A collection of questions and sharing by our readership community about a wide variety of aspects of social anxiety. Dive in and receive practical insights and advice.
QUESTION BY:
Anonymous
Perceptions
Are anxiety and excitement the same feeling perceived differently through thoughts? Or are they two totally different physiological responses?
Jonathan Responds:
Excellent question. It’s the same physiological mechanism at work; “fight or flight”. As one philosopher said “anxiety is excitement in need of an attitude adjustment”. The variables that determine how adrenaline is processed include the degree of the stressor, the degree of the sense of loss of control, the loss of trust, the perceptions and thinking associated with the event, and the emotions that are “attached” to the adrenaline scenario.. These dynamics set the anxiety sufferer up for hyper-vigilance (hyper-arousal) and defensive positioning.
