Eli5: Is anxiety or stress beneficial in any way?
In: 6
It does help you to have extra energy and attention. Stress and anxiety are a problem when they get out of hand
People misunderstand anxiety. Lots of people seem to think that anxiety only exists as the result of a disorder.
That’s not the case. Everyone experiences anxiety.
Think of it like pain. Pain is unpleasant, but it serves an important purpose. It’s an alarm system that tells you when you’re doing damage to yourself. It’s good that you feel pain when you put your hand on a stove because that’s your brain telling you to take your hand off. If you didn’t feel pain, you wouldn’t take your hand off until you’d already done severe damage to yourself.
Anxiety is another alarm system, but for things that haven’t happened yet.
Imagine your prehistoric ancestors. One caveman hears something rustling in the bushes, worries it might be a tiger, and decides to move somewhere safer. Another hears the sound but doesn’t worry about it, and gets eaten by a tiger.
Even in modern situations, it helps us. It’s good that a student feels anxious before an exam. In a healthy person, that anxiety pushes them to prepare for the exam. A person who didn’t feel anxious at all would be more likely to not prepare and fail the exam.
It’s good that you feel anxious about public speaking, because that’s your brain warning you to be careful about what you say because if you say something stupid it could have real consequences.
An anxiety disorder is like a broken alarm. You don’t want a smoke alarm that goes off every time you make toast, just like you don’t want to feel unbearably anxious every time you talk to a stranger. But you also don’t want a smoke alarm that doesn’t go off even when the whole room is on fire. And you don’t want to never experience anxiety.
There’s a recorded case of a woman who had a rare brain injury that causes her not to experience fear or anxiety. She doesn’t worry about anything. And that’s why she’s been mugged, almost murdered, and in abusive relationships. She doesn’t get the warning signals that most people get that tell them to avoid them.
That feeling you get when walking alone on a dark street at night, which makes you decide to take the bus home instead? That’s anxiety. It’s helping you.
Assuming you’re talking about everyday anxiety, which most people have, not clinical levels of anxiety: ***Anxiety is helpful because it evolved to protect us from predators*****.** Anxiety is a natural response to threats, both external and internal. For instance, when we feel anxious, we become more alert and aware of our surroundings, and instinctively take action to protect ourselves from potential danger.
In our daily lives, we inevitably deal with stress, and moderate amounts of stress can strengthen us to handle challenges in the future. In the short term, stress is good for memory, alertness, and focus.
***Stress is like exercise***; it can be beneficial in the right amounts, but if done too much, it can cause damage to our mental and physical health.
It does help you to have extra energy and attention. Stress and anxiety are a problem when they get out of hand
It does help you to have extra energy and attention. Stress and anxiety are a problem when they get out of hand
People misunderstand anxiety. Lots of people seem to think that anxiety only exists as the result of a disorder.
That’s not the case. Everyone experiences anxiety.
Think of it like pain. Pain is unpleasant, but it serves an important purpose. It’s an alarm system that tells you when you’re doing damage to yourself. It’s good that you feel pain when you put your hand on a stove because that’s your brain telling you to take your hand off. If you didn’t feel pain, you wouldn’t take your hand off until you’d already done severe damage to yourself.
Anxiety is another alarm system, but for things that haven’t happened yet.
Imagine your prehistoric ancestors. One caveman hears something rustling in the bushes, worries it might be a tiger, and decides to move somewhere safer. Another hears the sound but doesn’t worry about it, and gets eaten by a tiger.
Even in modern situations, it helps us. It’s good that a student feels anxious before an exam. In a healthy person, that anxiety pushes them to prepare for the exam. A person who didn’t feel anxious at all would be more likely to not prepare and fail the exam.
It’s good that you feel anxious about public speaking, because that’s your brain warning you to be careful about what you say because if you say something stupid it could have real consequences.
