Strangely, being anxious has some great advantages, according to recent studies.

Anxiety! We hate it, it’s frustrating and nerve-racking! It can be crippling, bringing us to our knees and making us beg for mercy! Yes, anxiety is horrible sometimes, but guess what? We need it! Those who are more anxious have a multitude of good traits. I’m serious! It’s not all about worry and unrest, sometimes anxiety has its good points.

Okay, so we understand how anxiety is a mental disorder and is oftentimes treated with medication. What we don’t pay attention to, however, is how anxiety serves a positive purpose in some people’s lives.

Here are a few ways that being anxious might just be a good thing.

1. Better test results

The right amount of anxiety can have a positive influence on the outcome of tests, well, most of the time. It depends on how much anxiety is present. While too much anxiety can prove to be detrimental for test takers, the right amount will cause the subject to be more careful in selections and use better memory skills.

2. Fewer accidents

Being anxious may mean you have fewer accidents. This is simply because you tend to be more paranoid about things in general. Anxiety causes us to look both ways twice before we cross the road, check our rearview mirrors several times before we back up our automobile and check a few times to make sure we’ve cut appliances off before we leave home.

Any situation in which an accident can happen can be assessed by our anxious intuition. The unfortunate part about this is, yes, anxious people have fewer accidents, but they suffer from more medical problems later in life due to inner stressors. Kind of bittersweet, don’t you think?

3. Stronger memory

Well, not to worry about those bittersweet results, anxious people have strong memories. Most people who suffer from anxiety assume their memories are just horrible. This is not true. In fact, since they think this way, they spend more time processing things into their memory banks.

4. More trustworthy

Anxious people become embarrassed a little easier than others. Since embarrassment is seen as a loyalty trait, those with anxiety can be entrusted to do important things or keep secrets.

Dr. Bob Willer, the study’s author, says,

Embarrassment is one emotional signature of a person to whom you can entrust valuable resources.

5. The world needs anxious people

Our world needs more anxious people. Why? Those with anxiety tend to worry more hence they generally stay out of harm’s way. The less dangerous situations, the longer the survival. Humans will thrive if we survive. Anxious people have the ability to survive through being overly-cautious in their decision making. Isn’t that so interesting?

So, before you judge yourself, or before you turn away from others with anxiety, remember this: Anxious people have many benefits that others just don’t have. As well as being stressed out and complaining, being anxious also has good points – many of which could mean the survival of our race as a whole. Again, we face stigma for something that’s farther from the truth. Mental illness, as we have seen many times before, can be a blessing just as well as a curse.

Let’s keep moving forward, discovering and appreciating our differences, both physically and mentally. We are all unique and beautiful.

References:

  1. https://greatist.com

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This Post Has One Comment

  1. mallu

    This is nice it looks into the other aspect of the anxiety, thats important. May be goodness on the other side of it might help

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