Life as an anxious scientist

https://dynamicecology.wordpress.com/2016/07/13/life-as-an-anxious-scientist/

by elsherbini • 10 years ago

75 17 10 years ago

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jondubois3• 10 years ago

I used to have terrible (social) anxiety when I was younger. I was extremely shy and would never initiate conversations with people I didn't know very well - I was always worried about what other people would think. Sometimes I would say something to someone and then later obsess about how silly I must have sounded.

I never get this anymore - I'm no longer afraid of creating tension and having heated arguments with people - I even enjoy it when someone disagrees with me. Sometimes I make bold statements (without thinking through too much) just to trigger a debate.

If you want to fix anxiety, you just have to create a very long-term goal (like 6 years) for yourself and start doing things outside of your comfort zone. If you're afraid of failure, your should expose yourself to failure.

When it comes to success, we usually don't have that much control of our lives (too many external competing interests). But when it comes to failure, you have almost complete control over that (nobody will try to stop you) - So you should use that freedom to experiment with failure.

In my case, getting fired were some of the most useful (and memorable) experiences in my life - I don't think someone can be a whole person without being fired a couple of times - If you get fired, it means you took a risk (and it didn't work out in that particular case).

nvarsj• 10 years ago

If you want to fix anxiety, you just have to create a very long-term goal (like 6 years) for yourself and start doing things outside of your comfort zone. If you're afraid of failure, your should expose yourself to failure.

There is a growing body of research which suggests for many people anxiety never goes away - it is a product of certain people's physiology, which causes the amygdala to react much more strongly to external stimuli. This is the highly sensitive person classification. In such a person, social anxiety never really goes away. So how do you treat that? You can use exposure therapy to learn to manage the anxiety (as you have done), but constantly exposing yourself to it will cause burn out, and probably depression if you expect the anxiety to disappear. Usually self-acceptance and lifestyle choices are a more appropriate approach - choosing jobs and friends such that you can keep the anxiety levels manageable.

amelius3• 10 years ago

I guess the lesson is that there is not just one kind of anxiety. Everybody is different. What works for some people may not work for other people.

Physiologically, it seems to boil down to one of the following problems:

- Malnutrition. Yes, even in the developed world, people suffer from malnutrition. If you are on a special diet, you may be at risk. For instance, iodine deficiency is linked to mental illnesses (anxiety and depression, but also autism). I can recommend [1], as it helped me beat anxiety (the book has a somewhat alarmist tone, which you will have to ignore).

- Genetic mutations. These correspond to enzymes being broken, and hence obstructing biological pathways. If you can figure out which enzymes are responsible, you can try to fix the particular pathway by supplementation. I can highly recommend taking a close look at [2], if you are willing to explore this route.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Iodine-Crisis-What-About-Wreck/dp/098...

[2] http://heartfixer.com/AMRI-Nutrigenomics.htm

bassislife• 10 years ago

Anxiety is probably environment-induced. Kids are not necessarily so anxious.

maxxxxx2• 10 years ago

It's great that you have been able to overcome your anxiety . But I would be careful with phrases like "You just have to ...." . What worked for you doesn't necessarily have to work for other people. There is a lot of value in telling your story but don't tell people to 'just do the same' and they will be OK. It's not that simple.

antisthenes• 10 years ago

I would be careful about exposing yourself too much to failure.

People need a healthy dose of success to maintain their self-esteem and confidence and if you expose yourself to failure a bit too often, you might just start to avoid any interactions at all and regress back into the same loop of anxiety over anything.

Sometimes I make bold statements (without thinking through too much) just to trigger a debate.

That sounds like a recipe for disaster if you're not attractive or are a minority.

maxxxxx2• 10 years ago

"I would be careful about exposing yourself too much to failure. People need a healthy dose of success to maintain their self-esteem and confidence"

That's an important point. A long time ago I decided to follow the usual advice to expose myself to social situations and went to tons of networking meetings. You are supposed to ask questions and so on and over time things get better. I forced myself to do this for quite a while but never got better. It was a totally demoralizing experience.

jondubois3• 10 years ago

I think you might be right about that. In my case, although I haven't succeeded in my career yet, I did have some small wins (and good emotional support) along the way which helped keep my confidence levels up (and yes, luck had a big role to play there).

I completely agree with you that confidence is key - And unfortunately, confidence just doesn't come from within - It has to come from outside validation.

Most people in our society suffer from a perpetual lack of confidence and low self-esteem. Unfortunately, as is the case with money and power, the 'lucky few' in our society seem to have an oligopoly on 'confidence' - They tend to 'suffer' from self-perpetuating overconfidence and an inflated sense of self-importance.

outworlder• 10 years ago

I used to have terrible (social) anxiety when I was younger. I was extremely shy and would never initiate conversations with people I didn't know very well - I was always worried about what other people would think.

Not trying to minimize what you've gone through, but by your description alone, this could even be something completely normal (i.e. not a mental illness). Most people go through a social anxiety phase at some point. And they usually overcome on their own.

By contrast, the poster would vomit before going to soccer camp, every day! This may not be something treatable by "just" creating a long term goal.

Anxiety disorder is something more widespread. It's constant worry about every little thing that might possibly go wrong. Or even right. In many aspects of life, not just social interactions.

netule• 10 years ago

Sometimes I make bold statements (without thinking through too much) just to trigger a debate.
If you want to fix anxiety, you just have to...

GFK_of_xmaspast• 10 years ago

If you want to fix anxiety, you just have to ....

Much like depression, Crohn's, and a broken leg, all you have to do to cure your anxiety is try really hard.

kikishortler• 10 years ago

Several emotions/states seem to have a dual nature depending on context and interpretation. Obsessing over data seems like a good thing; obsessing over grant applications seems like a bad thing. Since both scientific ideas and our understanding of them improve with repeated recall and criticism perhaps 'anxiety' can be put to good use.

yodsanklai• 10 years ago

I used to be very anxious for specific things. It led me to take bad decisions at some point in my life (like impulsively dropping out of a prestigious school I got admitted in). Retrospectively I realize it was totally ridiculous but I was in such a state of mind that I couldn't think clearly.

At that time, I didn't know it has to do with anxiety and even less that it could treated. Later on, I dated a medical student that noticed my issues and suggested me to try benzodiazepines. I know they get sometimes bad press because they may be addictive and they're not really a cure, but for me they were extremely helpful.

Life as an anxious scientist

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