3 reasons being an anxious person is a good thing
If you’re the kind of person who finds themselves lying awake at night, long after bedtime, pondering, wondering and yes, worrying about the next day and the chores/meet and greet/kindergarten pick up you have scheduled, then the chances are good that you identify as being on the “anxious” side. Unsurprisingly, many people, especially women, do. While there is a marked difference between a diagnoses anxiety disorder and your more everyday, run of the mill anxiety, both can be frustrating and even debilitating at times. If you’re anxiety is manageable however, there is a silver lining (or three) to your tendency to fret.
- You’re a great problem solver – In some situations, your ability to mentally prepare yourself for the worst-case scenario can actually be a good thing. Researchers call it “defensive pessimism” or “proactive coping” and it allows anxious people to get ahead of the game in that they’ve already identified the worse case scenario and are prepared to deal with it, if it happens as opposed to being completely blindsided.
- You’re smart – A study in 2014 which surveyed more than 100 college students found that those who scored highly on the worry and stress scales also scored highly on the verbal intelligence scale.
- You’re intuitive – Your anxious brain, if nothing else, is always looking out for you. For people on the anxious end of the scale, the brain registers threatening emotions and reactions in the ‘motor cortex’ or action centre of the brain. This means you’re quite literally ready to spring into action. In less anxious people, those same negative emotions are processed in the temporal cortex, associated with facial recognition, not action.
Tell us, do you have anxious tendencies? How do you keep them in check?
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