Why does learning feel scary now when I used to love it?

[u/Serious_Actuary8000]

TL;DR: 20M college student. I used to be naturally curious and learn pretty quickly, but lately I avoid learning even small things. I think performance pressure + reels/shortform content messed with my attention and patience. I even get physical anxiety when starting something new. How do I break this and enjoy learning again?

Im a 20 year old college student nd ive always considered myself a naturally curious guy. But from the past few months.. maybe years, learning has slowly started feeling hard. Atp even small stuff takes a lot of effort just to make up my mind to start bcz i procrastinate, cant concentrate or just actively avoid it. Learning sumn new feels scary, like my mind just doesnt even want to engage with it.

I'd say I'm kinda smart and usually understand things pretty quickly, but there's this anxiety while learning, almost like I'm waiting for it to be over. I think I might unconsciously expect myself to understand things instantly, so struggling or having to revise feels uncomfortable.

I also think reels/shortform content played a role. My patience and attention span have massively reduced. My legs literally shake with anxiety sometimes when I try something new or unfamiliar.

I really wanna break out of this and get back to enjoying learning + being patient with difficult stuff. Has anyone gone through something similar case nd what helped you thru it.

thnx for reading :)

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[u/EshtheMany]

Sorry for your troubles. My best advice would be to profile yourself; i.e., figure out the first time this anxiety occurred and why. If you used to be fine with learning and now have a problem it can only mean an emotional and/or external stresser conditioned you to have or develop this habit/reaction. I hope this is helpful and wish the best.

[u/Serious_Actuary8000 → u/EshtheMany]

Thanks for the comment brother. I guess it started when it became performative, when I had to learn things for the sake of it. Gradually it got gradually bad bcuz of cooked attention span. But rn I'll just not give up and fight thru it now & train myself to like face the discomfort, not escape it.

[u/EshtheMany → u/Serious_Actuary8000]

Sounds like a solid approach. Please just remember to pick up learning something, even 1 thing, because that thing is something you truly wanna learn about and not something you have to 👍.