A moderate level of anxiety may help to motivate us towards our goals but excess anxiety can severely affect us and limit us from reaching our potential. Here are 8 facts about anxiety worth knowing.
1. Anxiety literally makes everything stink
It is interesting to note that as people get more anxious, they are more likely to label neutral smells as bad smells. When we smell odour, it is usually our olfactory system that gets activated. When a person gets anxious, the emotional system becomes part of the olfactory processing stream as well and as people get more anxious, they become better at differentiating between different bad smells.
2. Exercise reduces anxiety
Most people feel less anxiety in their lives when they get a little exercise. Even though resting is proven to reduce anxiety, exercise has a more prolonged effect as it helps to reduce anxiety when faced with stressful situations afterwards.
3. The parental effect
It is worthy to note that high anxiety is actually partly in our genes! Children are more likely to become anxious when their parents are more emotionally distant, display high levels of doubt and direct criticism at them.
4. Think different
One of the best ways to reduce anxiety is to think differently. For instance, instead of thinking that it is a scary presentation, think about the presentation as a little chat with a few colleagues! Instead of thinking that it is a job interview, we can try to think about it as a chance to meet new people! Once we look at the situation from a different angle or perspective, we will generally feel less anxious about the situation!
5. Anxious people jump to conclusions
Anxious people too jump to conclusions hastily when they judge facial expressions. This will often lead to misinterpretation of others’ emotional states and intentions, which may lead to conflict in the relationship.
6. Anxiety affects balance
It has also been proven that people with higher levels of anxiety often have problems with their balance. They may sway more than others while standing normally or feel dizzy for no apparent reason. Anxiety often starts in childhood and studies have shown that treating the balance problem can help with the anxiety.
7. Meditation reduces anxiety.
Meditation is also one way for us to reduce our anxiety! Research has shown that four 20-minute meditation classes can reduce anxiety by up to 39%.
8. Anxiety expands personal space.
All of us have a personal space that we dislike other people invading. In front of the face it is generally 20-40cm and we often feel weird if others start invading this physical space. Researchers have found that for people who are anxious, their personal space is larger and hence, we should be aware not to charge up too close to anxious people!
Category(s):Anxiety
Source material from Psyblog
