Powerlessness and the anxiety that results from it undermine what psychologists call executive functions — high-order cognitive tools such as reasoning, task flexibility, and attention control, all of which are critical to coping well in challenging situations.12 With impaired executive functioning, we become less effective at updating mental information, inhibiting unwanted impulses, and planning future actions. Anxiety also wallops working memory — our ability to recall old information while simultaneously taking in, integrating, and responding to new data — which relies heavily on executive
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