Anxiety is a debilitating illness that affects around 14% of Australians each and every year. Whilst everyone who experiences anxiety will have slightly different reactions and triggers that can cause an anxiety attack, there are some common physical and mental symptoms that affect the large majority of anxiety sufferers.
Below are just some of the ways that people with anxiety have described their experiences.
Physical Symptoms
- Tightness and pain the chest
- Increase in heart rate that feels uncontrollable
- Difficulty breathing
- Breaking out into sweats
- Headaches and migraines
- Dizziness
- Hot flashes or chills
- Shaking or trembling
- Persistent urination and diarrhea
- Acidic burning in the stomach
- Inability to sleep
- Unable to swallow
- Uncontrollable crying
- Pins and needles in arms and legs
- Cramps and muscle twitches
Mental Symptoms
- Feeling edgy, unable to relax and be in the present moment
- Constant negative thoughts about the past and future situations.
- Feeling alone and that you are the only person feeling this way
- Feeling like everyone know you are anxious
- Lying awake at night worrying about upcoming events, commitment or challenges
- Reading into every little situation and and every word that people speak trying to find a hidden negative meaning
- A voice in your mind telling you you’re not good enough
- Feeling of losing control or going crazy
- Beating yourself up over past failures even when they are small and meaningless
- Wanting to avoid people and other social situations that you previously enjoyed
- Believing that danger, pain and catastrophe lies around every corner
- Inability to think clearly, concentrate or hold a simple conversation
Maybe you have had similar experiences?
Maybe you have thought you were the only person going through this?
Because anxiety is an invisible illness, many people find hard to talk about it to friends, family or even mental health professional, meaning they can go on suffering in silence for days, weeks, months and years.
Trying to put on a smile and pretend that everything is OK, when on the inside your heart and mind is racing a million miles an hour, and all you want to do is get out of wherever you are immediately!
How Do Those Affected By Anxiety Describe It?
Anxiety is such a complicated matter, while it’s easy to read a list of symptoms it’s much harder to diagnose when everyone experiences symptoms a little differently. Trying to explain those feelings to someone that is unaffected by Anxiety can often be very challenging. Sufferers often come across others, maybe family or friends, who completely misunderstand what you’re feeling and simply choose to ignore your emotions or write it off as a “weakness” you need to get over.
However, Anxiety is very real and if not treated it can have devastating affects on those who suffer from it so it’s important to get the necessary support from loved ones and seek professional help if required. So how do you describe Anxiety to someone who doesn’t understand it:
1. “For me, it’s a vicious cycle where. During the day, I’m completely exhausted and can’t seem to get anything done, and then I lie awake all night worrying about all the things I didn’t do…”
2. “Constantly being held back from things you really do want to do. Depression says ‘don’t go, you don’t have enough energy and don’t feel like socializing’ and anxiety says ‘what if you don’t go and people get upset, or if you do go what if something sends you into panic mode?’”
3. “It’s like having two devils on your shoulders. One tells you that you don’t care or feel anything. The other tells you to overthink and worry about absolutely everything.”
Courtesy of Teen Vogue
So Why Is Anxiety So Hard to Talk About?
Is it because it’s hard to explain what it feels like to someone who’s never experienced it
Do we feel inferior or that we are crazy and need to keep this dark secret from getting out.
The truth is that being able to talk about your anxiety and the specific symptoms you feel is the best way to start overcoming the issue. Getting outside of your own mind and realising it’s not real can be the first step towards recovery.
Seeking professional help from a mental health expert who specialises in anxiety can be the turning point in your life. These proven, drug-free treatments will give you the technique, mental tools and expert support you need to overcome anxiety.
There are also many things you can do right now to start to reduce the occurrence of anxiety and help relieve symptoms when it does arise, such as.
- Taking time each and every day to enjoy fun activities and spend some time just relax without putting any pressure on yourself to do something.
- Talk to friends, family and loved ones. Opening up about what is going on means people will understand why you may be acting differently. It will also liberate you from trying to hide the symptoms every time you start to feel anxious. Which only makes it worse.
- Take care of your mind and body. Eat healthy, nutritious foods, do 30 minutes daily exercise, take time to meditate or do yoga.
- Acid taking on too much responsibility whether that be at work, at home or even social engagements. Focus on getting better first before worry about other responsibilities
For more ways to deal with anxiety head on over to our tips to help reduce and overcome anxiety. But if anxiety is starting to affect your life too often you need to seek professional help before it gets worse.
Blissiree Pty Ltd specialises in helping people relieve and overcome anxiety and has a 98%* success rate in curing this debilitating illness. Get more information about our 8-step Emotional Empowerment Program by clicking here. It is a 100% natural solution for solving your anxiety.
*Based upon a client self-assessment survey, results may vary from person to person