health
Nervous?
Photo illustration by William Alix / KANSAN
Has stress turned you into a pen-tapping nail-biting, knuckle-cracking mess? If so, those habits could signal a problem. But most cases are a normal reaction to excess energy
to excess energy.
By Sara Bennett
By Sara Bennett
Kansan staff writer
Stefanie Moore, Lawrence freshman, decided to quit her nervous habit when she discovered that it annoyed her friends.
"I used to constantly push my hair out of my face when I was nervous," she said. "Finally, some guy turned around in class and imitated me in front of a bunch of people. I quit after that."
Those who are annoyed by the nervous habits of others should take a good look at themselves, because almost everyone indulges in some habit when bored or under stress. Some people tap their pens in maddening rhythm. Some bounce their knees, causing everything within a 5-foot radius to shake. Some people bite their lips to shreds, crack their knuckles or swing their legs into desks and students in front of them in class.
JeffZuehike, Mount Prospect, III., junior, said his nervous habits sometimes were uncontrollable.
"I always do this to my fingers," he said, extending his fingers and revealing ragged cuticles ravaged by constant picking. "And I grind my teeth in my sleep. I don't know why I do it. It's just one of those nervous things."
Nervous habits can have many causes. Jennifer Hollister, Netawaka junior, said her nervous habit often surfaced around her boyfriend.
"It's a problem when you're unable to stop... or when it has negative repercussions for your ability to function."
Sheldon Preskorn professor of psychiatry
"When I'm unsure of what my boyfriend, Greg, is going to say, I bite one side of my lip," she said. "He thinks it's cute."
Hollister added that students might be more likely to fidget now because of worries about finals.
"It just seems that at this time of the year, there's lots of nervous energy running through the body, especially when everybody's been staying up late," she said. "They have to do something to release all that energy."
Sheldon Preskorn, professor of psychiatry at the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita, said nervous habits could be a normal way to release pent-up energy, calming and
occupying people who were upset, nervous,
under stress or bored.
But nervous habits also can signal more serious disorders, Preskorn said.
"Fidgeting can vary anywhere from normal behavior that occurs out of boredom to being symptomatic of a number of different problems — ranging from drug use to too much caffeine to epilepsy to thyroid disorders," he said.
Nervous habits become a problem when they are intense and uncontrollable and when they interfere with normal day-to-day functioning, Preskorn said.
"It's a problem when you're unable to stop, when you're not in control of it or when it has negative repercussions for your ability to function," he said.
But what if a college student merely annows her friends by repeatedly clicking her pen while listening to a dull lecture? Is that considered problem behavior?
"Then you're just bored," Preskorn said.
Whatever the cause and whatever the habit, students probably are the last ones to notice if they are guilty of nervous fidgeting. Brian Clark, Merriam freshman, said that he rarely was aware of how his habits — cracking his knuckles and biting his nails — affected those around him.
"I'm sure it annoys other people, but I don't think about that when I'm doing it," he said.
People and places at the University of Kansas.
calendar
NIGHTLIFE
Benchwarmers Sports Bar & Grill
1601 W, 23rd St
Bachwarmers Sports Bar & Grill
1601 W. 23rd St.
New Riddim, 9 tonight
Material Issue with Love Squad, 9 p.m.
tomorrow, advance tickets
Soul Food Cafe, 9 p.m. Saturday
The Crossing
12th and Eread
Transylvania 2000, 9 tonight
Danger Bob, 9 p.m. tomorrow
Lonesome Hobbs, 9 p.m. Saturday
Dos Hombres
Dos Hombres
814 New Hampshire
Eight Men Out, 10 p.m. tomorrow, free
Full Moon Cafe
Full Moon Care
803 Massachusetts St.
Timber Rattlers, 8:30 tonight, free
Ry Brown and Clark Jensen, 8:30 p.m.
tomorrow, free
Young Johnny Carson Story, 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, free
Tim Cross, 8:30 p.m. Sunday, free
The Jazzhaus
926 1/2 Massachusetts St.
'70s Disco Party, 9:30 tonight
Hat Full of Rain, 9:30 p.m. tomorrow
Soul Shaker, 9:30 p.m. Saturday
Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp, 9:30 p.m. Wednesday
Rick's Neighborhood Bar & Grill
Rick's Neighborhood Bar & Grill 623 Vermont St.
Arkansas White Trash Express,
9:30 tonight, $3
Fast Johnny, 9:30 p.m. tomorrow, $3
The Bottleneck
737 New Hampshire St.
Best Kissers in the World and Chainsaw Kittens, 10 tonight
Common Ground, 10 p.m. tomorrow
Beausoleil, 10 p.m. Saturday
Flaming Lips with Red Red Meat, 10 p.m.
Sunday
Mountain Clyde — Unplugged, 10 p.m. Tuesday
Cher U.K., Road's Factory and Rival Sons,
10 p.m. Wednesday.
Granada Theater
Canada Theater
1020 Massachusetts St.
Open Mike Night, 8 tonight
D.J. Kip with 107.3, 8 p.m. tomorrow
Nic Cosmos, 8 p.m. Saturday
'80s Night, 8 p.m. Wednesday
See CALENDAR, Page 10.