It’s no surprise, since anxiety, especially in its severe forms, can make one’s life difficult. Whatever type of anxiety disorder you may be suffering from, it’s for sure that it causes you troubles, making you unable to handle the challenges of everyday life and preventing you from enjoying some simple things that are natural to most people.
However, what if I told you that your anxiety may actually be hiding some remarkable powers? Here are some of those, based on recent scientific studies and not only.
It has been long recognized that anxiety has evolutionary roots and, just like fear, originated as a means to protect our ancestors from a premature death. This was a great mechanism of survival when humans had to face constant physical threats, such as wild animals trying to eat them.
However, today, when we no longer have to deal with such situations in our daily lives, anxiety has basically become a response to non-existing dangers.
But what if this response can actually be useful and even vital in certain cases? French scientists have found that anxious people possess a unique life-saving sixth sense. According to the results of the related study, some regions of the anxious brain have the ability to detect threats just in 200 milliseconds! These fast and automatic reactions can, in fact, make the difference between life and death in extreme situations.
A recent study on verbal intelligence found that people who reported suffering from social anxiety performed better in verbal-linguistic testing than those who didn’t.
Another study conducted at the SUNY Downstate Medical Centre in NYC found that participants suffering from Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) scored higher in an IQ test than those who didn’t have a history of anxiety.
Anxious people are analyzing and overthinking their surroundings all the time, which means their brains are constantly processing information. With these continuous thinking processes that take place in their heads, it makes sense why people who suffer from anxiety disorders have higher IQ levels.
According to research by Israeli scientists, socially anxious people exhibited prominent empathetic abilities, i.e. they had higher psychosocial awareness than their non-anxious counterparts. Simply put, people with anxiety have a better capacity to understand and feel what others are going through.
Thus, individuals who suffer from social anxiety may possess an innate empathetic ability. What if this is the reason why these people feel the way they do around others?
What if they are just too sensitive to other people’s emotions, which is overwhelming and results in those disturbing symptoms? No surprise that socially anxious people feel more comfortable avoiding human interaction.
Similarly to the empathetic ability, people with social anxiety may be experiencing those uncomfortable symptoms because they can sense the energy of those around them. Of course, this idea is less scientific than the previous ones and is not based on any studies, but it’s still a possibility.
Based on my personal experience, I have noticed that some people provoke intense social anxiety symptoms in me while others don’t. And most of the times, I can’t find any rational explanation for this – for no plausible reason, it just feels awkward and uncomfortable when someone is around. What if I’m able to sense their energy and get the emotional state associated with anxiety as a response to low-frequency vibes?
As you see, it turns out that anxiety disorders also have a bright side. Nothing is absolute in this world, and perhaps, we label anxiety with being a mental disorder because we still know too little about the human brain and the existence in general.
In reality, anxious individuals might simply be too sensitive to the things most people are unaware of.
Do you agree that anxiety disorders are more complex than it seems? What are your thoughts on this? Please share them in the comment section below.
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I agree with absolutely everything written in this article. I have been struggling with GAD and depression (which usually go hand in hand) for the last 12 years that I am aware of, and may have started much earlier in my childhood.
Many people have called me "gifted" and the anxiety definitely contributes to my energy field and those whom are in it. I can sense things in people, "demons" if you will, and I have to be very careful who I am around because of that sixth sense.
The more we are educated through each others experiences, along with prayer and meditation, the better we learn to cope and can be of great help to each other.
Thank you again for the wonderful article.
Chronic anxiety is a symptom of the body's state of arousal that prepares us for the fight or flight response, and is caused by unhealed PTSD, usually originating in early childhood trauma. And yes, there has been evidence since the 1980s that trauma survivors report higher incidences of ESP and psychic awareness than others. (see Dr. Lenore Terr's long-term study of the Chowchilla kidnapping children, beginning in 1976).
This was so informing.
I have been able to use these abilities since I was a child how ever it did cause alot of grief growing up.
Only until about a year ago I researched this....but never told any one.
I have the ability to read people based on the energy around them and body movement I can tell what kind of person they are with out a word I can tell almost what they have been threw in life and what they do in life.
I can not handle busy places I feel every thing all at once...I don't know how to deal with sadness....angry people...and unfortunately I get agitation and leave the situation. I know when people are lying I know when there sad angry even if they are hiding it.
I have a very very good sense of what's around me at all time extremely fast reflexes when I'm faced with danger everything around me stops I'm the only one moving this has happened a few times when driving....I may sound nuts and trying to sound like a super hero lol I know that's why I have never talked to any one about this.
I love this article it's refreshing to know there are other people like me
Totally agree. I am v sensitive to all moods and pick up on it and often feel v uncomfortable in company. Rather go out for walk in woods with dog. Dog is v sensitive too!
I'm glad to see this being revealed. I've sensed danger long before it materialized - and it has saved me. I learned as a child that there is more to us than meets the eye. I slightly disagree with the statement we don't need the survival instinct as we once did. I think we need it more than ever, perhaps that is why social anxiety is perceived as an epidemic - it is reawakening in our society.