They found the level of choline—an essential nutrient—was about 8% lower in those with anxiety disorders. The evidence for low choline was especially consistent in the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that helps control thinking, emotions and behavior.
Choline (pronounced KOE lean) is vital for cell membranes and brain functions like memory, mood regulation and muscle control. The body makes a small amount, but most must come from food.
Anxiety disorders are linked to how different parts of the brain—like the amygdala, which influences our sense of safety or danger, and the prefrontal cortex, which is involved in planning and decision-making—respond to stress or potential threats.
Anxiety disorders are also linked to imbalances in neurotransmitters. For example, norepinephrine—part of the body's "fight-or-flight" response—is often elevated in anxiety disorders.
Normally, the brain can tell the difference between potential threats that are manageable and those that are not. In anxiety disorders, manageable threats can seem overwhelming. For example, with generalized anxiety disorder, people worry excessively about everyday things and have trouble controlling their worries or feelings of nervousness.
foods rich in choline include salmon beef, eggs (particularly the yolk), chicken, fish, soybeans and milk, among others.
Disgraced former union boss John Setka charged over alleged threats to CFMEU administrator
Angus Delaney
Updated November 12, 2025 — 12.05pmfirst published at 11.10am
Former CFMEU boss John Setka has been charged with attempting to threaten or intimidate the union’s government-appointed administrator.
Victorian and federal police arrested Setka at a property in Melbourne’s inner west at 6.40am on Wednesday. He was later interviewed and charged.
Former CFMEU Victorian secretary John Setka.
“Investigators will allege the Footscray man sent a number of allegedly threatening, offensive and abusive emails to a CFMEU administrator,” police said.
Three police officers escorted a handcuffed Setka from an apartment building to a black SUV. Detectives seized a mobile phone and iPad from the property.
Setka was charged with seven counts of using a carriage service to menace, harass and offend the union’s government-appointed administrator, Mark Irving, KC. He was bailed and will face Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on January 30 next year.
In October 2024 this masthead revealed police warned Irving that he was the subject of an imminent death threat designed to undermine his efforts to clean up the union. A spokesperson for the administrator at the time said Irving “will not be distracted or diverted” from his work.
Setka quit as the construction union’s boss in 2024 after facing numerous allegations of misconduct tied to his activities within the CFMEU. He was elected to lead the Victorian branch in 2012.
The allegations, revealed in this masthead’s Building Bad investigation last year, prompted the federal government to appoint Irving as an independent administrator to overhaul the union.
Using a carriage service to menace essentially means using any form of electronic communication service, like a phone, in a way that is threatening or intimidating to a person.
The standard charge carries a maximum penalty of three years’ jail.
In 2019, Setka was convicted of using a carriage service to harass his ex-wife, Emma Walters, and breaching a court order.
The harassment included calling her 25 times in one night and sending her 45 text messages, including calling her a “treacherous Aussie f---en c---” .
He was fined $1000, placed on a good behaviour bond and ordered to complete a men’s behavioural change program.
In 2023 Walters has found guilty of recklessness in threatening to kill Setka but escaped conviction.
