Stuck, Intrusive, Unwanted Thoughts, Images, Songs, Melodies (Earworms)

Why Does Anxiety Cause Stuck Thoughts, Including Earworms?

Stuck and unwanted thoughts are common stress and anxiety symptoms. Most anxiety disorder sufferers experience this symptom.

There are three primary reasons why anxiety causes stuck and unwanted thoughts:

• Chronic stress (hyperstimulation)
• Sleep deprivation
• Behavior

1. Chronic stress (hyperstimulation)

Anxious behavior activates the stress response, causing many body-wide changes that give the body an emergency “boost” of energy and resources when we believe we could be in danger.

This survival reaction is often referred to as the fight or flight response, the emergency response, the fight, flight, or freeze response (some people freeze when they are afraid like a “deer caught in headlights”), or the fight, flight, freeze, or faint response (since some people faint when they are afraid).

Visit our “Stress Response” article for more information about the many changes it causes.

Stress responses stress the body due to its many physiological changes.

When stress responses occur infrequently, the body can recover relatively quickly from the many stress response changes.

However, when stress responses occur too frequently, such as from overly apprehensive behavior, the body can’t complete recovery.

Incomplete recovery can create a state of semi-stress response readiness, which we call “stress-response hyperstimulation” since stress hormones are stimulants.

Hyperstimulation is also often referred to as “hyperarousal,” “HPA axis dysfunction,” or “nervous system dysregulation."

Hyperstimulation can cause the changes of an active stress response even though a stress response hasn’t been activated.

Visit our “Hyperstimulation” article for more information about the many ways hyperstimulation can affect the body and how we feel.

Hyperstimulation also stresses the body due to its many changes. More importantly, hyperstimulation can cause issues with chronic stress, including being the sole cause of chronic symptoms, such as this one.

Some of the changes associated with hyperstimulation include:

Chronic stress changes how the brain functions.

While many changes occur, the following are the most important to note:

Chronic stress, such as that caused by overly apprehensive behavior, adversely affects the hippocampus.

The hippocampus is primarily responsible for learning and memory. When the hippocampus is functioning normally, it generally does a good job of retaining and retrieving information. Consequently, we can comprehend, interact with, and retain new information relatively easily.

However, when chronic stress impairs the hippocampus’s ability to function normally, we can have difficulty with learning and memory and with our ability to break out of repetitive behavior patterns.[1]

Essentially, hippocampus impairment predisposes us to do the same things repeatedly because our ability to break out of these patterns is diminished.

Furthermore, the hippocampus is primarily responsible for adrenal regulation.[2] When the hippocampus is functioning normally, it generally does a good job of managing stress hormones and how the body reacts to stress and danger.

But because chronic stress suppresses the hippocampus’s ability to function normally, the hippocampus then calls for excessive cortisol production.[3] The end result is increased cortisol production and a heightened sensitivity to cortisol.

The above combination of factors can set up a negative feedback loop where:

• Chronic stress impairs hippocampus function.
• Impaired hippocampus function causes repetitive behavior, which we have a hard time breaking out of.
• Impaired hippocampus function elevates cortisol production and sensitivity, which further stresses the body.
• Increased stress causes further hippocampus dysfunction, entrenching repetitive behavior.

And so on.

Chronic stress increases the electrical activity in the brain.[4]

The brain is primarily made up of specialized cells called “neurons” (nerve cells), which communicate with each other using an electrochemical process - the combination of electricity and chemistry. Neurons transmit information to each other by receiving then passing nerve impulse information (electrical impulses) from neuron to neuron.

Because of their electrochemical properties, neurons are particularly sensitive to stress’s stimulation.

For example, as the body’s stress increases, the brain’s electrical activity increases, causing neurons to become more active. This increased neuronal activity causes an increase in thought generation.

Moreover, because stress hormones are stimulants, the more stressed the body becomes, the more stimulated it becomes.

Elevated stimulation can also contribute to increased thought generation, which is typically experienced as mind chatter.

An increase in thought generation can cause an increase in stuck thoughts.

Stress hormones stimulate the fear center (amygdala) of the brain causing it to become dominant.[5]

In addition to repetitive thinking and increased electrical activity in the brain, stress causes the brain’s fear center (amygdala) to become more active, and therefore, dominant.

