When I'm starting to feel dread or frustration from work, I used to start finding myself thinking about how much I hated my job and almost repeat it like a mantra in my head, to "get through it." But a couple weeks ago I stopped myself from thinking that way and instead tried telling myself that I love my job and enjoy doing it. And what do you know, it helped a ton. I started feeling more excited about it and working overtime because I was having so much fun. I didn't really know why it worked, but this video gave me the answer I didn't know I needed. Thanks!!
I found that instead of looking at things and the tasks at hand as a whole, but segmenting it helped, like washing the dishes for example instead thinking "ugh I got to do washing up" I thought "I'll wash this plate, and then this plate" talking to myself helps too even if.just under my breath
@@yugenheorte6828 Segmenting -- or "chunking" as it's sometimes called -- absolutely helps. I was miserable at my previous job (retail sucks), and many days I dreaded even going in because it felt like I would be miserable forever sometimes. But then I started chunking: instead of "I have 8 hours left", I'd think to myself, "I have 4 chunks left". Even though I knew that I considered a chunk to be 2 hours, thinking there were only "4" units left felt much better than thinking there were 8.
That is positive thinking and not what they are talking about in the video. You did not have a physical reaction that you chose to interpret another way aka the emotional reappraisal. All you did was just thinking positively. I am sorry for being an ass just had to tell you my thoughts
I think of Anxiety and Excitement as 2 sides of a coin. We need to be stimulated a little bit to feel engaged in a task, but too much stimulation leaves us tired and anxious.
Aceofacez10 It's less of a difference of severity (like on a scale, how a little bit would be excited) and more of a difference in perception (same physiology, different feelings/context make either excitement or anxiety or fear). You are absolutely correct that a little bit of stimulation/stress makes tasks more engaging, but I don't think that should be conflated with excitement
I think most people are born with this ingrained into their mind. But people seem to lose this ability to change their understanding of the situation. I used to just tell myself i was excited, rather than anxious. But now i have very bad anxiety issues, and i can’t just tell myself “you’re excited” my Brain just goes back in itself like “nah you know you’re scared af rn”
Instead of saying "I'm anxious" try externalising it. "I am having an anxious moment because.." (I didn't drink enough water, had too much coffee, didn't sleep well, have lost context, etc). I don't know if there's anything to back it up but it sure helps me and cuts down on how long the anxiety lasts for.
I think irrational anxiety is a bit different. When mine was at its worst, there was nothing I could tell myself to stop the emotional and physiological reaction. I knew the source, and if I tried to tell myself I was excited, it wouldn’t have worked because it was not something to be excited about.
Evil Sharkey Absolutely agree. Take social anxiety for example, even if you know deep down there's nothing to worry about, or what's triggering it, there's no way you're going to be able to to convince yourself "you're excited" about it. Any sort of phobia is going to be the same way. And yeah, I can certainly the delayed reactions. 9/10 my anxiety hits after the fact, or at least gets the worst. Anything leading up to it you totally can though, and talking yourself through it before can help ease things. Sometimes pushing yourself in is all you can do.
Sooth Moth there's correlations between higher internalization and higher risk & severity of depression (& anxiety). I don't know if psychologists have determined a causal connection there but that's certainly a common speculation that externalizing your feelings and problems can help you toovercome them
I'm an anxious person. When I was a kid my mother used to always remind me that I was simply an enthusiastic and excited girl. She encouraged me to accept the nervous feelings I had, and taught me to channel those feelings into positive emotions. It's funny how effective that was for me.
I used to suffer anxiety about the prospect of going broke, homeless, and starving on the streets, before dying of exposure. But thanks to this video, I am now excited about my future. Thanks!
Sadomasochism seems more related to exercise endorphins, but there is maybe a personality type, that likes adventure. So hights, extreme sports, new tech/science news, experiment in their private life's, new sights/travel, so on
@@celinak5062 Lol I like how you went from SM to likes science news and travel. Some people plain and simple like pain. It has nothing to do with personality types.