An anxiety disorder is like a broken alarm. You don’t want a smoke alarm that goes off every time you make toast, just like you don’t want to feel unbearably anxious every time you talk to a stranger. But you also don’t want a smoke alarm that doesn’t go off even when the whole room is on fire. And you don’t want to never experience anxiety.
There’s a recorded case of a woman who had a rare brain injury that causes her not to experience fear or anxiety. She doesn’t worry about anything. And that’s why she’s been mugged, almost murdered, and in abusive relationships. She doesn’t get the warning signals that most people get that tell them to avoid them.
That feeling you get when walking alone on a dark street at night, which makes you decide to take the bus home instead? That’s anxiety. It’s helping you.
Assuming you’re talking about everyday anxiety, which most people have, not clinical levels of anxiety: ***Anxiety is helpful because it evolved to protect us from predators*****.** Anxiety is a natural response to threats, both external and internal. For instance, when we feel anxious, we become more alert and aware of our surroundings, and instinctively take action to protect ourselves from potential danger.
In our daily lives, we inevitably deal with stress, and moderate amounts of stress can strengthen us to handle challenges in the future. In the short term, stress is good for memory, alertness, and focus.
***Stress is like exercise***; it can be beneficial in the right amounts, but if done too much, it can cause damage to our mental and physical health.
People misunderstand anxiety. Lots of people seem to think that anxiety only exists as the result of a disorder.
That’s not the case. Everyone experiences anxiety.
Think of it like pain. Pain is unpleasant, but it serves an important purpose. It’s an alarm system that tells you when you’re doing damage to yourself. It’s good that you feel pain when you put your hand on a stove because that’s your brain telling you to take your hand off. If you didn’t feel pain, you wouldn’t take your hand off until you’d already done severe damage to yourself.
Anxiety is another alarm system, but for things that haven’t happened yet.
Imagine your prehistoric ancestors. One caveman hears something rustling in the bushes, worries it might be a tiger, and decides to move somewhere safer. Another hears the sound but doesn’t worry about it, and gets eaten by a tiger.
Even in modern situations, it helps us. It’s good that a student feels anxious before an exam. In a healthy person, that anxiety pushes them to prepare for the exam. A person who didn’t feel anxious at all would be more likely to not prepare and fail the exam.
It’s good that you feel anxious about public speaking, because that’s your brain warning you to be careful about what you say because if you say something stupid it could have real consequences.
An anxiety disorder is like a broken alarm. You don’t want a smoke alarm that goes off every time you make toast, just like you don’t want to feel unbearably anxious every time you talk to a stranger. But you also don’t want a smoke alarm that doesn’t go off even when the whole room is on fire. And you don’t want to never experience anxiety.
There’s a recorded case of a woman who had a rare brain injury that causes her not to experience fear or anxiety. She doesn’t worry about anything. And that’s why she’s been mugged, almost murdered, and in abusive relationships. She doesn’t get the warning signals that most people get that tell them to avoid them.
That feeling you get when walking alone on a dark street at night, which makes you decide to take the bus home instead? That’s anxiety. It’s helping you.
Assuming you’re talking about everyday anxiety, which most people have, not clinical levels of anxiety: ***Anxiety is helpful because it evolved to protect us from predators*****.** Anxiety is a natural response to threats, both external and internal. For instance, when we feel anxious, we become more alert and aware of our surroundings, and instinctively take action to protect ourselves from potential danger.
In our daily lives, we inevitably deal with stress, and moderate amounts of stress can strengthen us to handle challenges in the future. In the short term, stress is good for memory, alertness, and focus.
***Stress is like exercise***; it can be beneficial in the right amounts, but if done too much, it can cause damage to our mental and physical health.
Here’s a specific example:
I used to be a performer.
I’d be anxious back stage before going on. That was important to me. I’d use that nervous energy to fuel my performance.
If I wasn’t feeling that anxiety, it meant something was wrong. I was too tired, or too complacent, and I’d have to work harder to give a good performance.
Hope that helps.
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