Why do I shake and cry so easily ?

[JonnyUK]

I am so fed up with my body shaking so easily over the slightest bit of bad news, I mean even petty stuff. Or if I am somewhere late at night on my own and suddenly I double take and it is just a cat jumping on a fence or something, I can shake and tremble for a while after. I won't be able to use a mouse on my computer or anything for a while after as my hand will be light and hard to use due to the shaking. I have never had any meds for my anxiety. Does this happen to anyone else ?

I also find I sob my eyes out over the slightest bit of sad or happy news, even things that happened decades ago. I look on Youtube to see uplifting videos, such as people wearing the colour-blind glasses and their reactions, or I go in totally the other direction and look at videos of people with ALS or similar so I can try and give myself a reality check that some people have it so much worse out there. I am a 38 year old man and I am crying at so much, I hate it.

Is this a fairly standard anxiety reaction ?

[Catherine S]

It can be in some people yes. The trembling reaction is the adrenaline surge we all get when we get a fright or read about bad news, or after an argument etc, it's just that it's more pronounced in super anxious people like us, and takes a while for the effect of it to calm down. Emotions are much more heightened in anxious people...sadness can feel like devastation, anger is rage, fear is panic etc, so crying easily doesn't surprise me at all. It's better expressed than bottled up.

ISB x