WHEN I used to be requested to jot down this text, my coronary heart began beating sooner, my palms began shaking and my ideas went into overdrive arising with what felt like tons of of objectively smart the reason why I couldn’t do it. I may let you know that as chief subeditor at New Scientist I don’t usually get an opportunity to jot down. However the reality is I hardly ever write as a result of I’m very anxious about it. What if the individuals I contact don’t reply? What if I write one thing silly? What if I’m silly? What if, what if, what if.
Clearly, I selected to jot down this text, partly as a result of I’m cussed and hate that these anxious emotions maintain me again from doing issues I would get pleasure from, and partly as a result of I discover that doing the issues that make me anxious helps me overcome that feeling (see “Five scientific ways to help reduce feelings of anxiety”). However my fundamental motivation was to reply questions which were bothering me for years: what precisely is nervousness and what’s taking place in my physique and mind to trigger this sense?
Answering that first query is tough, partly as a result of there isn’t a one approach to really feel anxious. “I’d say there’s as many types of anxiety as there are people in the world,” says Oliver Robinson, head of the Nervousness Lab at College Faculty London.
We do know everybody experiences nervousness – it helps prime us to be prepared in probably dangerous conditions. Take into account strolling dwelling alone in the dead of night, the place that…
