Libido and anxiety?

[Copal_0]

I feel like I have a pretty high libido (I kind of wish I didn't), but when I feel anxious I can feel the adrenaline causing everything else to kick in. It bothers me a lot because my anxieties have a lot to do with social situations, and work at times depending on the job. I was wondering if anyone else can relate to this? 

[m4rble]

I think arousal and anxiety may share the same circuits, so to speak. 

[AmandaD]

I believe @m4rble is right and the same part of the nervous system is responsible for both.  The effects of both on the body are pretty similar so could it be possible you're libido is up and you're confusing it with anxiety? I ask because from my experience, if I'm feeling the same things that can be attributed to how i feel when my anxiety is up, sweating, racing heart, shortness of breath, hypersensitivity, my first response is going to be, I'm having an anxiety attack.  This could happen even if I'm exercising.  The effects of both overlap but I can have a hard time separating out the anxiety from normal response to physical exertion because I'm often worried about my anxiety acting up.  

 

 

[Copal_0]

7 hours ago, AmandaD said:

I believe @m4rble is right and the same part of the nervous system is responsible for both.  The effects of both on the body are pretty similar so could it be possible you're libido is up and you're confusing it with anxiety? I ask because from my experience, if I'm feeling the same things that can be attributed to how i feel when my anxiety is up, sweating, racing heart, shortness of breath, hypersensitivity, my first response is going to be, I'm having an anxiety attack.  This could happen even if I'm exercising.  The effects of both overlap but I can have a hard time separating out the anxiety from normal response to physical exertion because I'm often worried about my anxiety acting up.  

 

 

I feel like in the circumstances when I feel this anxiety is leading, then as the adrenaline circulates I can feel things (down there), I guess it happens sometimes and not others. Then sometimes more of self conscious chain reaction. So maybe it's acting like arousal because it has the same outcome but different triggers.  

[AmandaD]

Could be.  Are there times when you feel arousal when not in an anxiety inducing situation?  Looking at how you feel then, compared to how you feel when you're anxiety is up, could help you separate any subtle differences that go with each.  

[Copal_0]

On 11/30/2017 at 6:19 PM, AmandaD said:

Could be.  Are there times when you feel arousal when not in an anxiety inducing situation?  Looking at how you feel then, compared to how you feel when you're anxiety is up, could help you separate any subtle differences that go with each.  

I'm not sure I would actually call it arousal when I'm anxious. It's more like I can feel the system start to work and it feedbacks into more anxiety. In private the stimuli are totally different, I'd still love to not feel aroused in certain circumstances, but I'd say they're two different feelings.