
Life as an anxious scientist - elsherbini
https://dynamicecology.wordpress.com/2016/07/13/life-as-an-anxious-scientist/
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jondubois
I used to have terrible (social) anxiety when I was younger. I was extremely
shy and would never initiate conversations with people I didn't know very well
- I was always worried about what other people would think. Sometimes I would
say something to someone and then later obsess about how silly I must have
sounded.

I never get this anymore - I'm no longer afraid of creating tension and having
heated arguments with people - I even enjoy it when someone disagrees with me.
Sometimes I make bold statements (without thinking through too much) just to
trigger a debate.

If you want to fix anxiety, you just have to create a very long-term goal
(like 6 years) for yourself and start doing things outside of your comfort
zone. If you're afraid of failure, your should expose yourself to failure.

When it comes to success, we usually don't have that much control of our lives
(too many external competing interests). But when it comes to failure, you
have almost complete control over that (nobody will try to stop you) - So you
should use that freedom to experiment with failure.

In my case, getting fired were some of the most useful (and memorable)
experiences in my life - I don't think someone can be a whole person without
being fired a couple of times - If you get fired, it means you took a risk
(and it didn't work out in that particular case).

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nvarsj
> If you want to fix anxiety, you just have to create a very long-term goal
> (like 6 years) for yourself and start doing things outside of your comfort
> zone. If you're afraid of failure, your should expose yourself to failure.

There is a growing body of research which suggests for many people anxiety
never goes away - it is a product of certain people's physiology, which causes
the amygdala to react much more strongly to external stimuli. This is the
highly sensitive person classification. In such a person, social anxiety never
really goes away. So how do you treat that? You can use exposure therapy to
learn to manage the anxiety (as you have done), but constantly exposing
yourself to it will cause burn out, and probably depression if you expect the
anxiety to disappear. Usually self-acceptance and lifestyle choices are a more
appropriate approach - choosing jobs and friends such that you can keep the
anxiety levels manageable.

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bassislife
Anxiety is probably environment-induced. Kids are not necessarily so anxious.

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amelius
It can be environment-induced, but need not be. It is worthwhile to test this,
because it is a strong indicator of the origin of the anxiety which can help
determine proper treatment. Basically, all you need to do is go on a holiday
for a couple of weeks. If your anxiety isn't gone by the end of the holiday,
then your anxiety is probably not environment-induced.

Also, if you wake up every morning with a racing heart, then probably your
anxiety is not environment-induced.

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yodsanklai
I used to be very anxious for specific things. It led me to take bad decisions
at some point in my life (like impulsively dropping out of a prestigious
school I got admitted in). Retrospectively I realize it was totally ridiculous
but I was in such a state of mind that I couldn't think clearly.

At that time, I didn't know it has to do with anxiety and even less that it
could treated. Later on, I dated a medical student that noticed my issues and
suggested me to try benzodiazepines. I know they get sometimes bad press
because they may be addictive and they're not really a cure, but for me they
were extremely helpful.

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kikishortler
Several emotions/states seem to have a dual nature depending on context and
interpretation. Obsessing over data seems like a good thing; obsessing over
grant applications seems like a bad thing. Since both scientific ideas and our
understanding of them improve with repeated recall and criticism perhaps
'anxiety' can be put to good use.

