For Students: Fear & Worry

If you hate your job and every evening you say ‘please, please, please nooo’ then you dread going to work. Dread is an awful feeling. Some of us dread doing things that others aren’t bothered about. Think about getting in a lift. A piece of cake, right? But if you have a fear of closed spaces this could be a nightmare for you. I think most of us have some kind of fear. I personally am terrified of heights. The idea of walking along a glass-bottom bridge sends shivers down my spine. I wasn’t surprised to hear heights was on the list of the top 5 fears that most people have.

While we often think of spiders, snakes, and lack of space as something to fear, there are sometimes where people fear certain social situations. They feel anxious whenever they have to talk to people, especially the opposite sex. They might start to panic, be short of breath and start breathing heavily which can cause dizziness, sweating, and their heart starts racing. A very uncomfortable feeling. In the UK there are many cases of social anxiety among children due to the amount of time they spend on their phone, online, in isolation and not in social face-to-face situations. Not just children either, adults are being signed-off work because of their problem. The older generation might just say…. MAN UP!! And blame this type of behaviour on a ‘snowflake generation’

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But how can we overcome/get over this? Can we simply face our fears and that will help? I suppose we have to want to first. I have no desire to conquer my fear of heights. Why? It doesn’t affect my daily life, but those who suffer from the above or something similar would need to. Is enough contact with the opposite sex going to make you feel a little less worse than last time until one day, boooom, you’re over it.

If you’re young there is always the chance you will grow out of a fear or worry. I personally can’t think of something I grew out of, although I’ve always been jumpy and that still remains, but I can think of a concern – because it’s not a fear – I developed in later life which is dogs. I feel very apprehensive when I walk past dogs nowadays. This all stemmed from when I got bit by a dog, and then I got bit by a dog again about a year later. That experience has made me wary of all dogs.

OK, time to go, but I’m going to end on an extremely informal phrase that is used to say you are very scared. I’m telling you this because if you ever hear it. I don’t want you to misunderstand and take it literally. To shit yourself / to shit your pants / to be shitting it / To be bricking it

Questions

How can you remember the last time you dreaded telling someone something?

Are you bothered about heights?

Are you a jumpy person?

Did you grow out of any fears?

Have you someone you know ever overcome/got over any fears or worries?

What things are you concerned about?

Does your country have many 'snowflakes'?

Do you have any informal expressions in your language like to shit yourself?

Cheers

Luke – English native speaking teacher from England based in Lviv

Skype English Lessons & Zoom English classes with a native speaker

Wordlist

Dread – a very very unpleasant feeling you get before you have to do something (usually used in the continuous form)

(not) To be bothered – something that affects you or not

A piece of cake – something very easy

To be a nightmare – a horrible situation

Terrified of – very scared

Heights – high places

Glass-bottom – when the floor is made of glass

Sends shivers down my spine – an expression used to say something scares you

Social situations – situations you have to have face-to-face contact with someone

Anxious – to feel nervous and uncomfortable

Panic – worry a lot about something

Short of breath – when you start breathing slowly

Dizziness – stand up, turn around 10 times and then sit down. You will then feel it

Sweat – when fluid starts to leave your body through the ‘skin’

Face-to-face – when you can see the other person or people in person in the same room

Signed-off work – when the doctor gives you the right to take some time of work for your health problem

Man up – a phrase used to tell someone to start acting like a REAL man

A snowflake – a person who is easily affected emotionally by things they see, read, or other people do

Overcome/get over – to be free of a problem

To be over something – to be free of a problem

No desire – no interest in doing something

Suffer from – have a problem with. Used to talk about medical conditions

To grow out of something – when you get older and no longer have a problem/or do something

Jumpy – someone who can react

Concern – a small worry

Apprehensive – unsure of what will happen

Stem from – the start of the cause of something

Wary – taking extra care because not your sure what will happen