High Levels of Anxiety are Associated with High Intuition, Intelligence, and Empathy

I am certain that high levels of anxiety come from the ability to retain high levels of both mental and emotional intelligence.

I’ve noticed, the more I think and analyze a situation, the higher my levels of anxiety become. I have often told myself and others this: “I wish I was dumb”. To me, being less intelligent would mean having peace of mind, you know…”Ignorance is bliss” sort of thing. But then I think it over and then come up with even more questions like this one: “How do you categorize intelligence?”

Do you see what I mean?

So, to understand the correlation between high levels of anxiety and intelligence, intuition or even empathy, I must first look at each one separately. The objective is to gauge how these characteristics influence emotions and the ability to cope. Maybe there’s something there that can help bring out the best in us.

Intuition

Intuition is something that I have been gifted with from an early age. You might say it came from trauma, which gave me the ability to reason and assess probability more effectively. It’s true that intuition is only making an educated guess based on past experiences, right? It could be more than that. Maybe there’s a slight bit of extra sensory perception involved, and a great deal of anxiety… possibly.

Did you know that people who are diagnosed with anxiety can predict situations 50% more frequently than those who do not have anxiety? It’s true, and so this gives a little insight on how these two relate. I remember speaking before about how being anxious wasn’t all bad and was actually a heightened “fight or flight” instinct.

Well, it’s not all bad, that’s true, but anxiety and intuition can also cause a state of alarm when nothing is even happening as well. So, basically, you take the good with the bad. But yes, there is a clear connection between high levels of anxiety and intuition.

Intelligence

A study at the Lakehead University in Canada proved that out of 100 students surveyed, those who exhibited higher levels of anxiety indeed had a higher I.Q. In a separate study, two psychiatrists, Tscahi Ein-Dor and Orgad Tal both reported that these students with higher I.Qs were also more alert to dangers in their surroundings. They had heightened senses of smell and hearing.

Now the downside of this, and we know there is a downside, is that intelligent people with high levels of anxiety can sometimes let this anxiety cripple them. Instead of taking action on all these analyzed scenarios in their head, they will sometimes become paralyzed and unable to act at all. No amount of intelligence can override some of the fears concocted by the anxious mind.

Empathy

High levels of anxiety are common in empathy as well. The reason this rings true is that empathy means being able to feel what other people feel in such a heightened way that you find yourself wanting to “save the world”. Of course, you know you cannot save the entire world and that, in turn, makes you depressed. Being empathic carries a boat-load of responsibilities, at least that’s what you think. It’s important that you try to understand and walk in someone else’s shoes, right?

The connection between anxiety and empathy is strong because of the desire to always want to make things better. Sometimes, personally, I even try to understand how the turtle feels when it crosses the road, and even when I’m in a hurry, I will stop and help him across. If there are three turtles crossing the road in different locations, on a particular day, I will be late. Then I will worry about whether or not they wish to cross back again. sigh…

Sometimes, I just have to distract myself from such thoughts. lol

The good, the bad, and the not so attractive…

Okay, like I said before, there are good and bad sides to high levels of anxiety and the effects on your intuition, intelligence, and empathy. The bad side is losing control of your thoughts. Now, you might ask, why is it so terrible to be a little worried about things? Well, in case you didn’t know, anxiety is completely different from worry. Having high levels of anxiety contribute to many other physical and mental illnesses such as:

• Damage to cardiovascular health
• Causes onset of depression
• Causes OCD and PTSD symptoms
• Damage to digestive health, joint health, and pulmonary health.
• Migraines

Do you need a few more examples? I thought not. Here’s a good example then to balance things out.

I was told that I worried too much when my car battery died a few days ago, and I started to make plans to buy a new one. I was also told that it was just because I left the door open and that after a while the battery would build back up and everything would be fine. So, I listened to this suggestion and felt like my anxiety was getting the best of me again.

The next day I was stranded, because why? My battery was bad! This time, I was right to use my logic to buy a new battery, but because of my anxiety track record, I listened to someone else. As you can see, having high levels of anxiety can be tricky. You have to know when to stick to your guns and when to admit that… “you worry too much.” This can be a difficult thing to do.

And no, it’s not rocket science to realize you need to purchase a battery for a car, but sometimes you will choose to ignore your intuition because of how your anxiety has caused problems in the past. There lies the biggest problem of all.

Here lies the cure…

Discernment

There’s a word that wasn’t mentioned in this title, and I think it’s worthy of mentioning. The word discernment is your answer. Practicing healthy discernment is the key to conquering your doubts with high levels of anxiety in connection with intuition, intelligence, and empathy. As you grow older, you will understand when the time is right to fight or take flight…or simply do nothing at all.

Yes, it will take time, you will eventually gain a healthy insight on these things. From one anxious person to another, and to all those who love us…

Thank you for listening and learning.