Rose Tree yes. As someone with both anxiety and depression, I completely understand the point you are making and was attempting to add a bit of levity.
Teacher: Stop being depressed Me: I was diagnosed with dysthymia in 3rd grade Teacher: Just tell yourself your happy Me: You try telling that to my 3 dead friends. (I wish this was a made up story, but sadly, it isn't.)
Yeah, "fake it till ya make it" is real & works. Its the same when standing tall and in a power pose before an interview, despite actually being very nervous you come off the opposite and actually are.
This idea literally changed my life growing up. When I was getting ready for my first speech ever, with my schools speech team, my coach asked if I was “scared or excited”. She then asked me to turn that extra energy (making me shake and sweat with anxiety) into file to project my voice and increase my stage presence. It actually somehow worked. I still get anxious about public speaking to this day, but use the way I THINK about the anxiety to try and redirect it into positive energy. It doesn’t work all the time but that one event in high school has helped me so much in life.
Personal experience about this, which I didn't know had a name or was actually a thing: I grew up a stage kid. I was part of a theatre group, had my own rock band like everyone does in high school, I was one of the main cast in a musical that was pretty big locally. I was that kid, beaming and bouncing on their feet behind the curtain, counting down the seconds to go in. All that, running up to my 18th year. After that, studies got hard and demanding and pretty much all my time went into that. My twenties were also a time of anxiety and undiagnosed depression. When, at around 25, I was asked to fill in as Jocaste for a friend who got injured for a run of three performances, I thought... Hell yeah! And thanks for the opportunity! It took me completely by surprise to find myself feeling so terrified on stage I was seriously considering how to work exiting the stage smoothly into the scene because I felt like I was going to throw up any moment. It didn't happen, but the experience was very unpleasant. And unsettling. And obviously, it threw me off for the next ones. Which didn't feel any better. I did the thing. I wanted to do the thing. And yet. TERROR. When the opportunity arose a few months later, it kind of felt the same, except I could tell myself I made it through the last times and no one in the audience noticed. It helped a bit. And then. One day. I got mad. Because I was thinking back to my first musical, and how I was feeling now that I would be incapable of singing a single note because my throat would close up on me for sure. And it made me sad. And that made me ANGRY. I thought, why?!? Remember how you enjoyed it so much? How you felt like you were floating for hours on end after that. Get that back. It was you! It's still you! It's in there somewhere. Find it. It's already here. And. Yeah. I'm still tensed and nervous when I go on stage because I'm not 15 anymore and much more self conscious than my teenage self. But it helped. I... I guess I refused to accept the reality of stage fright. I refused that it staying was a fatality. I DECIDED that I was going to bring that excited kid back because I still loved it and I was still that person. And it helped so much. I didn't know it had a term attached to it. Wasn't aware I was using a technique that was more universal. But now that I know I might try to use that on other aspects, other feeling resets that could be useful. Thanks for making sense of my noggin for me, scishow. ♥️
I agree with you! Though I also think this is still a useful tool to put in the arsenal (and I'm speaking as someone with an anxiety disorder, so I'm not just trying to shrug off what you're saying!). Maybe it won't work as well as someone who's neurotypical and is just having a moment of normal anxiety, but I'll take whatever branch I can grab onto! ...The problem is remembering to try it when my brain is screaming in panic. :P
I think it might help for people whose anxiety precedes things. Mine always showed up after the fact, like buyer’s remorse and second guessing decisions, or at inopportune times, like in the middle of the night. You can’t tell yourself that’s excitement.
In one way I agree, in another I feel like those who deal with anxiety as a disorder would already understand that. But I'm aware that I could be biased since I took a Basic Psychology course. This might even just be a good exercise for people in general, might not hurt for everyone to watch it, regardless.
