Considering anxiety (in terms of thermodynamic constraints)

In thermodynamic computation, neuroscientists address the time and energy constraints of information processing. In terms of clinical practice, we take these time and energy considerations into account to address the unease of anxiety.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder affects 6.8 million adults, or 3.1% of the U.S. population, yet only 43.2% are receiving treatment. In addition, Panic Disorder (PD) affects 6 million adults (2.7% of the U.S. population) and Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) affects 15 million adults (7.1% of the U.S. population).

Generalized Anxiety Disorder is diagnosed with the GAD7. The condition is defined as excessive worry experienced for at least six months, with difficulty controlling the feelings of worry and the worry causing distress or impairment in daily life. The diagnosis also requires the presence of at least three of the following symptoms in adults, or one of the following symptoms in children: restlessness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, irritability, muscle tension, and sleep disturbance.

Standard of care may include pharmacological interventions, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), and psychotherapy, which may entail cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT).

Yet in clinical practice, there is no clear link between the efficacy of pharmaceutical interventions and the role of psychotherapy. It's the big question: how are cognition and behavior related to the neurophysiological processes that are affected by SSRIs?

Our improved understanding of thermodynamic computation may help us to forge a direct link between neuroscience and psychology: a long awaited goal for both fields.

Thermodynamic computation is a new approach to neurocomputation that leverages the principles of thermodynamics - particularly the natural tendency of biophysical systems to dissipate energy efficiently and continually reach equilibrium - to understand how the brain processes information. This approach specifically accounts for time and energy requirements when considering perceptual accuracy, cognitive flexibility, and decision-making capability - and it provides practitioners and patients with the training and tools to improve these aspects of neurocomputation.

Our improved understanding of thermodynamic computation may help us to concretely forge a direct link between neuroscience and psychology.

In the view of thermodynamic computation, the worry associated with anxiety is due to a discrepancy in the amount of neural information processing needed and the amount of time available to complete the task.

A trained practitioner will determine whether anxiety is due to biological factors (which may be addressed with pharmaceutical intervention) or environmental factors (which may be addressed by supportive talk therapy) - and of course both methods may be used, as is currently standard practice.

The key difference here is the use of talk therapy to engage with the thermodynamic requirements of information processing and the thermodynamic constraints of the individual. If the amount of external information has increased recently, the individual may become overwhelmed, without the time available to make decisions effectively. If the internal clock is not adjusting to the demands of normal information loads, the individual may also come to feel overwhelmed.

In either case, the goal of therapy in this framework is to help the individual effectively distribute time and energy resources toward healthy neurocomputation: perception, predictive modeling, and decision-making. The process may involve training the patient to manage their internal resources toward perceiving the world, building understanding of the world, and making decisions - even if it means cutting out some other activities for a while.

Thermodynamic computation is a useful framework for understanding how we distribute time and energy resources toward perceiving the world, understanding the world, and acting within the world. The overall goal of this systematic approach is for the individual to grow stronger and more capable of interacting with the world, with healthy improvements in mood, concentration, and confidence in decisional ability.

Conifold Counseling addresses the time and energy constraints of information processing, with a respect for the individual as having both intrinsic limitations and the ability to improve that intrinsic capacity with gradual effort and training. The goal here is to ensure the neurophysiological and neuropsychological aspects of computation are addressed in the course of developing a care plan for anxiety.