Why it is wrong and harmful to be nervous. “On nerves” all the time

Sometimes, behind absolutely normal phenomena, disturbances in the functioning of our psyche are hidden.

This is exactly the case with anxiety: the body’s usual defensive reaction can develop into a real disorder and greatly ruin your life.

How to understand: is this temporary excitement or persistent anxiety?

What is anxiety?

It was anxiety that helped our ancestors survive in harsh conditions: this feeling forced the body to mobilize strength, pick up a club and be ready to protect its hut from any adversity. And they, by the way, lay in wait for our ancestor at every step: hunger, cold or heat, poisonous plants and aggressive animals, enemies from the neighboring hut - who knows where danger might accidentally strike? Of course, in such conditions only the most, read: anxious, people survived.

Fortunately for us, times have changed: most of the dangers no longer threaten sapiens. But the habits remained the same.

Now, excessive anxiety can really poison our lives, and we need to do something about it.

First of all, it should be recalled: anxiety is a normal, and in some places even beneficial, property of our body. Because this is exactly the emotion that people experience when they are afraid of something or when they are nervous. And life now is such that there are countless reasons to be nervous every day. Sometimes it happens that we worry about something, and therefore we throw all our strength into solving the problem, work harder and therefore achieve good results.

And everything would be fine, but if this oppressive feeling prevents you from living, it is no longer just anxiety, but an anxiety disorder - a condition that cannot be called normal.

Remember: if, due to anxious thoughts, you cannot live, work, or enjoy simple things, then this is a disorder and you need to work with it

How does anxiety develop into anxiety disorder?

How and why we get an anxiety disorder, no one can tell us for sure. Some people are excited by certain things, while others have problems with hormones. In any case, the mechanism for triggering anxiety is this: our brain decides that the situation around us is life-threatening.

Those of us who are more resilient than others accept these brain signals as a possibility, as a warning. But anxious people turn the “maybe” signal into a “so it is” signal. The thought-anxiety process has already started. The body, as in primitive times, is simply obliged to launch a survival program.

Let's figure out what anxiety disorders are?

First of all, generalized. This is when anxiety creeps up on us unnoticed, when you don’t expect it at all. There may be no external reasons for worries, but the feeling is so great that it does not allow you to concentrate on everyday activities. Next comes the social - when a person is afraid to be among people.

“Unreasonable anxiety has been coming in waves since my student days. Then I disowned it as best I could, considering it my sick fantasy and reaction to the exams. Now I understand that this is not nonsense: there are times when I may not leave the house because I am afraid. I don’t know what exactly,” says Vladislav.

Despite the fact that man is a social being, social phobia has existed for decades

The next type is panic disorder. Often people with panic attacks can be confused with drug addicts: we have seen this and it really can be similar. During a panic attack, the heart beats at a rapid pace, there is not enough air, and the vision becomes dark. An all-consuming fear approaches a person, literally paralyzing the entire body.

“When I told my friends about my anxiety, everyone just pointed at their temple: they say, you need treatment. One day I had a panic attack. It happened on a bridge, right in the center of the city. I called an ambulance, they arrived very unhappy. Then it began to seem to me that I was dying, that I was definitely about to die,” continues Vlad.

Finally there is phobias- this is an inexplicable fear of something specific.

“I have an unusual phobia: I experience uncontrollable horror of people who have used drugs. I can’t help it: if I see something like this, I literally become numb, my hands start to shake,” shares Minsk resident Inna.

How can I tell if I have normal stress or an anxiety disorder?

“The main symptom is a constant feeling of anxiety, which lasts for at least six months, provided that there are no reasons to be nervous or they are insignificant and inadequate to the situation.

Anxiety changes your life: you refuse to work, walks, meetings or acquaintances, or some activity just because you are too worried. You feel very tired, irritable, your sleep is disturbed over time, you feel constant fear and cannot relax, you may feel dizzy, your heart rate may increase. If you have at least a few of the symptoms listed, then working with a specialist is simply necessary,” says psychologist Nadezhda Kuzmina in an interview.

If you constantly fiddle with your clothes and feel uncomfortable in any situation, it would be good to contact a specialist

It is impossible to measure the level of anxiety, so there is no exact test for anxiety. In this difficult matter, it is best to focus on internal sensations. But it is important not to overdo it and not confuse, for example, stress with anxiety.

A simple example will help you understand how to distinguish one from the other. Stress is a reaction to some stimulus. This means that if you remove the source, it will disappear along with it. For example, if a very unpleasant person calls you, you experience stress while talking with him.

Anxiety is the feeling that remains after the source of irritation has been removed. It's an unpleasant feeling of waiting for a call back. To the point where we don’t want to answer calls even from people we like. And then any phone call turns into torture.

Few people seek help for excessive anxiety. Firstly, “this is the time” - we are all surrounded by stress, so often anxiety passes somewhere in the background. You get so used to it that you consider it an absolutely normal phenomenon. Secondly, anxiety is perceived as cowardice, and in our world it is a shame to be a coward.

What can you do to help yourself with an anxiety disorder?

First of all, try to find an obvious source of stress. Maybe the unloved job, for which you have to be so nervous, is to blame? What prevents you from relaxing and taking a deep breath? If you can find the answer to this question, congratulations: your anxiety disorder has passed you by. If there is no obvious reason, you will contact specialists.
How to “switch” a mobilized organism a little? Workout. In the end, sport is also a struggle. But not destructive.

