# Does Anxiety Make you Easily Jumpy/Startled?



## SmartCar (Nov 27, 2011)

Hi People :yes, I am just wondering if Anxiety causes this in people or not:huh I notice if i am walking somewhere or i turn a corner (not all the time) i sometimes find myself flinch if people catch me off guard, this can also happen if a group is walking towards me & i make eye contact, my sister sometimes randomly pokes me on the head & i get a little jump/flinch:no she gets a kick outta that, & in addition when i was in High School & there was a discussion, my mind would sometimes wander & if the teacher called I would flinch & say "What", it's been pretty awkward & annoying at times. Even just this morning i was getting out of a car & a cat startled me..a harmless "cat":no & with an unfortunate instinct when i flinched it did too, which made it all the worse. Is this a Secondary Disorder of anxiety, or is this another issue:huh if anyone can relate, plz comment below thnks.


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## firestar (Jun 27, 2009)

I'm not sure if it's SAD-related, but this has happened to me. When I'm startled, I'll flinch. It's pretty noticeable, too, and I have absolutely no control over it. Thankfully it only happens when I'm caught off guard, which isn't too often now that I live alone. 

You should tell your sister to stop it. My siblings thought it was funny when I was younger and started startling me on purpose. It frayed my nerves, made me jumpy, and wasn't funny at all. I ended it pretty quickly.


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## tehuti88 (Jun 19, 2005)

I'm easily startled. I'll jump, and sometimes let out this harsh squawking noise. >_< I can be just sitting on my bed reading and my mother comes walking in and "AAWWGGHH!!"--I end up scaring her, too.

My psychiatrist has said twice I act like somebody with post-traumatic stress disorder, one symptom of which is the "exaggerated startle reflex," and also hypervigilance (being super aware of your surroundings). I have no known history of trauma, however, so all I have to blame is my anxiety. :stu

I also tend to creep around the house with a sharp knife if I spot somebody strange walking around outside the windows, so... :/


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## I am That I am (Jul 24, 2012)

ooo.. FOR SURE.


I feel like im always " on edge " more so when im around people im not comfortable around.. And this jumpiness as you call it causes me to not necessarily make a scene.. but certainly say something without thinking which draws attention to me i don't want. or just trying to get the Conversation ahead of me out of the way by saying quick things 

And let me add, when i do this i feel that the people im doing this with think im an Arse hole who doesn't want to have a convo with them but in all reality i would love to talk im just SO nervous of what they'll think of me..


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## ToucanSam (Mar 22, 2012)

I am also like that. Although my nervousness and SA feel like separate issues, I am much easier startled when my baseline nervousness has been increased in a socially anxious situation.



tehuti88 said:


> My psychiatrist has said twice I act like somebody with post-traumatic stress disorder, one symptom of which is the "exaggerated startle reflex," and also hypervigilance (being super aware of your surroundings).


I received the same diagnosis. While most of my skittishness is from an abusive childhood, I think I picked up some of it directly from my parents, who were both always nervous and easily startled. Sudden noises were so upsetting to my father that something like a slammed door would send him into a rage.


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## OpenSky (Jun 29, 2012)

I think if you're on high alert throughout the day, the tipping point of your stress response isn't far off to set you off easily to flinch or startle.

If you're really relaxed, the threshold is much higher, meaning you're reaction won't be as pronounced. If you're really stressed, it doesn't take much to set you off and that's the cause generally.

It comes and goes, so you know it won't last forever. There will be phases, so it's not permanent.


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## tehuti88 (Jun 19, 2005)

This is really dumb but bugging the snot out of me. I meant _exaggerated startle RESPONSE_, not reflex. ops And yes, I'm probably the only person that would ever bother.


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## Dat Gyul (Jul 6, 2012)

=_= So it isn't only me? Thank goodness.

I scare myself all the time, I can be baking in the second kitchen all alone but if I turn in a certain way or spot something out the corner of my eye I jump and my heart beats but it's just the bag of flour. I get so frustrated at myself lol, it has only started recently though, I don't remember being so jumpy before.


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## SmartCar (Nov 27, 2011)

OpenSky said:


> I think if you're on high alert throughout the day, the tipping point of your stress response isn't far off to set you off easily to flinch or startle.
> 
> If you're really relaxed, the threshold is much higher, meaning you're reaction won't be as pronounced. If you're really stressed, it doesn't take much to set you off and that's the cause generally.
> 
> It comes and goes, so you know it won't last forever. There will be phases, so it's not permanent.


Yeah i notice, i sometimes notice i am causing it, but can't help it once i am there, sometimes it's a mood thing.


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## paravoid (Jun 18, 2012)

I get this A LOT. When I am panicking (which happens very often!), I will become super hyper sensitive noises or movements. I guess it's similar to a PTSD type symptom where you're sort of unconsciously expecting dangerous things to happen at any moment.

Am pretty sure this jumpiness is created by some belief I have about being in danger..


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