The Silent Struggle of Anxiety in Women
March is Women’s History Month, a time to celebrate the resilience, achievements, and strength of women worldwide. But behind the success and accomplishments, millions of women are struggling with something invisible yet overwhelming: anxiety.
Women are twice as likely as men to develop anxiety disorders, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Many assume that stress, hormones, or personality traits are to blame—but few realize that brain disorganization is often the root cause of persistent anxiety. Traditional approaches to anxiety focus mostly on the anxiety itself: the symptom. By looking at the root (the way the primitive brain is wired), we can create lasting change and get rid of the anxiety that millions of women deal with.
When the brain’s neural pathways don’t function efficiently, emotional regulation becomes difficult, leading to constant worry, overthinking, and fear. The good news? Your brain can be rewired for long-term relief.
In this article, we’ll explore:
✅ Why women experience anxiety more frequently
✅ How brain disorganization keeps anxiety levels high
✅ Signs that your anxiety is linked to brain function
✅ How In the Cortex‘s brain reorganization programs offer a drug-free solution
If you’ve ever felt stuck in an endless cycle of overthinking and fear, understanding how your brain is wired may be the key to lasting relief.
Why Are Women More Likely to Experience Anxiety?
The Hormonal Connection
Hormones play a major role in mood regulation, and women experience constant fluctuations in estrogen and progesterone throughout their lives. These changes directly affect how the brain processes stress, emotions, and fear.
Research from the Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience shows that estrogen helps regulate serotonin and dopamine—the “feel-good” neurotransmitters. When estrogen levels drop, serotonin levels decline, making women more vulnerable to anxiety, irritability, and panic attacks.
- Premenstrual anxiety: Many women report increased anxiety before their periods due to low estrogen and progesterone levels.
- Postpartum anxiety: After childbirth, estrogen levels drop dramatically, leaving many women feeling on edge, restless, or panicked.
- Menopausal anxiety: During menopause, declining estrogen weakens the brain’s ability to regulate stress, leading to unexplained worry and nervousness.
The Mayo Clinic confirms that hormone shifts can also cause insomnia, mood swings, and increased sensitivity to stress—all key anxiety triggers.
Social Conditioning and Gender Expectations
From a young age, many women are conditioned to embody specific roles—caregivers, perfectionists, and people-pleasers. These societal expectations create a relentless cycle of self-criticism and stress, reinforcing the belief that women must “do it all” without struggle.
The Unspoken Pressures Women Face
✔ Juggle careers, relationships, and family responsibilities seamlessly.
✔ Be emotionally strong but suppress stress, frustration, or anger.
✔ Appear perfect, productive, and in control at all times.
This mental load keeps the brain in survival mode, making it difficult to relax and leading to chronic stress, anxiety, and burnout.
How Social Conditioning Affects the Brain
The constant pressure triggers the fight-or-flight response, leading to:
- Chronic stress and anxiety that disrupt focus and emotional balance.
- Overstimulation of the nervous system, keeping the brain reactive.
Burnout and emotional exhaustion, eroding self-worth and well-being.
Breaking the Cycle
Approaching nervous system regulation through brain reorganization, women can:
- Challenge unrealistic societal expectations.
- Set boundaries that protect emotional health.
- Shift from survival mode to a state of balance and empowerment.
At In The Cortex, we provide neuroscience-backed tools to rewire the brain, break free from conditioning, and redefine success on your own terms.
🔗 Read more about how survival mode fuels anxiety here.
Trauma and Hypervigilance in Women
Women are statistically more likely to experience trauma, including:
✔ Childhood emotional neglect – growing up without emotional support or validation.
✔ Sexual violence or abuse – experiences that leave lasting psychological and physiological imprints.
✔ Toxic relationships or narcissistic abuse – ongoing emotional manipulation that erodes self-worth.
According to the National Center for PTSD, trauma rewires the brain, keeping it locked in a state of hypervigilance. Even in safe environments, the brain remains on high alert, leading to:
🚨 Overreacting to small stressors – the nervous system perceives minor challenges as major threats.
🚨 Feeling constantly “on edge” – difficulty regulating emotions or trusting others.
🚨 Being unable to fully relax – chronic tension, sleep disturbances, and heightened sensitivity to surroundings.
At In The Cortex, we help rewire these trauma responses, using neuroscience-backed tools to shift the brain from survival mode to a state of calm, resilience, and emotional freedom.
🔗 Learn more about fear, and the brain.
How Brain Disorganization Fuels Chronic Anxiety
Most people assume anxiety is just an emotional issue, or that it’s a personality trait, but in reality, it’s a sign that the brain is disorganized.
When the prefrontal cortex, limbic system, and brainstem don’t communicate properly, emotions become difficult to regulate, leading to:
❌ Racing thoughts and overthinking
❌ Emotional outbursts or unpredictable mood swings
❌ Physical symptoms like tension headaches, gut issues, or dizziness
🔗 Not sure if your anxiety is brain-related? Find out here.
What is a disorganized brain?
A disorganized brain often stems from an underdeveloped pons and midbrain, along with retained primitive reflexes—patterns that should integrate in early development but sometimes persist, keeping the nervous system in a reactive state. These lower brain structures form the foundation for automatic functions, sensory processing, and movement coordination. When they don’t fully develop, the primitive brain can’t do its job properly, forcing the cortex (logical brain) to compensate, leaving less bandwidth for higher-level thinking and daily life.
Usually, this happens when the brain missed certain specific movements that it’s naturally wired to do so these parts of the brain can develop and integrate. These movements include creeping, crawling, and other movement patterns that are a natural part of neurological development.