It’s not for nothing that social networks, nutritionists and psychologists talk about the benefits of sports

Finally, you should close your ears to the suggestion of everyone who cares to “just calm down.” It is important to understand: counteracting anxiety is not calm at all, but... reality! Remember how we only think everything is bad right now? In fact, life goes on, but nothing like that happens to us in reality. That is why it is important to return to reality and pressing matters. Sports, by the way, are an excellent option for such “grounding”.

So, in general, a state of anxiety is normal for our body, otherwise we simply cannot survive in the world around us. But if this obsessive fear literally prevents you from living, this is a reason to consult a competent doctor. And before taking it, try to fight anxiety on your own: with the help of physical activity, meditation and putting effort into work.

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How to stop being nervous? Rather, it’s worth figuring out not how to stop worrying altogether, turning into an insensitive mummy, but how to stop being nervous about every occasion, strengthening your nerves and minimizing energy costs. Everyone chooses their own way, someone tries to heroically solve an endless stream of problems, and someone pretends that it’s not their eye that is already twitching. But the beauty is that no matter how much you hide from nervous and problematic situations, no matter how much you ridicule them, this will give a temporary effect of relief without solving the main problem of eliminating the root cause.

Meanwhile, he continues to worry about unresolved issues, i.e. background anxiety remains, and the clump of problems grows, and when the strength to cope runs out, a person is faced with the scale of the tragedy, forcing him no longer to be nervous, but to fall into depression. The desire to resolve all irritating issues is more effective, but problems do not end and issues requiring intervention arise every day, not to mention irritating factors and people.

How to stop being nervous and become calm

For some people, the question of how to stop being nervous and worried is the most pressing in their life; usually, for such individuals, all matters are important and urgent, the future is filled with worries because it is unknown, and there is not enough time in the present. Constant worry does not provide an opportunity for relaxation, because when one problem is solved, another is immediately discovered, and the quiet corners where no one gets on your nerves are over.

This is long and hard work, by definition, with its own system of priority goals in order to solve problems that are important now (i.e. if the cutlets are burnt, then focus on saving leftover meat and ventilating the kitchen, and not on the quarterly report, nerves about which and led to burnt cutlets). Rumination about the past should also not take up much time, especially negative experiences where you replay the conversation and select new answers, if these are situations where you continue to be nervous about your reputation - all this unwinds the nervous system, leading to its instability. At the same time, you cannot change these events, but you will still have time to harm what is happening in the present moment with your semi-absent state and bad mood, triggering reasons for worries in a circle. So conscious presence in the present moment of your life is the key to an adequate and full feeling of life, removing unnecessary empty experiences regarding unchangeable things or possible but not happened events.

To figure out how to stop being nervous and worried, you need to understand the mechanism by which such a worldview arises. Usually behind the increased is a person’s habit of inflating his negative emotional state, exaggerating the significance of minor troubles. To become calmer, you will have to not just swallow tranquilizers, but carry out serious intrapersonal transformations, requiring both external lifestyle changes and internal ones, affecting the motivational sphere and the ability to concentrate and determine what is important.

For peace of mind, it is necessary to eliminate the causes of anxiety, and they cannot always be expressed by external factors in the form of annoying neighbors or constant incidents at work, since this happens in everyone’s life. Rather, we are talking about the presence of internal factors that contribute to the perception of the situation overly emotionally, giving it excessive significance and not letting go over time. Among the qualities that contribute to the development of nervousness is , which, on the one hand, implies the importance of only one’s own opinion, and it would seem that it should free a person from worries, but everything turns out to be the opposite, since one’s own importance is too high and requires constant feeding and admiration of the outside world. A self-centered person is not sensitive to others, but is extremely vulnerable to criticism of himself; add increased attention to the reactions of others and we get manic fixation, which can cause serious worries due to the sidelong glance of an unfamiliar passerby.

The need to always be on top gives rise to a constantly elevated level of anxiety and tension, which leads to irritation over the smallest reasons and an overly sensitive attitude even to those moments that would not bother an ordinary person, such as the rudeness of a salesman or an insult from a drunk. Somewhere next to egocentrism lies the need for constant pleasure and pleasure, while everyday affairs, work, obstacles to pleasure cause excessive irritation, and a person does not calm down until he reaches the desired nirvana. The aspiration is good and characteristic of absolutely all people, but it is a priori unattainable, because life is not a beautiful picture of the Garden of Eden and also consists of necessity and pain, of the need to endure and postpone one’s pleasure. If you do not learn such qualities, then the world can seem very cruel and cause a lot of resistance - reactions quite similar to adolescence, when the universe stops revolving around one's desires, but forces him to earn what he wants.

If the first two reasons are a product of , then among the characteristics of a more mature structure that prevents living in peace, independence also leads. Perfectionism forces a person to strive for the impossible, bringing every detail to perfection (this is how not only leaves but also dust can be swept out of the yard, a sweater can be re-knitted a dozen times, and a table for passing a diploma can be measured to the nearest millimeter). In addition, such exactingness is distributed not only to one’s own life, but also to the actions of others, causing a lot of irritation.

