the.com/nervousness
your body rehearsing for a disaster that almost never buys a ticket.
means the jittery, unsettled state of feeling anxious or apprehensive, often before something uncertain or important.
from From 'nervous,' which traces back to Latin 'nervosus' (sinewy, vigorous), from 'nervus' — a sinew, tendon, or cord, a cousin of Greek 'neuron.' Curiously, 'nervous' once meant strong and full of vigor (think of a 'nervous' style of writing — taut and muscular). Only later, as physicians began linking the body's literal 'nerves' to agitation and weakness of feeling, did the word twist toward today's meaning of anxious unease. The '-ness' is the plain old English suffix for turning a quality into a state of being.
- same chemistry
- Fear and excitement share identical adrenaline signatures
- gut feeling
- Stomach has 100 million neurons, hence the butterflies
- reframe trick
- Saying I am excited beats calming down, studies show
- sweaty palms
- Evolved to improve grip while fleeing predators
- contagious
- Anxiety spreads between people via subconscious scent cues
first night jitters broadway — actors experiencing acute anxiety before opening night performances, documented since the 1920s
pre-game butterflies nfl — professional football players reporting stomach anxiety before super bowl, measured by sports psychologists
exam anxiety syndrome — students experiencing panic and trembling during standardized tests like the sat, affecting ~30% of test-takers