Five symptoms of Anxiety

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Anxiety has many different symptoms. This article aims to help the reader to understand it a little better by breaking down and explaining five common symptoms of anxiety.

Be aware that these are merely five symptoms that someone dealing with anxiety may experience. Everyone is different, however, so any of the below may be experienced, as could other symptoms.

Five Symptoms of Anxiety

1) Having a sense of impending danger, panic or doom

This can be the sensation that your ‘fight or flight’ response is kicking in, where the urge to either brace yourself or get yourself out of a situation occurs.

It is a perfectly normal psychological reaction to anything genuinely dangerous, but when you are dealing with anxiety and are in no actual imminent harm it can be very distressing and unhelpful.

2) Increased heart rate

This can vary – consciously or subconsciously – from your heart beating faster, to the sensation of it thudding in your chest, to a feeling that you’re having palpitations for those who are more likely to experience panic attacks.

3) Feeling weak or tired

This is often linked to people who experience overwhelming or prolonged sensations of worry, as it can be very emotionally and physically tiring to deal with anxiety over a prolonged period of time.

For those who may suffer from panic attacks, the tiredness may stem immediately from having dealt with one in a stressful situation. The feeling of weakness can also extend to feeling nauseous and even cold, in more extreme circumstances.

4) Trouble sleeping

When you are anxious, it can often be very difficult to ‘turn your brain off’ at the end of the day, and thus it can be very difficult to get to sleep. Combine this with state of tiredness due to the mental exertion of anxiety, and you have a loop that can be both hard to break and very frustrating.

Having something relaxing to do before turning in for the night and avoiding the lure of your mobile phone, TV or tablet screens may help.

5) The urge to avoid things that trigger anxiety

Supermarkets, work meetings and phone calls, to name a few, are often essential but can also cause great anxiety for some people. A common reaction to known triggers of anxiety is having the urge to avoid them.

This is a natural reaction, but acting on it would be unfeasible and lead to worse anxiety in the long run, as you wouldn’t be able to get anything productive or necessary done.

Taking action

Having and attempting to cope with any of the above symptoms can be tough, but learning more about yourself and awareness of your triggers are two very positive things. If you know about them, you can find ways to deal with them.

Talk to family, friends, trusted colleagues or your GP, and you may find that sharing your problems helps. if all else fails, you can also talk to the Samaritans at any time of the day or night, for an impartial, confidential and understanding ear.