The requirement for perfection in everything gives rise to a lot of reasons for worries that are groundless and do not lead to results, so lowering demands and increasing the ability to enjoy what is happening and the imperfect world can bring more peace to the life of a perfectionist. Independence, as a factor that causes nervous feelings, manifests itself in its extreme forms, when a person cannot delegate responsibilities and pulls everything on himself. From such a state of overload, even little things begin to irritate, and freer friends will be fueled by a negative attitude towards others and the desire to prove their toughness by overcoming everything on their own.

The second manifestation of independence, as a factor that disturbs inner peace, is the independence of the opinion and structure of one’s personality and life from social norms; in such cases, a nervous reaction will be caused by any collision with rules that cannot be explained logically (for example, why it is necessary to come to work at eight and sit until five, if you can show up at ten and leave at four, having completed the same volume, but with better quality due to better health). Such people need to either develop their own system of life, going into private practice and freelancing, surrounding themselves with like-minded people, or try to find the advantages of the established system, which still cannot be broken.

Trying to do everything as quickly as possible, to resolve all tasks in one day is commendable, but encounters many obstacles in the form of the leisurely participation of the people involved, closed doors of the necessary structures and slowly moving escalator stairs. If your speed is higher than those around you, then you can be nervous while you are rushing them indefinitely; it is better to try to do other things while you wait: if you are sitting in a queue, then instead of crazy and nervous comments towards the recipient, you can do your mail, watch a training video or write the necessary article. Keep track of the time you are nervous, because in fact you cannot change the situation and use it in another useful way.

How to stop being nervous over trifles

You can't do without worries. They make us alive, show the significance of not only positive events, but also indicate problems, perform all sorts of useful functions, but how to stop being nervous about every reason that is not significant, making you worth thinking about. Ignoring such a state, suppressing attacks of irritation or waiting for a better period to come, if it happens for a long time, then negative consequences will appear in the form of accumulation and growth of tension to a state where it is ready to splash out at the slightest provocation in an inappropriately destructive manifestation. It’s great if you can find useful moments even in nasty things and turn minor troubles into positive signs (for example, if you are stuck in an elevator, you can rejoice at the good reason to be late for work and take a nap while you are freed from metal captivity). The ability to see the positive comes from the ability to accept both good personal qualities and events, as well as bad ones. And the desire to display only approved traits and adjust everything that happens to the ideal option often forces one to concentrate on the negative. If it is critically important for you that everything goes perfectly, then you will control the course of all events and especially opportunities not according to the script, the number of things requiring your participation, experience and control will increase. This all resembles a self-fulfilling prophecy, because worrying about the ideality of what is happening, you overload yourself with responsibility and nervousness so much that the chances of making a mistake increase.

Try to relax and be able to accept imperfections. Both in the manifestation of your individuality and in the world, such an attitude relieves you of unnecessary tension and worries, and automatically improves the situation, and even if it does not improve, it does not destroy your mood and health. In the end, it is much more important to remain calm than to have bows tied in the same way, to adhere to time frames down to the second and to keep the appearance in line with the latest trends in Milan.

Nerves for minor reasons give rise to problems in the mood and stability of the nervous system, and if you do not work to improve its condition, then you can remove irritating factors ad infinitum, but this still will not help stabilize the emotional background, since the problem is located inside the body. To reduce the load on the central nervous system, it is worth temporarily eliminating or maximally reducing the consumption of substances that have a stimulating effect on it (caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, drugs, some hormones); instead, it is worth introducing into the diet a greater intake of B vitamins, which are responsible for the good functioning of neural systems. connections and conduction of nerve pathways. During periods of nervous overstrain and stress, you should definitely support your central nervous system with the help of appropriate vitamin complexes or herbal decoctions. Ensure yourself a productive and useful rest not only during the vacation period. Let there be one day a week completely free from work issues, you can even turn off your phone so that they cannot find you and pull you out, putting pressure on your sense of responsibility. Quality sleep is the basis for restoring neural pathways, and switching activities promotes real rest.

If you spent the whole day looking at the monitor, came home and stared at the tablet, this will not reboot your nerves; you’d better take a walk or go to the gym. If your work involves physical activity, then on the contrary, it is better to spend the evening at the cinema, reading a book or quietly communicating with your family. Follow a daily routine so that your psyche is prepared for the fact that at a certain period it will have to work at full capacity, but then within the designated period it will get its rest - unsystematic behavior leads to disruption and destabilization of the psyche.

If you notice that having adjusted your own life, providing your nervous system with decent conditions, nothing has changed in your nervousness, then contact a psychologist who may determine the development of neurosis (which happens if you pretend for a long time that everything is normal) or help identify the true cause problems (perhaps you are depressed by your relationship with your spouse, then no matter how much you take vitamin complexes, his presence will irritate and provoke disruptions in the functioning of the nervous system and only termination or restructuring of the relationship will help).

How to stop being nervous and worrying

You can stop worrying by limiting your fixation on the situation and work. Of course, you should anticipate various options for the development of the situation and take into account bad outcomes, but this does not mean that all thoughts should be devoted only to this. Weakening the supply of the nervous system by worrying about the future or coming up with different versions of the past will not help get rid of worries. During the onset of anxiety, you should take care of the present situation, instead of anticipating future events. Learn to stop your mental flow and narrow the scope of perception to the current moment in those moments when you are overwhelmed by experiences, so you can direct the rising energy in a constructive direction, instead of exhausting your nerves. It helps not to worry about future troubles by speaking (perhaps even mentally) of what is happening at the moment (you are chewing an apple, crossing the road, making coffee - even the funniest thing said out loud brings you back to the present).

