Anxiety Vs Excitement - Sometimes Hard To Know Which Is Which?

[barefoot]

Does anyone else sometimes find it difficult to distinguish between feeling anxious (a negative experience) and feeling excited (a positive experience)?

Obviously, when I'm in full-on, off the scale anxiety/panic mode, I recognise that.

But when it's milder....or when it's just starting so hasn't got to the point of being off the scale... I sometimes find it difficult to know which one I'm feeling. Sometimes I think in the moment that I'm feeling excited/productive/having a rush of positive ideas about something but then, later, I realise it was anxiety.

I feel a bit stupid posing this question because it feels like I should be able to tell them apart - that one should feel good and the other should feel bad so then I should know which is which.

I think the confusion may come because the feelings feel the same, physically, in my body and I sometimes then get confused.

Not sure if I'm explaining this very well!

Does anyone know what I mean? Does anyone experience this or something similar?
How do you tell the difference?

 

[Sandstone]

It would be very reasonable to be feeling both together, which may make it harder to untangle, but easier to understand why you are confused by the feeling(s)

I imagine that , like me, you find it hard to be clear about what you are feeling generally. What are you hoping to achieve by recognising which is which? Is it about being able to take action to manage the anxiety, or about understanding your experience of yourself better, or knowing what to avoid and what to pursue?

 

[barefoot]

Those are good questions, @Sandstone...thank you...

As you say, yes, I find it hard to know what I'm feeling generally. I tend to feel that I live on an emotional flatline most of the time - punctuated by depressive lows and spikes of anxiety. I can fake it to make it with others, so can appear to be feeling all sorts of things. But, in reality, most of the time, I'm not really sure how I feel....

So, I this making this distinction is part of that...if I can at least untangle these two feelings, that feels like I'm making some progress in terms of "managing my emotions."

And, yes, I think it's also - if I can recognise it's anxiety not excitement more quickly, I can try to nip that in the bud before I get to full-on panic/anxiety mode - instead of going along with the initial giddy, heart racing sensations, which start off feeling quite good, then realising too late that, oh no, this doesn't feel good at all...and then I have to peel myself off the ceiling...

I suppose the bottom line is: if I don't know how I feel, I think I am a bit lost...?

 

[mary1979]

Yeah that's me..

Wake up the morning with a strange feeling, like 'do I have something in really looking forward to today, cant think of anything'
Slowly builds up during the day until it is full blown butterflies in my stomach.

Still none the wiser at this point, and then bang! I realise I've just started ab argument, in my head, with my mother, father, granparents, friends for absolutely no reason what so ever

Ends with me laying in bed thinking 'where did I go wrong today, laying in the exact spot 12 hours ago, I was so happy at the thought I was going to get to do something special and now I'm here again, bawling and feeling like I've lost everything and there's no point


Anxiety sucks

 

[theshadowoftheliving]

From what I understand, anxiety and excitement are physiologically the same. So, it makes sense that it's impossible to separate them at times.

No advice, but some affirmation that you aren't alone.

 

[hodge]

Not stupid at all. I also feel that a lot. I've learned that good stressors and bad stressors have the same effect: making me feel overwhelmed to the point where I get quite dizzy. The only coping mechanism I know for that is to lie down for awhile, do my breathing if it's bad enough and just take everything easy as much as possible.

 

[barefoot]

Thanks @hodge.

The point you make about the impact of good stressors and bad stressors is very useful. I've never thought about it quite in that way before. I've been thinking anxiety = negative feeling and excitement = positive feeling. But I've never really considered before that the impact of both is that I feel overwhelmed. I've never really thought about getting overwhelmed by the positive stuff. But that makes sense.

And thanks for the reminder about breathing exercise. For some reason, I've got out of my daily routine with that and have stopped doing them. But I think they helped. So maybe I should pick that up again and see if it helps calm my system down a bit.

 

[mary1979]

Oh my god, I thought this was part of my own emotional retardation and not an actual thing!!!

My anxiety/excitement begins as butterflies or a knot in my stomach.

I always need to stop and assess (especially if I'm trying to knock an attack at first sign)
I'll be like 'is there something I'm excited about? Nervous? Scared?'

Its something like adrenalin or the like and initially I have no clue why or even what I'm feeling.

I've tried to explain this before and I get weird awkward looks that seem to say to me 'you dont KNOW how you feel?'

I'm not alone!! Yays.

 

[hodge]

I'm so glad my articulation of my experience has helped you both, Barefoot and Mary.

Definitely stressors can be bad or good and have similar impacts on us. I have trouble even just going out to lunch with a friend. I come home and have to lie down because I'm so overwhelmed. It's always a good experience, cause I love her and she's very sweet, but it's still overwhelming. I get the same way when hubby talks to me for more than a couple of minutes. And I love him to death. But again, after that I have to go lie down and do my breathing, etc.

 

[paul1404]

I am so glad to read your comments, I have struggled since I was 17 with excitement and stress, although they are at extreme poles apart they create the same emotions to my stomach. I have not found a cure to cope fully with these emotions and it can cause me to avoid certain situations. I am 43 now and my old demons still haunt my dreams

 

[barefoot]

Sorry to hear you struggle with this too, Paul. I guess it's good that we recognise the issue so that then we can try to work on it?

 

[Deleted member 12723]

I remember before I was diagnosed that I would get physically sick before going out for a good time with my husband. But over the years after a lot of experience with good times I began to look forward to going out with him. But it took me years and a lot of therapy to get here. You are not alone and no one is emotionally retarded you have PTSD.