People Around You May Be Making You Anxious...

Saturday, 12 September 2009

People Around You May Be Making You Anxious...

Regardless of how optimistic or laid-back a person you are, I’m sure a lot of you, at some point in your life, have been anxious about something—your exams, job interviews, big presentations, big sports matches at school, you name it. No matter how well prepared you think you are, it just seems impossible to feel completely relaxed when it comes to “D-day.”
Whenever I had exams at school (just the word “exam” is making me so nervous now) or job interviews, I was always well-prepared (at least that’s what I’d like think), but my problem was I would always get SO nervous when I actually had to face it. That’s why I usually ended up making mistakes and not doing as well as I should’ve, leading me to blame myself for the poor results.
But it seems like I don’t have to take all the blame for this. Thinking about it, maybe it was the people around me who were really making me anxious. Nice try? Well, wait till you here this.
According to research, “anxiety spurs the release of a chemical that automatically triggers similar feelings in anyone who smells it.” An experiment was done by Bettina Pause and her colleagues at the University of Dusseldorf, Germany, where they placed absorbent pads under 49 students’ armpits (1) an hour before their exam, and again (2) as they worked out. Then, another set of students sniffed the two different sweat samples and had their brains scanned. Well, was there a difference? After all, it’s just sweat, right? That’s what I thought at first. But apparently, there IS. The results showed that “the pre-exam sweat had a different effect on brain activity, lighting up areas that process social and emotional signals, as well as several areas thought to be involved in empathy,” which may eventually “allow fear to spread very quickly and speed up our ability to flee danger.”
Are you the type of a person who gets anxious very easily? Do you think the people around you (like other candidates for job interviews, or other students during exams) make you more anxious?

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Comments (25)