I have an anxiety disorder and I find this stuff to be very useful. While it can't be applied broadly to the disorder, being mindful of it can help in not forming harmful associations in certain contexts. For example, I have come to associate a raised heart rate and heavier breathing with anxiety, meaning I can experience great discomfort or even an onset of panic when exercising or reaching an orgasm. It's by remembering that the heart rate and breathing has become a "false queue", so to speak, that I am able to gradually train these kind of associations away. Having an anxiety disorder means fighting a million enemies, and if I can find any tools to aid in the battle against a few of them, I take them.
@@evilsharkey8954 Yeah, that's the issue I have with anxiety/excitement too. Only works if you know what you're anxious about, and if said thing could have a good result
Mental transmutation. It's as ancient as philosophy. It's too bad so many people aren't aware of it. They say you are what you eat which is true, but you are what you think even more so
As always, psychologists are years behind social engineers. This only works on a select type of person and only on a couple forms of anxiety. Anxiety related to self-doubt this will not work on and can actually make it way worse. I've tried this method on my myself and it made me way more anxious.
Meditate some and then do it. My anxiety is due to self doubt, and this works great. It's essentially learning to enjoy life out of the comfort zone after all
I was nervous to watch this because I usually love sci-show content, but since I have GAD and social anxiety I didn’t want to get angry about this. This is a really made video and I agree with it, but I wish they addressed that feeling anxious is different from having anxiety. This wouldn’t work when I was hyperventilating in a bathroom because I had a presentation at school. I think they should of distinguished the difference between normal fear responses and unhealthy responses
Many people seem to comment about generalized anxiety and being anxious for no reason, or over something out of their control. If something really is out of your control I would recommend still taking this approach, but take that "excitement" and direct it towards something you want to do. So if you're anxious because you're have a bad financial situation, tell yourself you're "excited" to learn a new skill that will help improve it.
I have been doing this for a while while waiting for my turn during a presentation, yes I was nervous for the presentation but when I did it presenting felt great!
This video has really helped me understand my recent anxiety surrounding covid-19. I work with survivors of abuse and over the years have developed anxiety to the point where I have bodily reaction -shortness of breathe, faster heart beat- without even being in a crisis situation. Thank you for this video, you have no idea how helpful this information has been for me.
Okay, I get it. You're talking about the "normal" kind of anxiety. Not the bad one. Because I really can't just tell myself I'm excited when I not even have a reason to feel excited at the moment to begin with. It's not that simple and you can't just apply this as a principle in your life. Actual anxiety is way more complicated.
Before this video was posted, I have tried this technique multiple times and it works. I give credit to my meditation practice because every time I meditate, I learn a little bit more about myself and how much control I have and don’t have.
I have done this since a year now and it works just like turning a switch - only that our emotions aren't controlled by one single switch, and finding all the different beliefs and interpretations to certain situations takes time! For example: How do you feel, when a group of strangers in the bus laughs about something? Do you feel fear? Well, that may be harder to get rid of, if you have actually have been laughed at in the bus during school or so. But anyway, you can do it!
I've been around the Halloween haunted house industry for years. Can confirm haunted houses are great places to take a date. It's pretty common knowledge among haunters (haunted house workers).
I have generalized anxiety that ruin my life... and all I have to do is to pretend that I’m excited about almost everything... yeah, sure.... having anxiety and being anxious about an exam is 2 completely different thing!!
mashalena, I think it depends on how the anxiety manifests. Mine usually followed events and decisions. For people whose anxiety appears before something, maybe it could help.
So take that anxiety and turn it into excitement to learn a new skill that will improve your situation..Better than making excuses as to why your anxiety is justified.
David Russ, GAD is generalized anxiety disorder, the last one being the operative word. The anxiety isn’t rational or justified. It’s just there, and trying to reason it away doesn’t work. Anxiety for a reason is different and can be more easily redirected.
They should do a video on how they can also change how you think you feel physically! I always tell myself, "It's not cold, it's brisk out! Refreshing!" and I can tolerate the cold far better than when I think "I'm cold!" Same as when I'm around others complaining about the cold, I feel colder.
