Signs of Anxiety

Anxiety is one of the most common mental health problem affecting millions of people every day. It is associated with the mind and body preparing for a possible danger or a threat.

Anxiety can strike anyone at any age and any time. You can identify this disorder by certain psychological and physical signs. However, anxiety affects people in different ways. Some may experience only physical signs of anxiety, while others may suffer from psychological or combined signs.
You can say that anxiety feeds on itself. Physical signs of anxiety can be mistakenly taken for a heart attack, which makes the sufferer more anxious.

Or let’s say, a person has a strong feeling that something bad is about to happen. During this time he also experiences other psychological signs of anxiety. He starts to search the surroundings for possible explanation of these sensations. Not seeing any, he turns the search upon himself. The mind invents the only “logical” explanation, “I must be going crazy or dying!” Obviously, such thoughts have enough power to make even the calmest person on earth anxious.

Here is a list of all physical and psychological signs of anxiety to give you a clear idea on what anxiety really is:

Physical signs of anxiety:

• Chest pain of feeling of tightness in the chest

• Rapid shallow breathing or “hyperventilation”

• Fast heartbeat and palpitation (sudden awareness of ones own heartbeat, felt in the throat, neck or chest)

• Muscle tension and muscle aches

• Dizziness, felling light-headed

• “Butterfly” feelings in the stomach

• Loss of appetite

• Headaches

• Sweating

• Hot/ cold flashes

• Twitching or trembling

• Fatigue

• Stomach distress (nausea, diarrhea, frequent urination)

• Hard times falling asleep or staying asleep

• Loss of interest in sex

• Numbness or tingling in one’s hands or feet

• Fatigue

• Dryness around lips, dry mouth, difficulty swallowing

Psychological signs of anxiety:

• Excessive constant worry

• Uneasiness, a sense of fearful anticipation

• Fear of losing control

• Fear of dying or going crazy

• Fear of being judged and laughed at

• Impaired concentration or selective attention

• Nervousness and jumpiness

• Irritability, loss of temper

• Low self-esteem

• Avoidance (strong desire to escape and get to the “safe place”)

• Depersonalization and feeling of unreality

• Confusion

• Depression

It has been established that chronic anxiety attacks may weaken immune system due to release into the blood “fear” hormones like epinephrine also known as adrenalin and hydrocortisone. If those extra chemicals don’t get used up or stress persists over a long period of time, it creates internal disbalance and makes the body prone to physical and mental illnesses.

Fortunately, anxiety is very responsive both to medications (like anti-depressants and anxiolytic drugs) and to self-help treatments (such as eating well-balanced, healthy diet, getting regular exercise, practicing relaxation techniques, getting enough sleep, cutting down on caffeine, alcohol and smoking).