A more active fear center can cause our thoughts to take on a more fearful tone.

As a result, our thought messages can seem more threatening, serious, and dire. This increased fearfulness can make us more hyper-aware of, sensitive to, and reactive to danger.

These factors can contribute to an increase in fearful thinking. As hyperstimulation increases, so can fearful thinking.

Stress hormones suppress the rationalization areas of the brain (Cortex, Pre-frontal Cortex).[6]

The Cortex and Pre-frontal Cortex are the rationalization areas of the brain. Under normal circumstances, these areas interact with the other areas of the brain normally.

However, stress suppresses the rationalization areas, making the Emergency Response dominant.

Suppressed rationalization impairs our ability to think rationally so our ability to dismiss fearful thinking is diminished.

Consequently, fearful thoughts carry more impact and “stick” more easily.

Stress reduces the effectiveness of the anxiety brake (Pre-frontal cortex).[7][8]

The brain’s pre-frontal cortex is often referred to as the “anxiety brake” because one of its jobs is to stop fear messages from looping back to the fear center (amygdala) if we determine that the cause of our fear is unfounded.

Under normal circumstances, the anxiety brake works well. But the ability to stop fear messages decreases as stress increases. Persistently elevated stress can cause thought messages to replay over and over again because the anxiety brake’s ability to stop them is reduced. Again, as stress increases, the anxiety brake’s effectiveness decreases.

Stress reduces GABA, which has been linked to our ability to dismiss unwanted thoughts

Recent research has found that Hippocampal GABA is important to our ability to contain and dismiss unwanted thoughts.[9]

Since stress diminishes GABA, stress, especially chronic stress (hyperstimulation), can increase the likelihood of having unwanted and repetitive thoughts, as well as reduce our ability to dismiss them.

When you bring all of the above factors together, we have the following:

• Hippocampus impairment can cause repetitive behavior with diminished ability to break out of the repetitive behavior.
• An increase in thought generation can cause an increase in repetitive behavior.
• An increase in dire tone can cause our repetitive behavior to seem more threatening.
• Suppressed cortex function further reduces our ability to rationalize, and therefore, break out of repetitive behavior.
• A suppressed “anxiety brake” makes it even harder to shut off and break out of fearful repetitive behavior.
• Stress-caused reduced GABA can reduce our ability to dismiss repetitive and unwanted thoughts.

Just these factors alone can cause issues with “stuck thoughts” symptoms.

2. Sleep deprivation

A lack of sleep can also cause “stuck thoughts,” such as “earworms.”

Sleep deprivation can reduce the body’s ability to alleviate “stuck thoughts.”[10]

When our sleep is cut short, the body isn’t well-rested. The body compensates by increasing cortisol to have enough energy to get through the day, even though a lack of sleep can make us feel tired.

An increase in cortisol causes the Limbic System (the areas of the brain primarily responsible for danger awareness and triggering the stress response) to become more active.

Since the Limbic System is primarily responsible for memory and habituated behavior, as the Limbic System becomes more active, automatic thoughts become more prevalent.

Recovery Support members can visit “The Rational Brain And The Emotional Brain” section in chapter 14 for more information about the Limbic System.

Overall, as stress elevates, the Limbic System becomes more active and can replay thoughts involuntarily, such as those associated with stuck thoughts, unwanted thoughts, and “earworms.”

Sleep deprivation is a common cause of “tired” thinking, which can include thoughts that seem stuck.

A hyperstimulated brain and a tired body is often a recipe for “stuck” thoughts.

3. Behavior

Anxious people are typically cerebral – they spend a great deal of time in their minds.

They do so because:

• Anxious people are generally analytical, so they spend a lot of time thinking, analyzing, and problem-solving.
• Anxious people are usually worriers. They spend a lot of time on the lookout for, assessing, trying to avoid, and preparing for danger.
• Anxious people are generally creative. They spend a lot of time imagining, creating, thinking, planning, and processing ideas and information.

Because anxious people are so cerebral, their minds are constantly active.

Anxious minds are like well-trained “chatter-boxes” unaccustomed to slowing down. This high level of inner dialogue is their “normal.”

Anxious people are notorious worriers.

Anxious people manage adversity, uncertainty, and risk in overly apprehensive ways, such as imagining worst-case scenarios and then fearing they might come true.