I sort of do this when I'm sitting in a boring class. I try to find what's interesting about it and the class actually ends up being interesting and I feel like I'm learning something useful. The brain sure is amazing :)
Tony Robbins has been teaching how to apply this for 30 years. Physiology + language + focus/belief = your emotional state at any given moment. Not something you can necessarily do instantly without any practice, especially if you're already neck-deep in a disempowering state or just cynical. What you can do is learn how to tweak your physiology, choose your self-talk, and assign more constructive meanings to things as they happen so your state doesn't spiral. I applied principles from his book and two of his audios to overcome paralyzing social anxiety when I was 22. Search "Tony Robbins emotional triad" and you'll find something helpful. Cynics can disregard this comment.
I did my first piano competition a few days ago and i was nervous as heck. But when i started playing i kind of zoned out and it was like i wasn't really the one playing it. It was weird, but I'm glad it happened because i usually mess up, even if i've been practicing for weeks.
this made me think of how as helpful as i'm sure therapy can be, i think active role-playing with groups to better ourselves in practice situations would be really useful, especially for people like me who can't talk to people in public at all. if i had to do it, and knew if was all acting, for the sake of bettering myself, and those around me, i think i'd feel alot better about it
I think it helps if people are excited for you: there is nothing worse than being nervous before a group of nihilists who would not think twice about putting your head on a block if you failed.
I have an anxiety disorder, and sometimes when I'm particularly anxious, I literally tell myself things like, "Amygdala, chill out." (I'm a neuroscience geek, so sue me.) This sounds like it's basically that, except also supplying your amygdala with a better reason that it triggered in the first place. Kind of like you're tricking your own fear center into thinking it wasn't supposed to be afraid. Interesting.
Personally I found that turning my anxiety or situational fear into an existential fear helped me relax in situations such as interviews, presentations or even social interactions with people. By replacing the negative uncontrollable anxiety with a conscious anxiety (fear of death) I managed to find acceptance and calmness in those situations. On the other hand I tended to feel too neutral in the process which was not in my favour if the situation required me to show excitement and eagerness ie. concerts or public speaking... it would be pretty cool if I could turn anxiety into excitement and better my performance by that. To be honest I found replacing anxiety with a bigger anxiety could have a toll on my psyche and stopped me from fully enjoying myself
Actually I’ve turned my anxiety into mania. I suffer from anxiety and used to suffer also from panic attacks. I have now quite hard exams and I’m under a lot of stress and anxiety, but I’ve recently started to transform it all into an excitement. Now it feels more like mania because of constant energy. At least I can learn more. :D
I'll need to use this technique for my wedding day. I'm so afraid of things going wrong that now I'm also worried about ruining the day by worrying about things going wrong.
It’s really interesting to hear this, because this is actually one of my own strategies that I developed to deal with feelings of fear/anxiety. Nice to know science backs it up :)
Affective flexibility is really interesting. I might have to look up some studies and articles on that, really useful lifeskill, and honestly feel like the older I've gotten, the better I've become at trying to look at the positive side with things like stress, deadlines, being outside my comfort zone.
Aris Nikoletopoulos Possibly. Just the presence of physical arousal (such as from exercise) has been known to trigger panic attacks in people who have previously experienced panic attacks.
Basically what I got from this is the dramatic increase in anxiety isn't real it's always been their it's just it's now trending as a bad thing so it effects people negatively.
mmmm ...what do you do when Anxiety hits you without any reason. You're having a nice morning and suddenly your body reacts like the world is about to collapse from under you
Take it and redirect it. Chose something constructive to do for your life and tell yourself that anxiety is excitement to do that one thing. The physical feelings are the same after all, just point your mind at a different task
Emotional reappraisal can work in other direction too, allowing positive experiences to cause negative emotions. So, like with any delusion, it depends on how and where you use it.
