Ah, it all makes sense now.

As I have began to incorporate anxiety into the way that I perceive concussions, it has started to make more sense to me. Part of the reason is because I do not see why anxiety and prolonged stress would not affect the brain in such a way that it wouldn’t cause a PTSD response. Other than the simple fact that the brain has spent thousands of years evolving and refining the ability to recognize threats, whether these are old or new, there are many people such as myself who can connect these instances with past experiences.

I recognize it primarily in the way I interact with parents. When parents scream at their kids, there are many times where I am unable to fight the urge to physically hide. The depersonalization and derealization that I have in these circumstances are undeniable. To me, Concussion Anxiety Syndrome makes complete sense.

I have heard many times that people who suffer from anxiety/depression also have low-grade inflammation, regardless, and how cortisol levels rise when the ANS is no longer as capable of regulating stress. It is interesting how the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system become unbalanced. I have wondered if anxiety sufferers have a somewhat dysfunctional autonomic nervous system anyway, as I have always felt locked into this state of “fight/flight.” It makes CAS truly harder to overcome.

This is an interesting article that I have read. You may have seen it already, but I thought it was very informative.

Neuroinflammation-Associated Alterations of the Brain as Potential Neural Biomarkers in Anxiety Disorders - PMC

I hope at some point, more research can be done for CAS. It is a shame that only Dr. Cameron Marshall seems to be presenting this information to his audience. It is truly an interesting theory, and many of the people I have talked to about it feel the same.