By analyzing possible failures, and then looking at the number of those that have occurred, you will get a conclusion about your good imagination. Most of all the horrors depicted by our anxiety never come true, but nerves about this are quite real, affecting the general resource of the nervous system and the quality of health of the whole organism. If you can’t get rid of thoughts about possible failures, then you can always change their course and instead of spinning the plot up to the point of a horror movie script, start thinking about ways to solve the problems that arise, or better yet, look for the benefits that can be derived from what happened. Knowing how to handle the situation, it becomes not a problem for us, but only a certain stage, and if we see a certain benefit for ourselves in this, then the fear and worries about its occurrence finally leave the emotional sphere.

Take a break from prolonged concentration on complex or problematic issues by trying to walk more, saturate your body with oxygen, and play with your pets (this activity, by the way, is a great stress reliever). You can play a game or meet with friends, attend an interesting event and add a little adrenaline to life (this hormone also helps fight stress, removes panic and a state of active activity, and can also reboot the brain and give a new vision).

If you are often nervous and worried, then add movement in the form of exercises or fitness, jogging or a pool membership - it’s all about your preferences. In addition to helping to process various heavy symptoms, physical activity promotes the production of endorphins, which ultimately helps to see the world in less dark tones and, accordingly, worry less.

Aromatherapy and are excellent helpers for stabilizing the nerves. There are special mixtures of scents that have a relaxing and calming effect, as well as works that affect your emotional state and entire collections of them. All this can be found at the nearest pharmacy and downloaded to your player, the only thing is that it will take time for a noticeable effect to occur. Therefore, try to do sessions regularly, it is especially good to combine them with other types of care for your nerves, for example, doing meditative practices accompanied by appropriate relaxing music, in a room filled with aromatherapy scents. In situations where your nerves are completely at their limit or have been under the test of circumstances for a long time, if you no longer control your emotional outbursts and can scream or cry unexpectedly for yourself, it makes sense to take sedatives. They, from harmless valerian to serious tranquilizers, should be prescribed by a doctor, taking into account all the characteristics of your body, since most of them also affect the heart, the speed of reactions, may be contraindicated or even require antidepressants. In addition, a specialist may recommend working with a psychologist to resolve situations that led to such a condition and even issue a sick leave to restore the nervous system.

How to stop being nervous and learn to enjoy life

Nerves in a shattered state can seriously ruin your life, so it’s worth slightly adjusting your daily activities so that there is a place for relief from accumulated tension, and therefore an opportunity to look at the world positively. Be sure to try to take a daily walk; jogging after the bus while being late for work does not count - you should have time during which you will have the opportunity to get tired of the experiences you have received during the day and reflect. Let it be returning from work through the park or an evening walk along the neighboring pond.

Start clearing the emotional rubble, which contains old grievances and accusations, unsaid words and childhood complexes - all this is difficult and takes a lot of time, and the efforts of the spirit are colossal, because the experiences there are far from wonderful, but after cleansing and freeing yourself from such a burden, you will be able to feel , as there are more reasons for joy, and fewer things will cause a strong emotional reaction. Tune in to a positive perception of yourself and instead of constant criticism, let your inner voice speak encouraging speeches. Take care of your own life, protecting its happiness, because only you know what can make you happy. Of course, you want your loved ones to guess what can make you happy, but the more you silently wait for this, shifting responsibility for your happiness onto others, the more complaints accumulate against them, the more their smiles begin to irritate.

Give up the rush and the desire to do everything perfectly; instead, you can learn time management techniques and the ability to see beauty in flaws, since it is in them that uniqueness is hidden, and everything ideal is stereotyped and similar to each other. Avoid excessive stress; after work, you should have energy left for hobbies and friends, for your development and gaining new experience. To do this, learn to ask for help without fear that your reputation will suffer; on the contrary, people will begin to treat you warmer, besides, many want to be useful and like to help.

Fill your day with positivity: you can communicate more with and reduce communication with, exclude people who escalate the situation, making you nervous. Do unusual and funny things on ordinary and identical days, share it with others, you can even set yourself the goal of becoming as funny as possible, then the mood will be wonderful and what previously made you nervous will become just a reason for another joke.

Do what you love - it is always a source of peace and new life resources. Practice on principle, no matter what happens, and you will notice that by introducing this rule, all your nerves and worries will remain behind the doors of the workshop, dance class, laboratory, whatever you like.

Speaker of the Medical and Psychological Center "PsychoMed"

A person constantly experiences some kind of emotion. Without them, he would not have been able to even take a step, they play such an important role in our lives. They can be different: both negative and positive. Some are able to control them, while others are constantly nervous and worried, not trying to change this behavior. But this is a completely unreasonable attitude towards yourself and your health. Because the habit of being nervous, even when there seems to be a reason for it, does not help to deal with a difficult situation, but only aggravates an already difficult situation. Besides this, there are many more reasons why, for your own good, you shouldn’t be nervous about whatever happens.

Why you shouldn't be nervous often

But unlearning being constantly nervous is not so easy. You can't do this without serious motivation. The fact is that changing a person’s behavior pattern is a difficult task, because it takes years to develop. And it’s very difficult to take it and change it in an instant. No one is able to change if he does not understand why it is necessary, what benefit he will receive from it, what he will be saved from and get rid of. No matter how strong his desire and conviction that it will work out, he will not find the strength to overcome all the difficulties that stand in his way. Even if in a short time he manages to develop several correct habits, such as doing exclusively what he likes, no matter how strange and scary it may sound.

