Symptoms of Anxiety

Anxiety symptoms and their causes

I get a lot of emails asking if certain things they are experiencing are symptoms of anxiety. A point I’d initially like to make is that it is highly unlikely that two people suffer exactly the same. So there is no reason to compare yourself with anyone else or be concerned that anything you are experiencing isn’t mentioned below.

The main thing to do is to put all symptoms under one umbrella and not separate them into individual problems. When my anxiety left me, then so did all the symptoms I was experiencing. I didn’t go about eliminating them individually. Far too many people try and deal with and worry about each one separately, which puts far more strain on them and goes nowhere towards solving the problem.

If you are unsure if you suffer from anxiety, I have listed many of the most common symptoms below. You can also click on certain links for more detailed information.

Physical symptoms of anxiety

  • Shortness of Breath
  • Difficulty swallowing, a lump in the throat
  • Headaches, tight band around the head
  • Pins and needles feeling in arms and legs
  • Feeling dizzy, unbalanced
  • Ringing Ears
  • Racing heart
  • Tried muscles and joints
  • Complete lack of energy
  • Dry mouth
  • Sweating
  • Constantly anxious and irritable
  • Twitching
  • Blurred vision, eye floaters
  • Feeling mentally exhausted
  • Cold or hot flushes
  • Upset stomach

Psychological symptoms of Anxiety

 Other Symptoms of anxiety

These are the most common symptoms of anxiety, but there are many more I have come across. So if you can relate to more than a few of the above, then it is very likely that you suffer from anxiety, but don’t despair, you now have a name for what you are experiencing.

You may also feel varying degrees of symptoms and at different times, a lot of people complain about feeling worse in the morning. Some say they can feel relatively calm for a few days and then suddenly be engulfed with symptoms.

This is all perfectly normal, and there is no need to be impressed by any of this or try to unravel the reason why. Anxiety symptoms can flare up at different times for different people and like all emotions, can fluctuate.

Do sufferers of anxiety all have the same Symptoms?

No, anxiety can be a different experience for most people who suffer, as there are so many individual symptoms with this condition and each mind and body will react differently.

There is also no need to be tricked into thinking that one symptom is more serious than the next, that you have different symptoms than someone else or that your anxiety must be more serious. As stated, each sufferer usually has a different set of symptoms, depending on many different factors.

Why do we initially feel symptoms of anxiety?

Symptoms of anxiety

Anxiety does not pick on anyone, anxiety is self-created, usually through a period of stress and worry and then the mind and body exhibit the symptoms of this stress and worry.

There are many examples of how symptoms are self-created. You may think you suddenly have problems sleeping. But you haven’t got a sleep problem, your mind is too overactive through your constant overthinking of your predicament, so rest doesn’t come easy.

Your muscles aren’t aching for no reason; it is all the stress that you have put on your body that has fatigued them.

Your mind is not feeling detached from the outside world because nature decided to pick on you, it is because your mind is exhausted through all the extra worrying and deep thinking you have been doing, the constant concern of the state you are in.

Your body and mind are communicating to you through your suffering.

Learning to let go of trying to fix yourself

Suffering is your mind and body’s way of telling you to leave it alone, to let it rest so that it can heal. It is not a sign to think or worry more or to get into some sort of battle with your mind and body; it is telling you the opposite.

This battle that so many fall into has the opposite effect and tires, stresses and overworks the body and mind further and why so many people find themselves in a constant loop of suffering and an increase in symptoms. You need to surrender to how you are feeling, not fight it.

This letting go is what allows the process of healing to happen. This surrender is not some technique to get rid of anxiety; it is a way of no longer recreating your suffering, it breaks the cycle and allows your mind and body to heal of their own accord.

This is why no overnight cure exists, as healing takes time, but it is usually through a misunderstanding and a desperate need to step out of the condition instantly, that keeps people in the cycle of suffering.

We stay in a cycle through a lack of knowledge and understanding. We unknowingly start to do the opposite of what we should do and end up in a loop of recreating the anxiety and thus never being free of it.

I suffered terribly and there are very few symptoms above that I did not feel. But I did fully recover and so can anyone with the right help and information, I have seen it too many times and helped too many people to say otherwise.

Learn more about the most common types of anxiety conditions

For more help and advice on anxiety