# Do you get anxious when reading



## bazinga (Jun 9, 2010)

My anxiety has reached a point that I now have these mini-panic attacks when I'm reading. For example I will be reading posts here and out of nowhere my heart starts racing and I have to step away from the computer and calm down.

Sometimes it might be material that makes me reflect on my own problems. Other times it just comes out of nowhere. I may be reading a news article that isn't bad or stressing at all yet my heart will still start racing and I have to stop reading to let myself calm down.

Anyone experience this?


----------



## Sadok (Mar 9, 2013)

That is awful.
i do not experience it.


----------



## By myself (Apr 6, 2013)

My anxiety is so severe that I have difficulty concentrating on reading and watching movies.


----------



## bazinga (Jun 9, 2010)

I also have similar types of anxiety attacks when I am watching programming or trying to play a game. I get this rush of anxiety where I feel something bad is going to happen and I stop what I'm doing to try to get my heart rate down. It's just been happening a lot while I am reading lately.


----------



## whattothink (Jun 2, 2005)

Sometimes I'll have a constant anxiety that prevents me from being able to read anything of length or depth, but no, reading in itself doesn't cause me anxiety.


----------



## rubyruby (Jun 17, 2009)

No I don't.

It could be anything like gad or there could be something physically wrong with
You, thyroid problems, adrenal tumours.

It could also be medications or herbal remedies.


----------



## NoHeart (May 5, 2012)

No unless I have to read out loud infront of the class or something.


----------



## Zil (Feb 5, 2011)

This sounds serious, it might be a good time to get some outside help. I haven't heard of anxiety attacks while reading alone, perhaps it's linked to some past trauma.

In anyway, I'd try to figure out exactly when these moments of panic occur and try to write them down. Drink some Sleepy Time tea, that usually makes me feel more relaxed. A soothing bath before reading might help too.


----------



## purrfeKt13 (Apr 9, 2013)

I do get anxious when reading, but my situation is different.

When I'm alone, I can read perfectly fine. But when I'm around people, I start to feel anxious. I can't concentrate and constantly have to restart my reading to understand. And I have a friend that looks over my shoulder to read my page since she loves reading. In my head I'm like _she's probably read this whole page by now and I've only read half of it. She's probably judging my slow reading. I feel so stupid._ And in SSR (Sustained Silent Reading) in Language Arts when the whole class is reading, I feel like I'm competing with my classmates to see who can read the most pages. One more thing. I'm really self conscious about how it takes me weeks to finish a book. If I'm still on the same book after two weeks, I'll hide it when I'm in school so poeple don't know I'm still reading it.


----------



## hammerfast (Mar 8, 2012)

I get that , cause a lot of books are meant to trip anxiety on me


----------



## popeet (Dec 8, 2005)

YES. because I have ADHD and am impatient.


----------



## Lil Sebastian (Feb 26, 2012)

popeet said:


> YES. because I have ADHD and am impatient.


This.

Also if I'm reading something from the literary canon I can get anxious, thinking that if I don't like it, it's because I'm too dumb to understand it. I have no problem going against the grain critically with other art forms so I have no idea why I feel that way regarding literature.


----------



## popeet (Dec 8, 2005)

Cause literature sounds like this soul-saving enlightening sustenance that at once helps you live a million lives and elevates your understanding of existence itself, not to mention your wit and library of sly references, that if you just crack into it you'll have downloaded this incredibly rich internal life that no-one can kill, and having consumed this cache of human understanding will make even your ***** lilting poignant poetry.


----------



## wrongnumber (May 24, 2009)

Yes, I can't read material that references certain health problems / mental illness. And I stopped watching the news in 2010. I know why these make me anxious but I've also noticed classical music also makes me anxious, which is a mystery to me.


----------



## MobiusX (Nov 14, 2008)

I think I'm just going to give up reading. I haven't done it for months now. I didn't take school seriously ever but still passed high school. I took some college courses and I really tried for the first time my best and got As in my classes, but these were just introductory courses. 