Therefore, before changing your usual way of life, you need to understand, realize and remember in advance what you are saving yourself from by deciding to treat what is happening differently.

Overreacting to troubles causes a host of health problems. First of all, this deals a crushing blow to the nervous system, which often becomes the very cause of a lot of psychosomatic problems and leads to various diseases, ranging from allergies, which can become chronic and turn into eczema, and ending with vegetative-vascular dystonia, which almost untreatable. In general, there is an opinion that the impetus for the development of any disease is nervous tension. So it is impossible to predict what the next nervous shock will lead to. But obviously not good. And over the years the situation gets worse.

True, the opinion that stress is always a threat to the body is quite controversial. According to the scientist Selye, who studied the nature of stress, it is not stress itself that has a negative impact, but distress—stress that continues for quite a long time. It doesn’t matter at all whether it is caused by positive emotions or negative ones. It is very important to avoid prolonged tension. It is important to do everything to get rid of it as soon as it arises, by playing sports, listening to music, simply relaxing, or by solving the problem that gave rise to its appearance. You urgently need to distract yourself, do what you love, create an atmosphere of calm, coziness and comfort.


It is not so dangerous to experience joy or sorrow for a short period of time, so you should not try to be a person who does not react to anything at all. Breaking yourself and turning into a soulless robot can in itself cause a lot of health and mental problems.

Any experiences to which an adequate response does not immediately arise become the cause of internal worries and tension. When an annoying situation arises, it is very important to respond to it in such a way that it does not leave any negativity behind. No matter how traumatic it is, you must either accept it as a given and adjust your behavior, or do everything to fight back, get rid of what frightens, hurts, upsets, offends or irritates.

Tolerate, reconcile, or pretend that nothing happened, but in your soul continue to feel resentment, guilt, fear, a desire for revenge - this is the first step towards neurosis and a huge list of diseases that arise in neurotics. Diseases of the cardiovascular system, blood pressure, problems with the digestive tract, muscle pain - this is just a small list of what awaits those who still do not understand why one should not be nervous often.

Pregnant women should not worry, as this will negatively affect the unborn child. This not only harms his health and interferes with his full development, but can also transmit excessive anxiety to him and make him a nervous and restless child.

For healthy people, the habit of worrying rather than solving the problem that has arisen, over time, threatens with a mandatory visit to a cardiologist, therapist and neurologist, and these are just a few specialists who will have to be visited in order to return to a normal lifestyle with the help of medications, or even stay alive. Even if at the moment you do not feel any health problems and are deeply convinced that you should not be nervous about those who already suffer from hypertension, have suffered a heart attack or stroke, think about it, but they were healthy before, it is unlikely that these are their chronic diseases. Why did they buy them?

Why is it bad to be nervous?

When faced with unpleasant events, in a difficult situation, or offended by someone for something they did or said, people become completely immersed in their emotions. And they lose the energy and self-control necessary to make the right decisions. Instead of immediately reacting to what happened, doing as their soul tells them, they try to find the best solution to the problem, not taking into account that their reaction already suggests it. But, without listening to her, they try to act as their inner fears tell them.

When a boss is rude, few people tell him that they are uncomfortable with such attitude. On the contrary, in order to convince themselves to remain silent and not react the way they want, everyone begins to remember that they will lose their job, income, and they have a family, loans, utility bills, dreams, etc.

But they do not understand that although this may be true, and it is indeed better to remain silent rather than give a civilized rebuff, the anger remains inside. After all, you can get rid of him only by accepting as a fact that their financial security is possible only with this boss. And no longer allow his offensive behavior into your soul, realizing that he is a deeply unhappy person and his words should simply be ignored.

Similar behavior, when people do not want to fight those who, in their opinion, offend them, without taking for granted that thanks to unpleasant emotions they have the financial status that such an unpleasant job or marriage gives them, leads to the emergence of neuroses, and in advanced cases, to depression, from which it is very difficult to get out.

When a person ignores the small arsenal he has for solving emerging problems and tries to sit on two chairs at once, he dooms himself to a miserable existence. Nature has given us only two ways out. The first is to accept the situation. Don't put up with it, be patient, waiting for it to end. Namely, accept, like the sunrise and sunset, as something that exists and cannot be changed. And the second is to fight and defeat the enemy, eliminate from life what causes negative emotions, so as not to encounter it again or know in advance how to react in order to minimize the consequences.


Whether you want it or not, you will have to make this choice so as not to be nervous anymore, not to experience anger, resentment, fear, irritation, anxiety, nervous tension, lack of self-confidence or self-confidence. Otherwise, emotional and professional burnout, chronic fatigue, asthenia, neuroses and, as a result, depression, which requires medication under the supervision of a psychiatrist and quite possibly in a hospital, are just around the corner.

Emotions, undoubtedly, will not disappear anywhere; they are an integral part of a person, an indicator of his attitude to what is happening to him and around him. But when a person is used to constantly experiencing negative feelings that make him nervous, he risks earning himself a whole bunch of diseases. After all, no matter how familiar it may sound, the aphorism that “All diseases come from nerves” very accurately describes the cause of the most serious diseases. And awareness of this should become the motivation that will allow you to become more balanced and calm, and learn to avoid irritants.

