Concerning Anxiety

[MrSquared]

As a trait of self, would you say that you're high in anxiety? Or not so much?

I only ask because the longer I'm alive and the more people I interact with, the more I suspect that I am a rather anxious person by nature. Aka, if I permit myself to be left alone with certain thoughts, I'm quite capable of looping said thoughts or ideas around and around (within my head) to seemingly no end.

And then of course, whenever I try and pair or link myself with another person who is also high in anxiety, there's often a tennis match like effect. Where we each seem to sense the anxiety within the other, and for whatever reason, almost bounce concerns back and forth until one of us *ahem* cannot hang.

I mention this and ask all of you, because it seems so very pertanant to me and my situation. For those of you who didn't get my smoke signal last week...I've been spending time with an ENTP who is incredibly laid back.

Interacting with such a relaxed temperament and wondering how it's been influencing me has brought me here.

Thoughts anyone?

 

[Sandie33]

As a trait of self, would you say that you're high in anxiety? Or not so much?

Not so much.

But, this is after much work as a younger me to figure out the sources of my anxiety.

A healthy level of anxiety is good.

Do you feel that little hitch (trigger) when the anxiety first starts? That's the moment I ask myself what caused it. That flight or fight thing in our brain. Once I determine I don't need to run like hell, I ask myself questions about why I feel the way I do and that anxiousness fades. If I can't get myself to calm, I leave wherever I'm at, the change in scenery works. I mean if I see a bear of course I'm going to run like hell...but if it's just an event or a person...well I'm sure you get the jest of it

 

[Wyote]

As a trait of self, would you say that you're high in anxiety? Or not so much?

I am and have always been super low on the anxiety spectrum

Interacting with such a relaxed temperament and wondering how it's been influencing me has brought me here.

How do you think it has influenced you? What is significant to you about such influence, if any?

To me, the company we keep is extremely important and influential. You are an amalgamation of the five or so people you spend the most time with in your life.

 

[seira0807]

I think that I often appear very calm on the outside in person, but on the inside I'm thinking/worrying about a lot of little things.

 

[Gaze]

Was very high anxiety, but lately more moderate with better self awareness and self management. As @Sandie33 said, it's important to understand cause. Things will stress me out that are no big Deal to everyone else, and I can't just brush it off. I have to Deal with it. This means realizing in that moment that I am anxious, Distancing myself a little by separating mentally and emotionally from the people and situation causing the anxiety, sometimes almost blocking it out, and then finding something calm and soothing to think about or focus on instead.

 

[Sandie33]

better self awareness and self management.

^^^^ what she said <3

 

[Sandie33]

I think that I often appear very calm on the outside in person, but on the inside I'm thinking/worrying about a lot of little things.

This is where that saying about the duck comes from I believe... calm on the surface, yet paddling like hell underneath

 

[seira0807]

Yeah, I heard that one before! There was also one comparing how INFJs use Ni like dolphins use sonar ... Haha maybe

 

[heiots]

As a trait of self, would you say that you're high in anxiety? Or not so much?

Definitely high in anxiety. (This is assuming we're talking about things that matter to us.) I never used to be like that, but somewhere along the way - likely during university - I started getting these panicky, anxious jitters when I think of things that would go wrong or what I can't do. It might have been the influence of my roommates back then, who were overachievers, and "the more you learn a thing, the more you realize how much you're lacking" while studying my craft in school, which left me stricken with perfectionism and worrying over every little detail.

It's better now. I tell myself to breathe every now and then, checking the body, making sure I'm not tensed up. Remind myself to take a break and do stuff just for the fun of it once in a while. Remember that mistakes are a sign of learning and to be patient.