# I am as jumpy as a... jumpy thing **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 18, 2006, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-as-jumpy-as-a-jumpy-thing/377018 "2006-10-18T22:55:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-as-jumpy-as-a-jumpy-thing/377018/1 "2006-10-18T22:55:25Z")
All day, I’ve been inexplicably nervous, easily startled, tense, anxious, you name it. Every time the phone rang at work, I had a feeling of dread. And since I’m so jumpy, things keep happening to increase the jumpiness. As I was making dinner, I knocked a pan lid off the stove. The clatter nearly had me passing out. It’s official. I have become a giant spaz. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-as-jumpy-as-a-jumpy-thing/377018/2 "2006-10-18T22:58:12Z")
Something on your mind? (I hate that feeling, by the way – especially when I can’t pinpoint the reason.) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-as-jumpy-as-a-jumpy-thing/377018/3 "2006-10-18T23:10:02Z")
Boo. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-as-jumpy-as-a-jumpy-thing/377018/4 "2006-10-18T23:12:30Z")
[QUOTE=Asimovian] Something on your mind? [/QUOTE] Nothing on my conscious mind. But something is obviously putting the lizard brain into overdrive. > [@Miller](#): > > Boo. Yeah, I made the mistake of telling a couple of people at work how jumpy I felt. You can imagine what my next few conversations consisted of! Buncha jerks. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-as-jumpy-as-a-jumpy-thing/377018/5 "2006-10-18T23:16:31Z")
I’ve had that sort of feeling twice in my life. The first time was after taking two Tylenol 3s. They were my father’s but he no longer needed them and they were just left over. Strictly speaking I didn’t actually _need_ them but I had a head-exploding migrane so I took them. Plural. As in two. For the next three hours I felt like my entire body was buzzing and every little thing startled me. Damned if it didn’t beat the crap out of my headache, though. The other time was after waking up from a particularly disturbing dream. I don’t remember what it was about, but for at least an hour or two after waking up I was left with a lingering sense of creeping, omniprescient dread where every hidden space and dark shadow seemed to conceal some ineffable but palpably sinister presence. Freaked me the hell out, it did. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-as-jumpy-as-a-jumpy-thing/377018/6 "2006-10-18T23:19:21Z")
How 'bout a nice cup of tea, sweetie? Just, um, not caffeinated, mmm’kay? (Seriously, chamomile would be just the ticket.) ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-as-jumpy-as-a-jumpy-thing/377018/7 "2006-10-19T01:02:14Z")
Urg. Chamomile is not my thing. Actually herbal teas of any stripe aren’t my thing. I think I’m a bit below my normal caffeine intake for the day, though it must not be by far since I’m not whining around about a headache. The phone just rang and I jumped and sort’ve flung the mouse at the floor. Gah. ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-as-jumpy-as-a-jumpy-thing/377018/8 "2006-10-19T01:33:06Z")
You’re not my mother, are you? She’s always been jumpy (You can imagine how much fun it was right after I passed my driving test and spent most mornings with her in the passenger seat) and will hit her head on the ceiling if anything startles her in the least. Worst part is, she’s so jumpy that she tends to make ME jump at things that otherwise wouldn’t startle me. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-as-jumpy-as-a-jumpy-thing/377018/9 "2006-10-19T01:47:00Z")
Sounds like anxiety. I’ve had it for years. Sometimes I feel like I’m about to be clocked upside the head with a 2X4 which I know is out there waiting for me, but I can’t see it. Other times it feels like the next phone call I get or the next knock on the door is someone informing me I’m being sued for a million dollars and if I don’t pay I’m going to prison. It can be like the post-traumatic shell shock some Vietnam veteran’s have. Every bang you hear sends you jerking around looking for cover. Never mind you’ve never been in war. Caffeine is contra-indicated for anxiety sufferers. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-as-jumpy-as-a-jumpy-thing/377018/10 "2006-10-19T02:44:40Z")
[QUOTE=jsgoddess] All day, I’ve been inexplicably nervous, easily startled, tense, anxious, you name it. Every time the phone rang at work, I had a feeling of dread. And since I’m so jumpy, things keep happening to increase the jumpiness. As I was making dinner, I knocked a pan lid off the stove. The clatter nearly had me passing out. It’s official. I have become a giant spaz. [/QUOTE] No, not a giant spaz, but I do know how it is and I really hope in your case it stops soon. Maybe look for what might be stressing you and sort it out? (When you come up with the answer “no, bills and everything are under control”, that might make you better able to take deep breaths and dismantle the jumpy trampoline, just for having sat down and looked for possible causes.). Catch up on any sleep you might have been missing out on lately? Something like that. (If it doesn’t stop soon, talk to you doctor, lest it become more of a vicious cycle.) I’m hoping you can post back in a day or two, feeling mellow and happy. 🙂 Wishing you virtual canomile tea and valerian to you! (Doesn’t matter that you don’t like it, see - it’s only virtual.) ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-as-jumpy-as-a-jumpy-thing/377018/11 "2006-10-19T02:56:15Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon] Sounds like anxiety. I’ve had it for years. Sometimes I feel like I’m about to be clocked upside the head with a 2X4 which I know is out there waiting for me, but I can’t see it. Other times it feels like the next phone call I get or the next knock on the door is someone informing me I’m being sued for a million dollars and if I don’t pay I’m going to prison. It can be like the post-traumatic shell shock some Vietnam veteran’s have. Every bang you hear sends you jerking around looking for cover. Never mind you’ve never been in war. Caffeine is contra-indicated for anxiety sufferers. [/QUOTE] Ah, you are my long-lost twin and I claim my £5. 🙂 (Actually, I prefer the “refuse to open the door” option myself. ) Never mind, you don’t have the upcoming Guy Fawkes’ Night firework frenzy to put up with over there, (unless you have some mad British ex-pats as neighbours. I suppose.) ---
**Author:** ![mrklutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mrklutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrklutz)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-as-jumpy-as-a-jumpy-thing/377018/12 "2006-10-19T15:06:15Z")
Chamomile? Bah! A good slug of bourbon is the ticket. Hope you’re feeling better today.