title: Hypermerimna
text: # Hypermerimna
  
  Hypermerimna (/ˌhaɪpərməˈrɪmnə/; from Greek ὑπέρ (hyper) 'over', and μέριμνα (merimna) 'anxiety') is an inability to remove focus from anxiety-producing stimuli, which may be caused by damage to the attention control centers of the brain.
  
  ## Causes
  
  Hypermerimna is observed when a subject with anxiety has difficulty in disengaging from novel stimuli, and may be caused by damage to the brain's pre-frontal control regions. The patterns of disrupted attentional control relate to findings of disrupted performance on executive functions tasks, such as working memory across a wide number of different disorder groups.
  
  ## Treatment
  
  Hypermerimna may respond to standard treatment for painful conditions if the anxiety is induced by pain, using various drugs such as SSRIs or tricyclic antidepressants.
  
  