If you’ve never been close to mental illness, or have never experienced symptoms of mental illnesses yourself, it may be difficult to recognize the signs. Anxiety is one of the more common mental illnesses found around the country and can affect people in a variety of ways.
There is a difference between general nervousness or hesitancy, and life-altering anxiety. It may be difficult to tell the difference between just having a nervous mindset and diagnosable anxiety, so how can you tell? Let’s review three common signs of anxiety to give you more information about this common and notorious condition.
How to Tell If You Suffer from Anxiety
Are You Having Daily Troubles Dealing with Fears?
It’s normal to worry, it’s even normal to fret over something, but a constant fear that something is wrong, that you didn’t do something right, or that something bad is about to happen is not normal. If fears and worrying thoughts are constantly bombarding you to the point of disrupting your daily life, you may have anxiety that is considered a real issue.
Have You Noticed Changes Physiologically?
It’s hard to pinpoint when diagnosable anxiety begins, but physiological signs are often a signal. Some physiological signs of anxiety include insomnia or trouble falling to sleep, upset stomach, weakness, lethargy, increased blood pressure, gastrointestinal issues, increased heart rate, and many others. Anxiety may be linked with other mental illness like Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), depression, and others.
Have You Suffered from a Panic Attack?
A panic attack is a scary presentation of anxiety and can be debilitating for most. Symptoms of a panic attack including feeling hot or cold, numbness in the fingers and other parts of the body, trouble breathing, rapid heart rate, high blood pressure, sweating, dizziness, blurred vision, shaking, and a sometimes an overwhelming fear that you are losing control, or “going crazy.” Panic attacks can be ugly and are a prime symptom of anxiety.
There are many different presentations of anxiety and many different symptoms. The preceding three signs are some of the more obvious symptoms of anxiety but it can be different for everybody. If you feel like anxiety is disrupting your daily life, it’s time to make the call to a local therapist or your doctor. You can only relieve the symptoms of anxiety once you start treating it.