WEBVTT - How Does Anxiety Cause Underarm Sweat?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, there,

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<v Speaker 1>brain stuff, Lauren Vogel bomb here. So you're sitting at

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<v Speaker 1>a large table in a conference room with several of

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<v Speaker 1>your colleagues, or maybe in a crowded classroom. Soon your

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<v Speaker 1>manager or teacher will call you to the front of

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<v Speaker 1>the room to give a presentation. All you can think

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<v Speaker 1>about is how nervous you are. Your heart pounds, you

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<v Speaker 1>feel tense, and now there's that unmistakable wetness under your arms.

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<v Speaker 1>Why does feeling anxious about something like public speaking make

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<v Speaker 1>your under arms so sweaty. Anxiety can evoke a body

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<v Speaker 1>response called fight or flight, your body's way of readying

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<v Speaker 1>you to deal with a potential threat. While public speaking

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<v Speaker 1>isn't really a threat, the lower part of your brain,

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<v Speaker 1>which controls basic body functions, doesn't know that. Ultimately, you

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<v Speaker 1>can blame your hypothalamus, a part of the autonomic nervous system,

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<v Speaker 1>for your anxious sweating. When faced with a stressful situation.

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<v Speaker 1>It tells your adrenal gland to release dozens of hormones,

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<v Speaker 1>including epinephrin or adrenaline. Epinephrin is responsible for putting your

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<v Speaker 1>sweat glands to work. The idea is that your body

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<v Speaker 1>will need to remain cool and slippery during your supposed confrontation.

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<v Speaker 1>Not everyone has the same fight or flight responses. Some

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<v Speaker 1>of us sweat mostly from our apocrine glands when we're anxious,

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<v Speaker 1>such as those in the armpits in genital areas, while

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<v Speaker 1>others sweat more from the ecrine glands found on the

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<v Speaker 1>rest of the body. Ecrine sweat is bad enough because

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<v Speaker 1>it can mean sweaty palms, but in addition to potential

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<v Speaker 1>pit stains, apocrine sweat can make you smell bad because

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<v Speaker 1>it's full of protein and fatty acids. This makes it

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<v Speaker 1>prime fuel for bacteria that live on the skin, which

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<v Speaker 1>eat your sweat and excrete the stinky compounds that we

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<v Speaker 1>know as body odor. Anxious sweating can be a vicious cycle.

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<v Speaker 1>Worrying about whether others can see sweat or smell body

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<v Speaker 1>odor on you may make you feel even more anxious.

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<v Speaker 1>For most of us, the fight or flight response that

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<v Speaker 1>occurs when we're anxious goes away fairly quickly. We calm

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<v Speaker 1>down as we warm up to the stressful situation, or

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<v Speaker 1>at the very least, we feel better once it's over

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<v Speaker 1>and we can better control this anxiety through repeated exposure

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<v Speaker 1>to it. The more practice we get, the less scary

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<v Speaker 1>it seems. But some people have an extreme reaction to anxiety,

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<v Speaker 1>including excessive, under armed sweating that can last for hours.

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<v Speaker 1>A stronger antiperspirant can help deal with the sweat, but

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes an anxiety disorder is at the root of the problem.

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<v Speaker 1>If sweaty symptoms never seem to ease, don't worry. A

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<v Speaker 1>doctor can help fund a therapy that works for you.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode was written by Shannah Freeman and produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tristan McNeil. For more on this and lots of other

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<v Speaker 1>bodily topics, visit our home planet, how Stuff Works dot com.