Anxiety is weird

[Gizmo]

Anxiety is weird. I can be at a packed, sold-out concert surrounded by thousands of people and feel completely fine, like it’s easy to just exist in that space. But a phone or video call with close friends or family can feel really difficult for me.

It’s not even something I can clearly explain or link to pressure or anything obvious. It just feels like something flips in my head depending on the situation, and I don’t really know why.

Anyone else experience this kind of mismatch where certain social situations feel easy, and others don’t—even if you can’t pinpoint why?

 

[Krissycakes09]

Totally opposite for me. A concert would be way to much for me but a phone or video call is okay for me.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I have social anxiety so I hate calling people on the phone and talking on the phone in general. When I need to make appointments I get super nervous. I can talk to my Mom on the phone just fine though. I also need to renew my license this week and I'm nervous just thinking about it since I hate talking to people in person too.

 

[Allenafaith]

Anxiety is weird. I can be at a packed, sold-out concert surrounded by thousands of people and feel completely fine, like it’s easy to just exist in that space. But a phone or video call with close friends or family can feel really difficult for me.

It’s not even something I can clearly explain or link to pressure or anything obvious. It just feels like something flips in my head depending on the situation, and I don’t really know why.

Anyone else experience this kind of mismatch where certain social situations feel easy, and others don’t—even if you can’t pinpoint why?

I totally understand. Mines a bit different. I’m fine in situations I’m familiar with….but I went to my oldest child’s new school last week to turn in papers for registration and I was shaking so bad. Also, as far as calling on the phone goes, as long as I know the person, I can handle it. If it’s anything else, I have a hard time and try to make anyone else do it unless I’m at work…but maybe that’s because my brain knows for a fact that I HAVE to make that phone call and no one else can make it for me because it’s literally my job.

 

[Katrina]

Being nervous about things is perfectly normal. I think that the term "anxiety" is overused in today's society because there are times when I hear people say it when they just mean they're nervous instead of it being a true mental health issue.

I'm not saying anyone here is doing that, but that's what I've experienced out in real life.

I get nervous about things from time to time and yes, I dread making phone calls, but it's not anxiety, it's just that I hate doing that.

I've experienced true anxiety a few times when my thyroid meds were too strong for me. It's been a rare occurrence, but it's totally different from just being nervous about something.

 

[cpvr]

Being nervous about things is perfectly normal. I think that the term "anxiety" is overused in today's society because there are times when I hear people say it when they just mean they're nervous instead of it being a true mental health issue.

I'm not saying anyone here is doing that, but that's what I've experienced out in real life.

I get nervous about things from time to time and yes, I dread making phone calls, but it's not anxiety, it's just that I hate doing that.

I've experienced true anxiety a few times when my thyroid meds were too strong for me. It's been a rare occurrence, but it's totally different from just being nervous about something.

I'm with ya. I also had a bad bout with anxiety a few months ago. My heart was racing(and I felt it beating through my neck) and I thought it was actually my heart itself. Turns out, it was just a bad anxiety attack. However, Anxiety attacks can cause symptoms that are similar to that as well, especially really bad ones. Which, I found out that day.

I had an echo done, ultra sound, along with a stress test, and X rays of my heart & lungs. Everything came back 100% in perfect health, as well.


During this time frame, I ran out of my high blood pressure medications, and cholesteral medications, so I had no idea what the actual issue was, I also take daily anxiety medication as well.

Needless to say, I never had anxiety attacks that were actually that bad before, and that was a rare occurence for me, but I am so glad that I got checked out when I did.

 

[Katrina]

I'm with ya. I also had a bad bout with anxiety a few months ago. My heart was racing(and I felt it beating through my neck) and I thought it was actually my heart itself. Turns out, it was just a bad anxiety attack. However, Anxiety attacks can cause symptoms that are similar to that as well, especially really bad ones. Which, I found out that day.

I had an echo done, ultra sound, along with a stress test, and X rays of my heart & lungs. Everything came back 100% in perfect health, as well.


During this time frame, I ran out of my high blood pressure medications, and cholesteral medications, so I had no idea what the actual issue was, I also take daily anxiety medication as well.

Needless to say, I never had anxiety attacks that were actually that bad before, and that was a rare occurence for me, but I am so glad that I got checked out when I did.

I'm sure that must have been really scary!

My daughter had a bad panic attack when she was in high school and since she had an eating disorder at the time, we thought it was a heart attack (people don't die from eating disorders, they die from organ failure and mostly heart attacks). She said she couldn't breathe and her chest hurt so I called the ambulance and they noticed that she had the "claw hands" which was a telltale sign of a panic attack. After that, if it happened again, I just talked her through it telling her she made it through that first one, so she knew it wasn't a real physical issue and she would be fine. She said that helped.

 

[Shortie_]

I am the same. I can be at a concert with fans that I know are like myself, anxiety and such, but a phone call and I panic.

Even when I am out and about, I get anxious about possibly seeing someone I have not seen in a while, or I get anxious incase someone approaches me about something.

 

[iamawriter]

I have a benign MVP condition which triggers anxiety at the drop of a hat.

 

[Hear Inside]

Anxiety is really strange because it can make even small situations feel overwhelming. I’ve noticed that sometimes the worry is much bigger than the actual problem. This article does a great job explaining how anxiety can affect thoughts, emotions, and daily life. Thanks for sharing these insights!

 

[Ravenfreak]

Being nervous about things is perfectly normal. I think that the term "anxiety" is overused in today's society because there are times when I hear people say it when they just mean they're nervous instead of it being a true mental health issue.

I'm not saying anyone here is doing that, but that's what I've experienced out in real life.

I get nervous about things from time to time and yes, I dread making phone calls, but it's not anxiety, it's just that I hate doing that.

I've experienced true anxiety a few times when my thyroid meds were too strong for me. It's been a rare occurrence, but it's totally different from just being nervous about something.

I definitely get where you're coming from, my wife has general anxiety disorder and there are days where she will just randomly get a panic attack for no reason at all. It just comes out of nowhere, with no warning. Though I personally do have social anxiety, since it's more than just hating making the phone call lol. I don't like it, but I generally will put it off because I start to panic. Though I do agree that people do say that they have anxiety or other mental illness when they really don't. I see people say they have OCD when they truly do not have OCD in today's society and then people don't take those who truly have the illness seriously. (Not all people but there's a lot of people who think people who truly have anxiety are faking it unfortunately.)