Have you ever done a presentation or performance, where you were so incredibly anxious that your whole body would tense up? Or have you ever experienced a large surge of excitement before a roller coaster or a ride?

Today I will be diving into the similarities and differences between these two emotional states, anxiousness and excitement. Additionally We’ll be looking at how each one is expressed neurologically, and emotively.

Neurological Similarities and Differences:

Firstly, let’s look at the neurological similarities and differences between the two to truly understand how each of them function within us. 

Excitement:

Multiple areas in the brain light up when you’re excited, this includes:

• The amygdala 

  • Emotional centre of the brain, controls whether the external stimuli is received as a threat or opportunity 

• Hypothalamus  

  • The master control gland, signals to your adrenal glands to create adrenaline

•  Prefrontal Cortex

  • Brains control center for thought and analysis, which in turn can help drive curiosity towards the experiences and build up excitement towards it

•  Nucleus Accumbens

  • Releases dopamine, providing the feel good rush that comes with being excited 

•  Hippocampus 

  • The brains memory hub, becomes highly active during exciting events, thus making them more memorable in the long term 

All these parts of the brain work to both send out signals to make you feel excited, and help process those exciting moments into long term memories. This explains why most people are able to remember things even from their childhood that were thrilling or exciting.

Anxiety:

On the other hand, the areas that light up when you are anxious differ slightly from excitement. These include:

• The amygdala 

  • The emotional centre of the brain controls whether the external stimuli is received as a threat or opportunity. In this case, the external stimulus is received as a threat, as the amygdala goes into overdrive, which directly causes your brain’s fight or flight. This leads to increased heart rate and breathing. 

• The insular Cortex

  • Tracks your internal state, such as heart rate and breathing, and alerts you to know that something is “off”, this thus would contribute to how most people feel a sense of unease whenever they are extremely anxious

• The Prefrontal Cortex

  • Activity in the prefrontal cortex drops, leading to an increase in emotional regions of the brain taking over. Contributes to a lack of logical reasoning whenever you are in a state of panic and stress

• Hippocampus

  • Responsible for storing and retrieving information. Memories of high intense emotions can be stored here, and can directly influence the subject’s degree of anxiousness when met with negative stimuli 

Comparison of the Two:

The amygdala in both firstly receive the external stimuli as either a threat or an opportunity, and that dictates how the emotion is felt in the subject.

Thus though both emotions might feel different mentally, since they are both generated by the amygdala part of the brain, that means that they can both cause similar physical symptoms, such as increased heart rate and breathing. However, the sections of the brain that light up for both are quite different.While the emotion of excitement being primarily driven by dopamine increases,and the feeling of anxiety driven usually by negative past experiences. Where the amygdala interpreting stimuli as a threat, causing the off putting emotion you feel when you're anxious.

How can I tell which one I’m feeling

The difference between excitement and anxiety is in how it makes you feel, whilst excitement can make you strongly anticipate what you're going to do next, anxiety does the opposite and creates a gut wrenching feeling.

Emotional Similarities and Differences:

For excitement it can feel

• Like butterflies in your stomach

• Joyful and Happy

• Like you’re anticipating something good to happen

For anxiety it can feel:

• Like the end of the world

• constantly restless or tired

• a sense of impending doom, panic or doom

• worry from your past or for the future

Shared symptoms of anxiety and excitement:

• Increased heart rate

• Quickened breathing

• Sweating uncontrollably 

Symptoms of Anxiety: 

• Tensing up

• Going nonverbal at times or stuttering in speech

• Feeling lightheaded or dizzy

• Fast, irregular heartbeat 

Strategies for dealing with anxiety: 

1. The heart cheering method

In this method, instead of looking at your increasing heart beat in a negative way, you view the increase of your heart rate as your body clapping for you and cheering you on, directly giving you a more positive outlook on your own anxiety, and turning it into excitement

How effective is this method?

This method’s effectiveness depends on how the you view the method in the first place, if you don't see the method as believable, then the method would be almost completely useless. However if you believe the method, then it could directly switch your outlook on your own anxiety as positive rather than negative, which could contribute positively to their self outlook and mental health.

When can you use this method?

You can use this method before any scenario that makes you anxious, as it helps the subject process their emotions in a more positive manner, rather than focusing on the physical. Thus this method can be applied to truly any scenario, as there are no physical or verbal components that need to be used to complete this method. For instance, you could use it before an exam, a performance, a competition etc.

2. Deep breathing - the 4 4 4 4 breathing method

Also known as box breathing, this breathing method is primarily used as a stress releasing technique and for focus enhancement. The 4444 box breathing method is where you complete four steps, inhalation, holding, exhaling, and holding again, each for 4 seconds each. In this method, users could picture a box as they complete the exercise.

How effective is this method?

The method is effective for both breathing and stress relief. According to the University of Hong Kong, “When facing stress, this breathing technique can help relieve stress and improve focus and concentration.”(HKUMED, 2022)

When can you use this method?

You can use this method before a presentation, a performance or for any other form scenario where you have to both focus on the task yet try to relax at the same time.

3. Tensing your body up, and then releasing any tension

In this method, you can tense parts of the whole of your body, and then release it, to provide a sense of relaxation and release tension in the body, especially when you are tensing up because of anxiety or stress.

How effective is this method?

By releasing your tightened muscles, this directly reduces any tension in your body.

When can you use this method?

This method is especially effective before performances or sports, as it could be used as a warm up to directly target all the muscles in your body, and release tension before you have to perform.

4. Meditating

Used in many cultures and religions, meditating is used both for religious purposes and relaxation. In this case we’ll be looking at relaxation. Meditation has been used for thousands of years, and its benefits are not negligible. Here are some of the positive effects that meditation can have on you.

How effective is this method?

Healthline illustrates the benefits of mediation on us. 

• Reduces stress

• Controls anxiety

• Enhances self awareness

• Lengthens attention span

• Can even generate kindness

When can you use this method?

A while before a performance or event, you can meditate in your own time, to calm down your nerves. It might be impractical to meditate in a loud or busy environment, so it would be best to do it at home or somewhere safe. This is because meditation usually requires your full and undivided attention, and usually it is quite hard to do this in public settings with random strangers, as they might distract you, or you might not be able to fully concentrate because of a loud or busy environment.

Conclusion:

Overall, I’ve covered many similarities and differences between excitement and anxiety. Each is a distinct emotion, however which one our brain chooses to signal to use depends on our past experiences and outlook. So remember these techniques when you’re anxious, and you’ll be able to develop a more positive mindset, changing negative scenarios to opportunities to shine.

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