What makes people so jumpy

Special Projects Highline. HuffPost Personal Video Horoscopes. Follow Us. Terms Privacy Policy. Part of HuffPost World News. All rights reserved. This son really has it in for his easily startled Dad. Suggest a correction. What's Hot. Let's talk about arousability. There's some very interesting research now looking into arousability or hyperarousability. We have some data that looks at women who are extremely anxious, very stressed during their pregnancy, they had very high serum cortisol levels during their pregnancy.

Cortisol is the level we make when we're stressed. When their babies were born, their babies had high levels of cortisol and they were more hyperarousable.

Little startle noises made them jumpy, these are the babies. So this is something where the baby is born with a trait of being arousable and being hyperalert based on the experience in-utero. But there are other conditions that can lead to a hyperarousable state. First of all, the most predictable is caffeine. We are now the caffeine nation and I see young people consuming very high levels of caffeine. When you drink coffee or caffeine-like drinks all the time, people are hyperexcitable.

They jump at smaller things, they're hyperirritable, their brain is irritable, meaning, the same loud noises that don't bother other people seem to bother them. So loud noises, bright lights, the brain is irritable when it's hypercaffeinated.

And often it's a little underslept. So that can make the brain hyperirritable. People who are hyperthyroid. So when your engine is just running too fast, it can make you hyperirritable.

You jump or become startled at smaller things. You can't calm yourself as well. So that can be one of the signs of hyperthyroidism. It's been a lot in the newspaper with respect to our soldiers. Men and women coming back from overseas because very loud noises, they saw horrible things, they were traumatized, and now their brain is on high alert all the time. Little things make them jump.

Why do I feel anxious and panicky? Symptoms of anxiety Anxiety can have both psychological and physical symptoms. Physical symptoms can include: a pounding heartbeat breathing faster palpitations an irregular heartbeat feeling sick chest pains headaches sweating loss of appetite feeling faint needing the toilet more frequently "butterflies" in your tummy Anxiety can also be a symptom of another condition, such as panic disorder when you have panic attacks or post-traumatic stress disorder , which is caused by frightening or distressing events.

Is anxiety bad for you? Help for anxiety and panic There are effective treatments available for anxiety and panic disorders, so do talk to your GP if you think you may benefit from them. Source: Health Scotland - Opens in new browser window. Last updated:. How can we improve this page?