The Role of the Pons
The pons is responsible for (among many others)
✔ Regulating arousal and sleep cycles
✔ Processing vestibular input
✔ Controlling facial expressions and eye movement
✔ Coordinating posture and motor function
✔ Regulating emotional reactions
When the pons is underdeveloped, automatic processing becomes overwhelming, leading to hypersensitivity, clumsiness, poor spatial awareness, and difficulty calming the nervous system. Sleep and emotional regulation are also affected, making it harder to shift from stress to relaxation.
The Role of the Midbrain
The midbrain acts as a relay center, handling:
✔ Filtering sensory input (deciding what is important in the moment and what isn’t)
✔ Coordinating movement and balance
✔ Regulating visual and auditory tracking
✔ Modulating fight-or-flight responses
When the midbrain doesn’t fully develop, the brain stays hyperaware, reacting to every stimulus instead of filtering out unimportant information. This leads to sensory overload, distractibility, poor impulse control, and constant tension in the body. The inability to regulate fight-or-flight responses also fuels chronic anxiety and stress.
The Impact of Retained Primitive Reflexes
Primitive reflexes, such as the Moro reflex (startle reflex) and ATNR (Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex), should integrate early in life. When they don’t, the nervous system remains in a hyper-reactive state, making everyday life feel unpredictable and exhausting.
The Cortex Takes Over—At a Cost
Since the pons and midbrain aren’t doing their jobs efficiently, the cortex (logical brain) has to compensate, handling tasks it wasn’t designed for—like processing sensory information, coordinating movement, and managing emotional regulation. This overload leads to:
🚨 Mental fatigue and overwhelm – constantly working to stay organized and focused
🚨 Chronic stress and anxiety – unable to fully relax or filter distractions
🚨 Difficulty with executive function – struggling with planning, decision-making, and impulse control
🚨 Emotional dysregulation – heightened sensitivity, frustration, and difficulty adapting to change
At In The Cortex, we focus on rewiring the brain from the foundation up, helping the pons and midbrain develop properly so the cortex can return to its true function—higher-level thinking, problem-solving, and creativity. By integrating neuroscience-based exercises, we restore balance, allowing for clarity, focus, and ease in everyday life.
How Brain Reorganization Can Reduce Anxiety
What is Brain Reorganization?
Brain reorganization is a drug-free, neuroscience-based method that improves how the brain processes stress and fear. Instead of just treating symptoms with therapy or medication, brain reorganization strengthens neural pathways so the brain can naturally regulate emotions and anxiety.
The brain is designed to develop through specific neurological stages. If these stages are incomplete or disrupted—due to trauma, stress, or other factors—the brain can remain in a disorganized state, making anxiety worse. Brain reorganization works by guiding the brain through those missed developmental steps, improving overall emotional regulation.
By re-creating the movements the brain might have missed in the first year of life, we can give the brain the neurological foundation it needs in order to operate efficiently. This means each part of the brain has all the development it needs to ensure efficient communication between the cortex and the primitive brain, and we’re not constantly going in and out of survival mode.
Check out this video to learn more about Brain Reorganization.
How a Disorganized Brain Creates Anxiety
In a well-organized brain, the cortex (responsible for rational thinking) helps regulate the amygdala (the fear center). But in a disorganized brain, these parts don’t communicate properly, which can lead to:
- Excessive overthinking (spiraling thoughts that won’t stop)
- Sudden panic over small mistakes
- Feeling anxious even when life is going well
- Difficulty calming down after stress
In addition, the brainstem, which controls automatic survival responses, can stay stuck in fight-or-flight mode, leading to:
- Constant muscle tension and tightness
- Trouble sleeping or staying asleep
- Digestive issues caused by chronic stress
How In the Cortex Helps Women Overcome Anxiety
At In the Cortex, we specialize in brain reorganization—a process that helps the brain develop stronger, more efficient neural connections so that emotions become easier to manage.
How Brain Reorganization Reduces Anxiety in Women
By working through targeted neurodevelopmental exercises, women can:
✔ Strengthen the primitive brain to manage its automatic functions efficiently
✔ Improve sensory processing, reducing overwhelm and overstimulation
✔ Regulate the nervous system, making relaxation and sleep easier
✔ Break free from survival mode, allowing the brain to shift into calm and clarity
Our program is science-backed and medication-free, focusing on the brain’s natural ability to reorganize itself and function at its best.
🔗 Curious about the difference between panic attacks and anxiety attacks? Read here.
Real Results: Women Who Have Transformed Their Lives
Women who have gone through the In the Cortex program report:
✔️ Feeling calmer and more in control of their emotions
✔️ Sleeping better, with fewer racing thoughts at night
✔️ Handling stress without panic, even in high-pressure situations
✔️ No longer relying on medication to manage anxiety
This transformational approach doesn’t just mask symptoms—it addresses the root cause by strengthening the brain’s ability to self-regulate.
Check out one of our Google Reviews:
“Dani and Paloma are just incredible. I enrolled in their program about two years ago and was amazed at how much it impacted me in my everyday life. My kids also participated in the program and experienced so many positive shifts as a result. I cannot say enough great things about Dani and Paloma. Truly brilliant, kind, amazing individuals. They know the world of brain organization inside and out, and met me right where I was at. They helped me understand what to do so I could calm and organize my brain and take positive steps forward in my life. My whole family benefitted hugely from working with them. I hope so many more people have the privilege of going through their programs — it will definitely change the world for the better.”
- – ITC Member Christy Mawdsley
Take the First Step Toward Anxiety Relief
If you’re a woman struggling with persistent anxiety, know that you are not broken—your brain just needs a better way to function.
Instead of relying on temporary fixes, brain reorganization offers a long-term solution that helps your brain work the way it was meant to.
🚀 Ready to get started? In the Cortex offers personalized brain reorganization programs designed to help you break free from anxiety for good.