I get anxious easily when it has something to do with speaking in front of a large audience or taking a really really big test. For other things, maybe a little... but it goes away fast.
- 9/12/2009 1:15 PM
- soniiuh@xanga (message)
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i get really anxious very easily. but wen i start to get into it, then im fine :) well most of the time
- 9/12/2009 1:23 PM
- yuk_lui@xanga (message)
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i get anxious easily and people around makes me more anxious.
- 9/12/2009 1:44 PM
- xueyo@xanga (message)
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i lived with my grandma this summer. i gained like 10 pounds because she was always stressing me out... it;s my fault i guess - i get anxious way too easily
- 9/12/2009 1:52 PM
- Posh_Barbie_Doll@xanga (message)
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i get anxious around my friends when were at theme parks, i not scared but they make me scared
- 9/12/2009 1:53 PM
- Princess_Sakurina@xanga (message)
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Im really nervous when i have to speak in front of large crowds but as you get older you get used to it and you get more confident!
- 9/12/2009 2:06 PM
- XxRandom_BabiixX@xanga (message)
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I have generalized anxiety disorder, so I get anxious incredibly easily. However, I don't get anxious by exams or interviews. When something is incredibly important (especially if it's an emergency situation), I'm able to put a very good game face on and get things done.
- 9/12/2009 2:39 PM
- methodElevated@xanga (message)
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I have anxiety disorder so I am probably the one making everyone else nervous!
- 9/12/2009 3:30 PM
- sick_of_dreams@xanga (message)
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I have an anxiety disorder as well, so I'm constantly nervous, scared and I blush to the extremes. I sweat when in uncomfortable social situations which is whenever I meet someone new for the first time. It's annoying but I found ways to cope.
I've told myself it's alright to blush, and I bought a special deodorant that stop all sweating for 3 days then reapplied.
- 9/12/2009 4:28 PM
- Ulma@xanga (message)
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I get anxious when I'm put on the spot. I hate talking in front of groups of people. I stutter, get sweaty and turn red. It's so embarrassing. I have friends who actually make fun of me for it sometimes. Not everyone can be social butterflies, ya know!!!! >:(
- 9/12/2009 4:54 PM
- DarcKleer@xanga (message)
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@Ulma@xanga - what kind of deodorant?? i am curious because i am a nervous sweater too...
- 9/12/2009 7:45 PM
- unluckyclover84@xanga (message)
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Interesting! I am very in tune with others' emotions, and I often have a lot of trouble keeping myself from picking up whatever emotions the people around me are emitting. In rotations in clinics, when my patients are really nervous I have a hard time not being anxious as well and have to work very hard at maintaining an outward calm. I wonder if scent is part of what goes into that response for me.
- 9/12/2009 9:03 PM
- GodsGirl62@xanga (message)
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holy crap that's awesome! So it does have to do with smelling fear. I really only fear if I'm going to an exam that I know is something I'm not perfectly knowledgeable on like Calculus. Glad that's over.
- 9/13/2009 12:50 AM
- lil_KyungMin@xanga (message)
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I get anxious easily especially talking in front of a group of people who I don't know them well. Usually I want to throw up when I am nervous like before exams..
- 9/13/2009 1:24 AM
- nishikido_ryo@xanga (message)
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@unluckyclover84@xanga - haha, it's magic,. You'll find some replacement in a pharmacy because I'm Norwegian I doubt you'll find the exact same one. But if you ask someone at a pharmacy.
The one I use has aluminum chloride in it, and is made by 'cosmica'.
- 9/13/2009 5:05 AM
- Ulma@xanga (message)
- reply
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- 9/13/2009 10:58 AM
- madho3@dollarish (message)
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i'm anxious/OCD... ya a sucky combination lol but i'm better than i used to be... i've grown up some (at least that's what i think lol)
- 9/13/2009 12:36 PM
- quotes3085@xanga (message)
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i never would've guessed it's related to scent, but i absolutely think that other people can be stressors ( i think that's the right word..). before a class presentation or some such thing, i can be cool as a cucumber, but as soon as i get to class i can feel the tension. the look on everyone's face is so frightened, and the mood so somber, it's like hitting a brick wall, and i have to consciously work down my nerves to maintain that level of calm i had beforehand. i wonder if you could provide a link to the research you mentioned; it'd be interesting to read. thanks for the post!
- 9/13/2009 4:09 PM
- jamoncita@xanga (message)
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Even though I've been told I'm a great public speaker, I still get nervous and anxious before, during, and after speeches all the time! I also get anxious about exams, going to unfamiliar places, etc. Didn't know the sweat thing though lol
- 9/13/2009 8:08 PM
- tastytimmm@xanga (message)
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i get anxious only BEFORE the event. during speeches, presentations, i usually go very well.
- 9/13/2009 8:49 PM
- jackie9714_rocks@xanga (message)
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I think my fellow classmates may contribute to my pre-exam anxiety, but more for their behavior than anything else. I have to make sure I don't go into the classroom until the last possible minute because they tend to congregate into groups and frantically cram. "What's this mean?? What's that??? I never understood when she said this! This and this are are related, right???" My feeling is that if you don't know it by 1 hour before the test, you're not going to know it period. They work themselves into a panic obessing over every minute little detail.
- 9/13/2009 10:39 PM
- crazycoolcatlady@xanga (message)
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I'm definitely more of an anxious person. I'm also more of an introvert, so I take time to meditate and journal... also thinking positive thoughts to help ease my nerves and anxiety. I've improved much since my teens, 20s and so forth, but it still takes work sometimes.
- 9/13/2009 11:26 PM
- sombraluna@xanga (message)
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I have really bad anxiety. When it is silent in a classroom I can't stand it. There are times where I have to up and leave because I get too anxious and start breathing weirdly slash my heart starts beating so fast. Exams and tests are even worse cause I know I can't just leave. I have to always sit at the back on a classroom...and hope that no one will sit beside me. :\
- 9/13/2009 11:51 PM
- GieGieHeart@xanga (message)
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Oh gosh, exams and speeches make me jitter so much. I hate it so much. This article was really interesting... Thanks for posting it!
- 9/14/2009 2:51 PM
- The_Eclectic_Dreamer@xanga (message)
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i have BAD anxiety. large groups of ppl dont make it any better.
- 9/15/2009 11:10 AM
- calisartangel16@xanga (message)
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