What is anxiety like?

Anxiety is a very individual thing and everyone is going to experience anxiety differently. I know that in the past, when I felt anxious, it was a sense of impending doom; everything seemed like hard work and a struggle and I didn’t feel safe in my body. I also felt nervous in my stomach and tight in my chest.

Symptoms of anxiety may be;

• Feeling panicky or overwhelmed
• Sense that you are losing control or losing your mind
• Trouble breathing
• Hyperventilation
• Intense worry that you can’t stop
• Palpitations
• Churning in the stomach or butterflies
• Having to run to the toilet
• Shaking

If you have anxiety you might have any number of these symptoms and more. It’s likely to you have a combination, or perhaps different triggers create different symptoms.

Another key thing that those who are anxious tend to do is to avoid things. For example, if you have social anxiety you might avoid situations where you might be expected to meet with other people. If you have a specific phobia or fear, you’ll avoid that situation or thing. This has the unfortunate effect of making thing worse, since we tend to build it into an even worse thing in our heads as a result.

Try this anxiety test, although it’s always important to get a diagnosis of anxiety from your doctor too.

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I’d love to hear what anxiety is like for you – please post in the comments below.

Chloe x