How Does Rituals Reduce Anxiety?

Dimitris Mikhaelis: I'm wondering how this actually works inside our mind, Dimitris. How is it that rituals can actually soothe people's anxiety? What is it that they are doing, do you think? He says the idea that my colleagues and I are proposing here is related to the way our brain works. When there's uncertainty in the world, where we cannot make accurate predictions, we experience anxiety. And we think this is exactly where ritual comes in. If ritual is anything, it is structure. It is predictability. This gives my brain a sense of control," he says.