This style of coping with adversity, uncertainty, and risk is learned. Many of our backgrounds and resulting underlying factors set us up to be overly anxious because we’ve learned to cope with life in overly apprehensive ways.

Unfortunately, this style of behavior greatly stresses the body. A body that’s under stress can become overly stimulated and symptomatic.

Furthermore, containment is the ability to control your thinking. Because many of us have come from unhealthy backgrounds, we weren’t taught how to control our thinking, so our thinking can often seem like a runaway train and on “auto-pilot” with little ability to control it.

This combination of factors can lead to “stuck thinking” as a habit.

4. Other factors:

Fatigue impairs brain function and weakens willpower.[11]

Fatigue can diminish the body’s ability to function normally and diminish our ability to rationalize and think clearly.

Fatigue also reduces willpower and determination. In fact, the effects of fatigue can be similar to the effects of mild intoxication (difficulty thinking, co-ordination problems, and reduced inhibitions and willpower).

Many of those who experience this symptom often see the correlation between being tired and experiencing “stuck” thinking.

And since anxious personalities are typically more stressed than others, and since stress taxes the body’s resources much harder than normal, anxious personalities are more likely to experience fatigue’s negative effects.

The brain doesn’t like void, so it fills our thought-life with involuntary thoughts if we don’t willfully generate them.

When anxious people are rested, alert, and busy, they usually do a good job keeping their minds occupied with willful thinking.

However, a tired mind can “chatter” on its own with whatever programming it received over the years. That’s why it’s common to see the subject of our focus (or our interests) become the topic that gets “stuck.”

For example, those particularly interested in music may have melodies, songs, or lyrics that “stick.” Artists may have a particular aspect of a creative endeavor or project that “sticks.” Business owners may have a particular business problem or aspect of an opportunity that “sticks,” and so on.

Old habits often reappear when fatigued or stressed.[12]

As we mentioned earlier, fatigue impairs brain function and willpower. Our experience has also shown that old habits – those automatic routines that we taught the brain to perform automatically – often reappear when we’re tired.

For example, people who developed the habit of counting things when stressed or tired often see their “old habits” reappear when they are stressed or tired.

The combination of the above factors can easily contribute to “stuck” thoughts. For example:

• Increased thought generation due to increased electrical activity in the brain.
• Increased fearful thinking and fearfulness due to a dominant amygdala.
• A reduced ability to rationalize and dismiss unwanted thoughts due to a suppressed Cortex and Pre-Frontal cortex.
• A reduced ability to calm ourselves due to a heightened sense of danger.
• A mind that’s gotten used to constantly churning and working.
• A fatigued mind will “do its own thing” in the background when our energy to willfully generate thoughts is low.
• An impaired anxiety brake reduces our ability to stop unwanted thoughts.
• The inability to contain anxious thinking allows thoughts to run rampant.
• Fearfulness about these kinds of thoughts further stresses the body.
• A stressed body will continue to tax the body’s resources, causing fatigue.
• Fatigue can cause the reappearance of old habits.

And so on.

These combined factors can easily set us up for thoughts, concepts, mental images, melodies, or songs, becoming seemingly “stuck” when the body is overly stressed and tired.

There are still other factors as well, such as:

• Medication
• Recreational drugs
• Stimulants
• Hyper and hypoventilation
• Low blood sugar
• Nutritional deficiencies
• Dehydration
• Hormone changes
• Pain

Select the relevant link for more information.

Based on all of the above factors, is it any wonder why chronic stress and behavior can create “stuck” an “unwanted” thoughts.

Many people who are chronically stressed experience them.

Hyperstimulation, sleep deprivation, and fatigue are common causes of “stuck thoughts” and “earworms.”

Observations about this symptom:

I (Jim Folk) experienced this symptom a lot when I was struggling with anxiety disorder.

In fact, it still occurs when I let my stress elevate, and especially when my sleep has been off.

While we list this symptom as a common anxiety symptom, as we mentioned earlier, it’s also a common symptom for those who aren’t anxious but merely stressed or tired.

Because this symptom is commonly caused by chronic stress, fatigue, and sleep deprivation, it needn’t be a cause for concern. It’s just another indication that your body is stressed and needs sufficient rest.