Why You Feel Anxious After Something Good Happens

When you accomplish something amazing ― like earning a promotion, finishing a passion project or finally paying off your credit card ― you’d think a burst of happiness would be followed by relief. Maybe even a dash of relaxation. Right?

Or take these recent days following the announcement of Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. Many social media users expressed that they’re feeling hopeful about the VP’s run and her odds against former President Donald Trump. You’d think people would be feeling more at ease given their optimism ― but that’s not true for everyone.

It’s actually not unusual to feel more anxious in these circumstances.

“Anxiety can be a bit tricky, as it’s a primitive response that’s hard-wired into the brain,” said Carla Marie Manly, a California-based clinical psychologist and author of “Joy From Fear.” “The brain’s fear circuit works very quickly, and it doesn’t always pause to differentiate between good anxiety and bad.”

So, when something good happens, the physical symptoms you feel are similar to those that you associate with panic or fear, Manly said.

But even when you are able to distinguish between feelings of excitement (good stress) and panic (bad stress) following a dose of success, the climb down from Mount Euphoria can be an anxiety trigger in itself. When your body becomes accustomed to a chronic state of anxiety, the positive physiological changes that happen after good news can, paradoxically, trigger the sense that something isn’t right ― simply because you’re not used to feeling good. As a result, your body never fully lets go of its hypervigilant state, Manly said.

This reaction may also be exacerbated by an underlying belief that the good event will probably be followed