Any manifestation of the external and internal world finds a response in a person in the form of emotions. From what they are emotions, negative or positive Whether we are strong or not, our health directly depends. This article is about the signs of nervousness and its causes. .

People at any age experience mental stress.

If a child can laugh with tears in his eyes, and a teenager forgets about unhappy love after 3-4 days, then an adult worries about any reason, and scrolls through unpleasant thoughts in his memory for a long time, cherishing them inside himself, thereby driving his psyche into a state of stress.

This is explained by the fact that with age, immune defense decreases, hormonal levels change and a person becomes more and more prone to a negative perception of reality.

And there are plenty of reasons to be nervous in the modern world - excessive haste, daily stress at home and at work, hard work, social vulnerability, etc.

By the way, constant nervousness is one of the reasons for the strange night eating syndrome, in which people wake up at night from hunger and are unable to fall asleep without a snack.

Why are we nervous?

Objective reasons

The human condition has changed as a biological species. At the beginning of evolution, man led a natural lifestyle: the level of physical activity and the neuropsychic stress necessary for survival corresponded to each other.

The habitat was environmentally friendly, and if it became unsuitable, the community of people changed it to another without trying to change it.

The information environment has changed. Every decade the amount of information accumulated before doubles. Scientific and technological progress has a colossal impact on the brain: the speed at which information is received does not correspond to the biological capabilities of its assimilation, which is aggravated by a lack of time.

Children at school, especially diligent ones, experience information overload: the mental state of a first-grader when writing tests and the state of an astronaut at the moment of take-off of the spacecraft are comparable.

Many professions also create information loads: an air traffic controller, for example, must simultaneously control up to two dozen aircraft, and a teacher must pay enough attention to dozens of students.

How to use products to improve brain function, prevent brain atrophy and dementia (dementia, Alzheimer's).

Urban population growth increased the density of human contacts and the degree of tension between people. The number of unpleasant and unavoidable relationships has increased in public transport, in queues, in stores.

At the same time, beneficial contacts (for example, family contacts) have decreased and take only about 30 minutes per day.

Increased noise level, especially in cities, exceeds natural norms and has a negative impact on our psyche and the body as a whole: blood pressure and respiratory rate changes, sleep and dream patterns are disturbed, and other unfavorable symptoms.

We are exposed to noise almost constantly, sometimes without noticing it (TV, radio).

Bad ecology also has an indirect effect on the brain and psyche. High levels of carbon monoxide in the air we breathe reduce gas exchange in the brain and its performance. Sulfur and nitrogen oxides disrupt brain metabolism.

Radioactive contamination occupies a special place in the deterioration of mental functioning: our nervous system suffers greatly from its high level. The psychological impact of this factor aggravates the harmful effect, generating fear.

Scientific and technological revolution improved the material conditions of human habitation, but at the same time significantly reduced its margin of safety. A decrease in physical activity has led to disruption of the biological mechanisms of the human body.

Subjective reasons

Strong emotions are usually a defensive reaction to manifestations of the outside world. We get nervous if we are not confident in ourselves, in our present, we experience fear of the future, dissatisfaction with ourselves and others.

Any living organism, in the presence of a threat, responds with compression (muscle tension) - to become invisible, to hide so that the “predator” does not notice or eat.

In the modern world, this “predator” has been transformed into different images of the social and public environment: level of well-being, relationships with superiors, fear of responsibility, fear of criticism and condemnation, small pension, impending poor old age, etc.

These social “predators” scare us, we want to hide and not think about them, but our thoughts always return to unpleasant things willingly and spontaneously. From here, nervous tension arises again and again, which means the body instinctively contracts.

What happens to the body during nervous tension

Strong and prolonged emotions plunge the body into a state of stress: muscle tone increases, heart rate accelerates, digestion slows down, the stress hormone cortisol and the action and anxiety hormone adrenaline are released into the blood.

All internal resources are mobilized to overcome danger, the body is ready for quick action.

Such a defensive reaction is an ancient form of response, genetically determined and necessary for the survival of humans as a biological species. It involves physical activity, the body must work off “adrenaline”. And that is why physical activity helps with nervous tension.

Thus,

Nervous tension is always accompanied by unconscious muscle tension .

With constant nervousness and a sedentary lifestyle, muscle tone becomes chronic. A person seems to be encased in a muscular shell; movement within it requires enormous energy expenditure. Therefore, fatigue is a faithful companion to nervous states.

Due to constant muscle tension, performance decreases, irritability appears, and the functions of the digestive, cardiovascular and other systems and organs are disrupted.

Signs of nervous tension. How to help yourself

Nagging pain in the back, lower back, neck, shoulder girdle. With any nervous overload, the tension of the skeletal muscles increases, while the muscles of the neck, shoulder blades and biceps bear increased load.

Bring your index finger and thumb together and clasp them tightly on both hands.

Do stretching exercises for the whole body and different muscle groups.

Massage your ankles, moving up to your thighs. Do the same for your arms, moving up from your hands to your shoulders.

Sleep disturbance. It is well known that the best and safest medicine for nervousness is sleep. However, if you go to bed with a load of problems, then your brain continues to solve them in your sleep, which does not allow you to fully rest.

