Different Ways Anxiety Can Show Up

You suddenly feel so anxious that you are afraid of fainting, dying, having a heart attack, or going crazy. These episodes seem to come out of the blue or are triggered by certain situations you feel anxious about, and are causing you to avoid leaving your comfort zone. These episodes of intense anxiety make you feel like your body is out of control and then seem to dissipate quickly as well, until the next time.

You are consumed by worries of what others think of you and how you are coming across in public. You are afraid of saying or doing something to embarrass yourself, causing you to avoid going into shops alone, make phone calls, engage in public speaking, go to parties, or date. You may even experience panic attacks or physical symptoms when having to confront these situations.

You feel bad about the possibility that something terrible might happen and you feel a high degree of personal responsbility to prevent these feared scenarios from happening. You experience debilitating thoughts that are intrusive and cause you to engage in repetitive behaviours that must be done a certain way or number of times to prevent your fears from coming true. You might notice yourself washing your hands too many times, checking locks and hobs over and over, and have difficulty trusting yourself.

You feel out of control and unable to get back to "normal" after a traumatic event that put you at risk of dying or being seriously injured, or witnessing this type of event. You have nightmares, flashbacks, disjointed memories, and avoid anything that reminds you of the trauma.  There is often a feeling of restlessness or being on edge or "wired" that makes it difficult to feel calm and relaxed.

You are terribly afraid of something such as flying, going to the dentist, receiving an injection, or public speaking. This fear is so strong that you avoid or put off doing these things if possible, leading you to miss out on important things in life.

You feel like you are about to snap under the pressure of juggling all your different life roles and commitments. There is never enough time in the day to tick off your to do list, and you are giving up hobbies and self care to try to get things done. It feels as though different stressful situations are constantly coming at you out of the blue, knocking you back, just when you think you've got it all under control. You may notice yourself having sleep problems, low energy, low mood, becoming irritable and snappy with others, and feeling exhausted all the time.

 You constantly worry about everything going wrong and find it hard to detach from your thoughts always going to worst case scenarios. You find yourself spending a large portion of your day worrying about the future, health, your finances and feel like there is little you can do to control it. You may also experience physical symptoms such as digestion problems, restlessness, tense muscles, and sleep problems.