I don’t know about you, but I had no clue for years that I had anxiety. I just thought I was odd. You know the kind where you don’t want to address it cause someone might think you’re crazy. Yep, that’s so what I thought. Let’s talk about anxiety and break down some walls!
I’m going to list 7 signs of anxiety. Maybe this can help someone out there who’s struggling and who might be scared like I was. They can take this list and concerns to their doctor and get the help they need.
1. Excessive Worry
This one is a biggie and usually the first thing that you might notice. Do you feel on the edge and like you can’t control the thoughts and worry? It’s like a tightening/sinking feeling in the chest or stomach.
2. Worst-case scenario thoughts.
Like you always think of the worse thing that can happen in any situation. It’s a natural reaction that you can’t stop it. Someone might say we need to talk and you think oh no, what’s wrong? What did I do?
3. Trouble Sleeping
Do you have trouble sleeping? Insomnia? This is a biggie for me. At times, I can calm my mind enough to get to sleep. This is relatively obvious, but when the brain is rapidly firing it can be quite difficult to enter a state of relaxation. When relaxation is difficult, sleep is as well. It is common for someone with chronic anxiety to be “exhausted in body, but restless is mind;” in other words, they may be more than willing to enter a deep sleep but their brain simply won’t allow it.
4. FLUCTUATING MOODS
When our brain is inundated with anxious thoughts, we have very little patience for things that demand our attention. Note that is obviously counterproductive – it is far better to focus on things that are constructive than to allow anxiety to run amuck. However, for those with chronic anxiety, their default reaction is to “snap” or “lash out” when someone or something requires attention.
5. Perfectionism
Everything has to be done perfectly or you feel like you might freak out. The desire to be perfect has long been tied to generalized anxiety disorder along with obsessive-compulsive disorder. The best analysis of the link between OCD, perfectionism, and anxiety is a recent study published by the American Psychological Association that details four areas of anxiety disorder research and their link to anxiety.
6. Muscle Tension
Does it feel like your muscles might bust at any moment at times? When anxiety hits every muscle in your muscle can tense. It might feel like someone grabbing hard at the back of your neck and such.
7. Compulsive Behaviors
Anxious people will do what appears to a healthy person as “dysfunctional” such as repetitive checking, counting, or washing. Anxious people will engage in these behaviors to attain a sense of security, but this backfires, according to DePompo. For example, some anxious people check and recheck things to “be sure,” but they check more than they have to
These are just some of the sign and symptoms of anxiety. If you or someone you know can relate to these, please seek help. It does get better.
*I gathered research from these websites.*
Allyson is a published author, blogger, wife and mom to 4 kids. Three of her children are on the autism spectrum. She suffers from anxiety and panic attacks. On her blog you can find her writing about being an author, her faith and family. She resides in Missouri with her loving husband and four wonderful children, and three cats. She’s addicted to knitting and coffee.
You can follow Allyson on her website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.
Defying Shadows 
Wow. I nailed each and every one of these 😳 Thank you so much for writing this 💗💗
I’m glad this was able to help you. You’re welcome.