There is no interest in love pleasures.

The subconscious of a person in a difficult life situation establishes a ban on receiving pleasure from life. So that he doesn’t get scattered and throws all his energy into solving problems.

This results in a contradiction:

a person in this state, on the contrary, needs positive emotions, namely the pleasure hormones endorphins produced during lovemaking, because these hormones protect the body from stress and minimize its harmful effects.

Refusal to engage in a favorite hobby.

All efforts are aimed at eliminating the cause of nervous tension (finishing a project, finishing an article, preparing a report, etc.), but there is simply not enough time or energy for the rest of life. The whole body is like a string, all thoughts are about one thing. This attitude towards the problem aggravates mental and physical discomfort.

Make it a rule to give yourself the opportunity to rest. Let your day off be a real break from all your problems. This will provide the necessary energy to solve troubling problems.

Repetitive actions:

tapping fingers, swinging legs, walking back and forth. This is a natural reaction of a person to emotional stress, this is how he tries to restore balance and calm down.

Help yourself with similar repetitive actions: you can walk up and down the stairs, touch your rosary, knit.

Even chewing gum has a good effect; chewing movements activate cerebral circulation, which increases resistance to stressful situations.

There is a category of people who are constantly in a state of anxiety. As soon as their next problem is resolved, another appears on the horizon. They start to get nervous again. Years pass like this. Such a negative habit deprives people of the joy of life, takes away strength, and has a detrimental effect on health. If you belong to this category and are striving to become happier, then you definitely need to learn how to stop being nervous.

What does stress lead to?

A person who is anxious, nervous, is constantly in a zone of discomfort. Unpleasant sensations arise before an important meeting, event, presentation, or acquaintance. The appearance of nervousness is dictated by the psychological aspects of the personality. People get nervous if they fail, hear refusal, or look funny in the eyes of others.

Such psychological factors can greatly ruin your life. It is not surprising that these people are tormented by the question: how to calm down and stop being nervous?

An irritated person is unable to control life. All efforts are aimed at coping with negative emotions.

Losing control over life can lead to unpleasant consequences:

1. The use of means that allow you to get rid of problems for a short time (use of various medications, smoking, alcoholism).
2. Loss of life guidelines. A person, fearing failures, cannot and does not want to realize his dreams and desires.
3. Reduced brain performance.
4. Stress can lead to chronic fatigue, which can lead to serious illness.
5. Loss of control over the emotional sphere.

As you can see, the prospects are quite unpleasant. So let's figure out what you need to do to stop being nervous.

Fear Analysis

Most often, people who lack self-confidence experience a feeling of discomfort, which creates nervousness. What to do? How to stop being nervous and worried? Only long-term work on your thoughts and yourself will help you get rid of constant anxiety.

Initially, analyze your fears and acknowledge them. Take a sheet of paper and divide it in half. On the left, write the problems that you can solve. On the right - unsolvable.

Study the problems you wrote on the left. You know how to solve each of them. With a little effort, these problems will not exist. Then are they really worth worrying about?

Now go to the right column. Each of these problems does not depend on your actions. And no matter how hard you try, you cannot influence the course of her decision. So is it worth worrying about these problems?

Face your fears. This will take some time. But you will clearly determine which of the problems were groundless and which were real.

Remember your childhood

When analyzing how to stop being nervous about anything, try to remember the time when you were a little child.

Quite often the problem stems from childhood. Perhaps your parents often used your neighbor’s children as an example, describing their merits. This created low self-esteem. Such people, as a rule, are acutely aware of someone's superiority and are unable to put up with it.

How to stop being nervous in this case? It's time to understand that all people are different. And everyone has both advantages and disadvantages. It's time to accept yourself. Learn to accept your weaknesses calmly. And at the same time appreciate the advantages.

Day of rest

If the question of how to calm down and stop being nervous has begun to arise in your head very often, then you need to relax a little. Give yourself a day of rest.

For maximum relaxation, use the recommendations of psychologists:

1. Disconnect from your responsibilities. To do this, you need to prepare in advance. If you work, take a day off as vacation. Those who have children are advised to ask family or friends to babysit them in advance, and maybe even hire a nanny. Sometimes, to get a good rest, you just need to change the usual scenario. Think about your travel route in advance and reserve your tickets.
2. Take a bath in the morning. On a rest day, you can get out of bed whenever you want. And immediately take a relaxing bath. It has been proven that water treatments help relieve stress, calm the mind and help bring order to chaotic thoughts. For the best relaxing effect, add soothing herbs or your favorite essential oils to your bath. A pleasant aroma will make you feel more positive.
3. Have a cup of tea or coffee with friends. If the last drink leads to a headache or stimulates nervousness, then exclude this item from your activities on the rest day. Remember, coffee drunk while chatting with friends has a relaxing effect on the body. Drinking alone increases stress.
4. Do something exciting that you don’t have time for in normal life. It's time to remember your hobbies. On this day you can take up painting, write a story or compose a new song. Perhaps you will be completely captivated by home improvement. Reading a book can be a great way to relax.
5. Prepare a delicious dish. How to stop being nervous? Treat yourself to delicious food. This is what you need while on vacation. After all, delicious food is one of the sources of human pleasure.
6. Watch a movie. The most relaxing and calm way to have an interesting pastime is watching movies. And it doesn’t matter whether you do it in an apartment with friends or visit a cinema.

