THE SCIENCE BEHIND NERVOUS AND STRESS HABITS

Hey Earthling! 🌍

Have you ever cracked your knuckles, bit your nails or played with your hair when you were nervous, stressed or panicked and you don't get why you do that? well, here, I'll explain why our body (which is like a super cool multifunctional complex machine) handles complex emotions like stress with those and many other mechanisms. 

When we are stressed or nervous, or body produces a hormone called "cortisol". This makes our heart rate elevate and our brain redirects from conscious-decision making to deep-seated survival mode. Habits like biting your nails, tapping your foot, playing with your hair or as in my case biting things is basically the mechanism that our body uses to relieve tension, stress or excess of cortisol and self-soothe. Also, this behavior provides your brain a "distraction" which helps your body calm down. 

Those "habits" create a hit of dopamine and that's why your body uses the system again and again. Some of these habits can be harmful so here's how to stop them:

Because these habits act as a coping mechanism, trying to simply stop them won't work, it'll be more likely that you just get more anxious. So instead, you can train your brain to replace that behavior. Whenever you feel stressed, anxious or nervous try to identify what you're feeling and become self-aware. Get your body busy. Draw circles, lines, listen to music, etc...

Taking a deep breath can also help. There's this "4-4-4" rule and it can be useful when feeling strong emotions. The rule consists on counting 4 seconds before reacting, then take a breath in another 4 seconds and breathe out for the final 4 seconds. 

I hope you understood yourself better! Have a good night/day/morning/anything. 

Btw, I take requests on any topic related to science if you want me to do the research or explain a certain something EXCEPT: inappropriate topics.

Resources:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6701929/

https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthy-aging-and-longevity/understanding-the-stress-response