Does an individual going through a period of extreme anxiety, show increased levels of selfishness during that period ?
When this period ends, does the individual returns back to normal levels of selfishness ?
The following extract is from this article, which describes the personal experience of a person with anxiety/depression.
When we’re anxious, we become lost in our own thoughts, waging a battle so distracting in its intensity that it makes it nearly impossible to notice the outside world. It’s not that we don’t care, but rather that we’re so distracted by our discomfort that it is only with great effort that we’re able to look out and truly see others.
This somehow verifies my intuition, that extreme anxiety increases selfshiness. There is so much anxiety related activity in the head, that other aspects like other people, are neglected.
This is just a personal report though, I need more solid research data.