Anxiety is a shape-shifter, that manifests itself in many different forms. It can first reveal itself as agoraphobia, which can make you feel as if you've gone insane until you learn the true nature of the beast you're dealing with. I was fortunate enough to conquer this phobia, but as most know, anxiety's symptoms can morph over time, making life an endless battle. It's like a roach that will always find its way through the cracks know matter how hard you try to seal it up.

Having friends and loved ones around is always good to help you get through the toughest symptoms. Psychologists and Psychiatrists can help you get to the root of the issue, and help lessen the intensity of anxiety's symptoms. And drugs can give you temporary furlough from your anxious mind, but in the advancing technological age is that still the best we can do? How many more possible relationships and opportunities must be robbed from us before we can finally be free? Will there ever be any true cure?

The case of the subject, SM, is likely the closest we've unintentionally gotten to ever seeing what a possible cure for anxiety might look like. She suffered from a rare condition called the Urbach–Wiethe disease, which caused her amygdalae to calcify over until they were surgically removed.

Most would think after having your amygdala removed that you would likely grow cold emotionally and end up with Anhedonia. The opposite happened for SM though. She has been described as having hyper-empathy and feels emotions like happiness and sadness more strongly than before.

Her lack of fear is truly compelling. When making a visit to Waverly Hills Sanatorium which is transformed into a haunted house every Halloween, she never screamed nor showed any signs of fright when a monster would jump out at her. Instead, she would normally laugh or approach them, and ended up scaring one of them by poking it in the head. When brought to a pet store after telling researchers that she "hates" snakes, she entered the store appearing excited and curious and ended up holding one and rubbing its scales.

One important event from her life to truly illustrate her lack of fear was when she was held at knifepoint when walking through a park at night. A man had called her over to a bench and when she approached he pulled a knife to her throat saying, "I'm going to cut you, b***h!" But she didn't panic, and when hearing a church choir singing in the distance, she calmly replied, "If you’re going to kill me, you’re gonna have to go through my God’s angels first." The man ended up letting her go, and she walked (didn't run) away. Remarkable.

Anyone with anxiety would be envious of her. She is truly a fascinating case in the world of psychology. To anyone who suffers from an anxiety disorder she must appear like a metahuman of some sort, that is further down the evolutionary chain than the rest of us.

Although, as a result of no longer having an amygdala, she has faced some issues as well. She has a difficult time recognizing what a scared or frightened face looks like but can depict all other emotions. She has also gotten herself into numerous dangerous situations, and not only has she been held and knifepoint but at gunpoint as well. In other words, having trouble with sensing true danger is likely the biggest flaw that can come with having your amygdala removed. Everything comes with a cost.

Having the amygdala removed is likely the only known way to get rid of anxiety's symptoms permanently, but to most, going through brain surgery will likely seem far too risky and extreme to go through with of course. This kind of surgery is mainly for patients that suffer from seizures and has never been truly viewed as a solution for anxiety.

Hopefully, neuroscientists will have a higher understanding of how to cure anxiety with simpler solutions in the future, because psychotherapy may not work for some, and neither will benzodiazepines for that matter. Until the health industry shapes up and seeks to find cures rather than merely profit off of symptom management, there will be a few out there desperate enough to go through with something as extreme as brain surgery, in order to free themselves from the prison of their own minds.