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At some time or the other in life, such an occasion comes before every person when he is going to speak on the stage, is waiting for his turn outside the interview cabin of an important job or holds the question paper of a difficult examination in his hand. At that special moment, suddenly our heart beats faster in our chest, our palms become wet with sweat, our breathing becomes labored and we start feeling strange movements in our stomach. Many people dismiss it as just normal nervousness or fear, but in the language of medical and mental health science, it is called ‘Situational Anxiety’. It is a mental and physical condition that shakes our entire nervous system during a particular event or stressful moment. In today’s special health article, we will tell you in detail why our body reacts like this just before an examination, interview or public speaking and how it can be easily controlled.
Situational anxiety is basically a natural reaction of our body and mind to a particular, stressful or new situation. Whenever we are faced with a situation where our performance is to be evaluated or there is an environment of uncertainty, our brain immediately rings alarm bells. In this process, the sympathetic nervous system of our body becomes active and triggers the ‘fight or flight’ response. As a result, large amounts of stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol start getting secreted in the body. These hormones speed up our heartbeats, increase blood flow to our muscles, and make us physically ready to deal with or flee an immediate situation, even if there is no actual physical danger present.
When we sit in front of a big interview board or hold the mic in front of a crowd of hundreds of people, the fear of failure, the fear of being judged by people and the immense pressure of perfectionism creep into our minds. Our unconscious mind starts imagining every possible negative outcome like – ‘What if I forget?’, ‘What if people laugh at me?’ Or ‘If I don’t get a job, my career will be ruined.’ Due to the storm of these negative thoughts, our Amygdala i.e. the part of the brain that controls emotions becomes highly active, which suppresses logical thinking and creates panic-like symptoms in our body. This is the reason why even well prepared answers suddenly disappear from the mind at the time of interview.
When situational anxiety is at its peak, it is not limited to just mental restlessness but also starts affecting many physical parts of the body. The most common symptoms include rapid heartbeat (palpitations), shortness of breath or rapid breathing, trembling hands and feet, cold sweat on the palms and forehead, dry mouth, stomach cramps or a feeling of butterflies, and dizziness. Many times students suffer from sudden stomach upset or nausea just before entering the examination hall due to this anxiety. All these symptoms are proof that your body is in a state of complete stress to fight some invisible threat.
If you also often become a victim of this kind of situational anxiety before an interview, presentation or exam, then there is no need to panic because it can be completely controlled with some easy techniques. First of all practice ‘Deep Breathing Exercise’; Whenever you feel nervous, take a long breath in through the nose, hold for a few seconds and exhale slowly through the mouth. By doing this the parasympathetic nervous system becomes active and the heartbeats start calming down. Also, use the ‘Grounding Technique’ (5-4-3-2-1 Technique) which involves seeing 5 things around you, touching 4 things, hearing 3 sounds, smelling 2 and tasting 1; This shifts your focus from fear to the current environment. Keep your preparation solid, have positive self-talk and avoid caffeine or excessive tea-coffee consumption as it can further increase anxiety.