Methods for getting out of a stressful situation

Unfortunately, not everyone and not always can afford to set aside a whole day for rest. In addition, unpleasant feelings and thoughts can come suddenly. How to stop being nervous about anything in such a situation? After all, it is necessary to feel relief now and here. In other words, get rid of a stressful situation.

1. Get rid of the source of stress for a while. Give yourself a short break. Even a few minutes of complete idleness will be enough for you. Experts say that such breaks not only help relieve nervousness, but also stimulate enthusiasm and creative thinking.
2. Look at the situation with different eyes. When a person feels excited and irritated, he records precisely the feelings. Try to find the reason that caused such violent emotions. To understand how to stop being nervous about every occasion, ask yourself the question: why did this bring me out of a state of calm? Perhaps you are not appreciated at work, or the salary is too low. Having identified the source, you can outline a strategy for your further actions.
3. Talk through your problem. It is important to choose the right interlocutor here. This should be a person who can patiently listen to your problem. By talking through the situation, oddly enough, you not only “let off steam”, but also force your brain to analyze the state of affairs and find solutions.
4. Smile, or better yet, laugh. It is this event that “triggers” the production of chemicals in the human brain that stimulate improved mood.
5. Redirect the energy. If you are overwhelmed with negative emotions, then physical training will help improve your mood and reduce stress levels. An excellent method of redirecting energy is to engage in creativity.

New daily routine

How to stop being nervous before a work day or an important event?

The following recommendations will help you overcome unpleasant moments:

1. Tasty breakfast. To ensure you're in a good mood in the morning, prepare yourself something you love in advance. It could be yogurt, chocolate or cake. Glucose will energize you and help you wake up.
2. Do some exercise. Turn on your favorite pleasant music and do some exercises or dance. This will protect the body from stress.
3. Learn to distract yourself. If a situation arises at work that makes you nervous, think about home, family, or any thing that evokes pleasant associations in you.
4. Use water. How to stop being nervous over trifles? Water can be very calming. Of course, you won't be able to take a bath at work. But you can turn on the faucet and wash the cup or just watch the stream flow. It is effectively calming.
5. Look for the positives. If you cannot change the situation itself, then try to change your attitude towards it. If your salary was not paid on Friday, then there will be no temptation to spend it on the weekend.
6. Count to 10. An old proven way to find peace.
7. Write a letter. Trust paper with all your problems. Then tear the letter into small pieces or even burn it. At this time, mentally imagine that all your troubles burn away with him.

Life without stress

Above we looked at methods to overcome unpleasant situations. Now let's figure out how to stop being nervous and start living stress-free.

To do this, you need to develop behavioral patterns and healthy habits that will bring a sense of peace and happiness into your life:

1. Take a walk in the fresh air. Scientific studies have confirmed that such walks significantly improve your mood. Especially if you combine them with moderate physical activity.
2. Play sports. This is a reliable protection against diseases caused by stress. Regular exercise provides a calm, positive attitude towards your life.
3. Don't neglect rest. The quality of sleep has a huge impact on a person's well-being. Chronic lack of sleep often becomes one of the factors provoking the appearance of nervousness and irritability. In addition, people who neglect proper rest have a high risk of developing quite unpleasant diseases such as stroke and heart attack.
4. Get rid of bad habits. Some people, wondering how to stop being nervous, resort to smoking or drinking, trying to “relax” in this way. However, neither alcohol nor tobacco can relieve irritability and nervousness. They only dampen the severity of the problem for a while, delaying the moment of making a decision.

Calming techniques for pregnant women

For women who are in an interesting position, anxiety is generally contraindicated. But it is during this period that expectant mothers become extremely vulnerable and can get upset over trifles. How to stop being nervous during pregnancy?

There are several simple ways:

1. Don't give a damn about everything! A pregnant woman should only worry about her health. No matter what events happen nearby, it should be clearly understood that the expectant mother is responsible for the child. Is it possible to put at risk the most precious thing in a woman’s life? Now look at the problem. Is she worth the risk? No! So forget about it.
2. Mentally create a wall. Imagine that you are reliably protected from the outside world. Pass exclusively positive and pleasant information through the imaginary wall. Let only positive-minded people into your world.
3. Be more tolerant. It's not as difficult as it might seem. Just think that not all people are able to control themselves and emotions as well as you.
4. Look for the positive in life. Smile more often, surround yourself with things that bring joy, listen to pleasant music, read interesting books.

Each person must choose the activities that will help him relax and stop being nervous.

You might find these tips useful:

1. Look at the clouds floating in the sky.
2. Wash your face with cold water.
3. In rainy weather, look at the rain, listen to the uniform patter of drops.
4. Ask a loved one to read a book out loud to you until you fall asleep.
5. Take paints or pencils and draw whatever comes to your mind. Don't worry about the details and the end result.

Specialist help

If the above recommendations do not help you, then contact a psychotherapist or psychologist for help. The doctor will listen to you and conduct special tests. He will help determine the causes of stressful situations and suggest ways to resolve them. The doctor will develop a strategy on how to stop being nervous and strengthen the nervous system.

If necessary, you will be prescribed sedatives. These can be either medications or herbs. Mint, valerian, St. John's wort, chamomile, and lavender have an excellent calming effect.

However, do not overuse such drugs. They will not rid you of nervousness forever. Such remedies can only help temporarily.