I did have to take a reading class since I didn't perform well on the English writing entrance exam. The course is the reason why I got As in my other classes. I read every day. I remember the first time I tried. I wasn't used to it. I was in my bedroom when I was living on my own and I keep falling asleep then I did and just wanted to quit. It was hard to concentrate. Then I just forced myself and since that day on reading replaced my past hobby which was drawing. Now, I'm in a point in my life where I don't even want to exist anymore, depression, no friends, isolation, everything. I have to be in a good mood to read and not just 1 day. I think I'm just going to quit reading. It's hard to focus and I just end up reading the same sentences many times.


----------



## popeet (Dec 8, 2005)

wrongnumber said:


> I've also noticed classical music also makes me anxious


it _should_ make you anxious.

i imagine horses pulling up to my shack and some creepy powder-wigged weirdo coming at me...

many years ago i used to not be able to read or watch anything referring to mental illness- particularly schizophrenia or psychosis. i'd freak out.


----------



## Cyrux (Apr 16, 2013)

popeet said:


> it _should_ make you anxious.
> 
> i imagine horses pulling up to my shack and some creepy powder-wigged weirdo coming at me...
> 
> many years ago i used to not be able to read or watch anything referring to mental illness- particularly schizophrenia or psychosis. i'd freak out.


Thank you for making me laugh. I haven't laughed this much in a few days.

But yeah, I agree with you. schizophrenia is very prevalent in my family. My uncle has it and he's lived his life a lot like me.

Except fighting. I'm a very passive aggressive person, I think.


----------



## popeet (Dec 8, 2005)

^


----------



## hammerfast (Mar 8, 2012)

^ your avatar reminds me of the captives of babylon


----------



## LonelyDuckling (Nov 20, 2012)

This forum increases my anxiety, lol, all the doom gloom virgin and sex talk, because I'm still a virgin.


----------



## popeet (Dec 8, 2005)

was that a stream of consciousness thing or has it been speaking to you this way the whole time? no matter, that means my drawing looks legit. thanks. i have to say this, tho: babylon _was_ invaded recently and the captives don't look like that no more.


----------



## PurrPanther (Nov 16, 2012)

Definitely not, unless there are bunch of people around me. Reading alone pretty much gives me the opposite feeling of anxiety.


----------



## Soul searcher (Apr 12, 2013)

Absolutely. I recently went through a nervous breakdown due to a tragedy and My anxiety and depression went to a point where, despite having been a book lover all my life, I felt like punching the book(any book-not only the ones related to anxiety or any other trigger), tearing it into pieces and burning it into ashes. The same happened with using the computer, cell phone texting, even talking. I just wanted to be left alone in a dark room, not speaking to anyone. Then came thebsuicidal thoughts.. But by the grace of God, t hat has improved.


----------



## Summer69 (Apr 17, 2013)

*Yes, I do!!*



bazinga said:


> My anxiety has reached a point that I now have these mini-panic attacks when I'm reading. For example I will be reading posts here and out of nowhere my heart starts racing and I have to step away from the computer and calm down.
> 
> Sometimes it might be material that makes me reflect on my own problems. Other times it just comes out of nowhere. I may be reading a news article that isn't bad or stressing at all yet my heart will still start racing and I have to stop reading to let myself calm down.
> 
> Anyone experience this?


I was just reading a memoir - nothing stressful at all - and my heart started racing. I hadn't experienced that since the last time I got off wellbutrin xl. I'm currently on Wellbutrin SR 150 and Deplin 7.5. Sometimes I wonder if the way the eyes move rapidly triggers it somehow (?) And, like someone else said, I can't read in front of strangers (either to myself or aloud). Places like Barnes & Noble stress me out.

I also get it when I watch frustrating shows like real housewives.


----------



## prisonofmind (Apr 12, 2013)

I have anxiety and ADD when reading. I often have to go back and reread pages, and I also have to put a book down when reading several times. Sometimes it's easier if you read slower than you are capable, I find.


----------



## Myria (Dec 19, 2016)

*I get anxious reading outloud to myself when I'm alone and when I'm around others.*

I get nervous just reading outloud to myself, when i read in front of people or when people can hear me i also get nervous. My heart races and i try to go fast but then i stumble on words or ill start to sound like I'm about to cry and my voice sounds shaky.


----------

