfully address the underlying factors that so often cause issues with anxiety.
- End what can feel like out-of-control worry.
All our recommended anxiety therapists have had anxiety disorder and overcame it. Their personal experience with anxiety disorder and their Master's Degree and above professional training give them insight other therapists don't have.
If you want to achieve lasting success over anxiety disorder, any one of our recommended therapists would be a good choice.
Working with an experienced anxiety disorder therapist is the most effective way to treat anxiety disorder, especially if you have persistent symptoms and difficulty containing anxious behavior, such as worry.
In many cases, working with an experienced therapist is the only way to overcome stubborn anxiety.
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FAQ
Can anxiety cause your mind to go blank?
Anxiety activates the stress response, which secretes stress hormones into the bloodstream. Stress hormones can suppress the pre-frontal cortex, the area of the brain responsible for rational thinking, causing the mind to go blank. They can also cause a “freezing action” and “dissociation,” which can cause a mind to go blank.
What is mind blanking a symptom of?
While mind blanking can occur for no reason, it’s often a symptom of anxiety or stress, which can affect how the brain functions. Typically, it’s a short-term symptom alleviated by reducing anxiety, stress, and chronic stress.
Can anxiety cause your brain to shut down?
Anxiety can cause the brain to “shut down” temporarily as a response to a threat or trauma. For instance, freezing and dissociation are protective mechanisms to help us cope with great adversity so that we don’t become overwhelmed with thinking and emotion.
How do you overcome a blank mind?
You can overcome a blank mind by calming the body and mind. For instance, relaxed breathing, containing anxious thinking, and other ways to destress can move the body out of survival mode and into rest and digest mode. Stopping the anxious thinking and stress response will return brain function to normal, eliminating a blank mind.
Is anxiety-caused blank mind harmful?
No. Anxiety-caused blank mind is a normal part of how the body responds to a strong threat or chronic stress. The mind will function normally again when out of danger and chronic stress has been reduced.
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Prevalence
In an online poll we conducted, 85 percent of respondents said they had the “mind goes blank” symptom due to their anxiety. As you can see, it is a common symptom for anxious and stressed people.
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Common Anxiety Symptoms
Additional Resources
- For a comprehensive list of Anxiety Disorders Symptoms Signs, Types, Causes, Diagnosis, and Treatment.
- Anxiety and panic attacks symptoms can be powerful experiences. Find out what they are and how to stop them.
- How to stop an anxiety attack and panic.
- Free online anxiety tests to screen for anxiety. Two minute tests with instant results. Such as:
- Anxiety 101 is a summarized description of anxiety, anxiety disorder, and how to overcome it.
Return to our anxiety disorders signs and symptoms page.
anxietycentre.com: Information, support, and therapy for anxiety disorder and its symptoms, including mind goes blank anxiety symptoms.
1. Berczi, Istvan. “Walter Cannon's ‘Fight or Flight Response’ - ‘Acute Stress Response.’” Walter Cannon's "Fight or Flight Response" - "Acute Stress Response", 2017.
2. Godoy, Livea, et al. "A Comprehensive Overview on Stress Neurobiology: Basic Concepts and Clinical Implications." Frontiers In Behavioral Neuroscience, 3, July 2018.
3. Elbers, Jorina, et al. "Wired for Threat: Clinical Features of Nervous System Dysregulation in 80 Children." Pediatric Neurology, Dec 2018.
4. Teixeira, Renata Roland, et al. “Chronic Stress Induces a Hyporeactivity of the Autonomic Nervous System in Response to Acute Mental Stressor and Impairs Cognitive Performance in Business Executives.” Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2015.
5. Hofmann, Stefan G., et al. “The Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A Review of Meta-Analyses.” Cognitive Therapy and Research, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Oct. 2012.
6. Leichsenring, Falk. “Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy the Gold Standard for Psychotherapy?” JAMA, American Medical Association, 10 Oct. 2017.
7. DISCLAIMER: Because each body is somewhat chemically unique, and because each person will have a unique mix of symptoms and underlying factors, recovery results may vary. Variances can occur for many reasons, including due to the severity of the condition, the ability of the person to apply the recovery concepts, and the commitment to making behavioral change.