Neuropsychology sheds light on why the anxious are more sensitive to rejection. One study found that when rejection was simulated in the laboratory, the more anxious someone was, the more the regions of the brain associated with distress lit up. Similarly, another study found that when anxious people viewed a threatening face, their amygdala—the part of their brain associated with negative emotions and stress—was triggered more intensely. When others are confused as to why anxious people freak out over trivial issues, they assume anxious people have the same neural wiring they do. But anxious
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