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Anxiety symptoms
Anxiety is a feeling of worry, fear or panic and is something that most people experience at some point. Anxiety disorder is when these feelings get more frequent or intense, and start to have an impact on your everyday life. Anxiety can cause both physical and mental symptoms, and can even manifest as an anxiety attack.
If the feelings of anxiety are affecting your life, it can be helpful to understand the triggers and responses to help you deal with them.
Contents
What does anxiety look like?
Feelings of anxiety can be an everyday occurrence for many people, particularly if they are in unfamiliar or stressful situations. Regular feelings of anxiety can affect your quality of life, for example not applying for a job because you are nervous about doing so. This doesn’t necessarily mean you have an anxiety disorder, which can only be diagnosed by a doctor, but means you might be having a normal reaction to a stressful situation.
Intense feelings of anxiety which are disruptive to day-to-day life can be diagnosed as an anxiety disorder.
While anxiety is normal and a little bit of it is not harmful, living with anxiety all the time can have a big impact on your life. Being aware of the signs and symptoms of anxiety means you can get support to help you manage it. Being aware of and able to recognise the signs in anxiety in someone else can help you support them, or get them the help they need.
Being anxious can make you:
- irritable
- find it difficult to concentrate
- feel like you don't want to do anything
- experience racing thoughts
- feel overwhelmed
- feel a sense of impending doom
Anxiety can also change how people behave, as feelings of worry or unease make it harder to enjoy things they usually do. People with anxiety may also turn to substances, or other unhealthy behaviours, to attempt to overcome or repress their feelings.
Some examples of how anxiety can change your behaviour:
- Removing yourself from social situations
- Avoiding crowds or going outside the home
- Problems concentrating and focussing
- Not trying new things or pursuing opportunities for fear of rejection
- Not enjoying your leisure time
- Struggling to look after yourself
- Difficulty forming and maintaining healthy relationships
- Using alcohol, cigarettes, drugs or gambling to relieve it
What are the symptoms of anxiety?
The symptoms of anxiety vary from person to person and you might experience different symptoms of anxiety, and different levels of severity, at different times.
The physical symptoms of anxiety can include:
- Feeling dizzy and lightheaded
- Pains in the chest, back or other areas of the body
- A feeling that your heartbeat is faster or more obvious
- Headaches
- Loss of appetite, feeling sick or a churning feeling in your stomach
- Pins and needles
- Sweating and hot flushes
The psychological symptoms of anxiety can include:
- Feeling nervous, tense and unable to relax
- Difficulty getting to sleep
- Being tearful
- A sense of dread and fearing the worst
- Intense worrying about a specific concern
- Feeling as though you are becoming disconnected from the world
- A need for constant reassurance
- Feeling as though others are observing your anxiety and making judgements
- Worrying about your anxiety
What is an anxiety attack?
An anxiety (or panic) attack is a sudden and intense burst of fear, anxiety or panic which usually lasts for between 5 and 30 minutes. In some cases, these attacks can last up to an hour. While it may be easy to identify the trigger for an anxiety attack, they can also happen without an obvious cause.
Symptoms of an anxiety attack can also include:
- feeling like you’re losing control of yourself
- feeling sick
- shaking, trembling or sweating
- breathing very quickly or having shortness of breath
How do I know if I have anxiety?
You can sometimes work out if you have anxiety by learning more about the symptoms and noting what was going on in your life when you experienced them. You may think you have an anxiety disorder because of how you feel and how it is impacting your life, but it’s important to note that only a mental health professional or doctor can diagnose you. You cannot diagnose yourself with an anxiety disorder.
Most people will experience anxiety at various points in their lives. It is the normal response of our mind and body to a stressful situation. There are ways we can help manage anxiety ourselves but you should seek help if you feel that your anxiety is affecting your life or stopping you from carrying out your normal activities of daily living or your work.
You should see your GP if:
- You are struggling to cope with your feelings of anxiety, fear or panic
- You are feeling anxious all the time
- You are worried about your mental health
- The things you are trying yourself are not helping
Your mental health is really important, and if you don’t feel your best then you should speak to someone about it. Don’t wait for your mental health to get “bad enough” to seek help. Prevention is better than a cure, and there are many techniques and therapies that improve mental health by stopping mental health disorders from developing in the first place, rather than treating the symptoms once they appear.
You can assess your mood using the NHS’s self-assessment tool. This was created by medical professionals and will give you an idea of whether you need to speak to a mental health professional or doctor.
There are plenty of other online anxiety tests available but these are not recommended as they are usually not created by medical professionals. If you are worried about your mental health and in particular that you have anxiety disorder, see your GP immediately. They can talk to you and assess you properly.
Sources
- Anxiety, fear & panic NHS [accessed 3rd December 2020]
- About Anxiety Mind [accessed 3rd December 2020]
- Feeling anxious? Every Mind Matters / NHS [accessed 3rd December 2020]