What are 5 symptoms of anxiety?
Symptoms of anxiety can often include a wide variety of psychological, physical, emotional and social symptoms including; feeling overly nervous, stressed or worried; overthinking which can often affect sleep; mood swings which may also affect energy levels; palpitations; tense muscles plus, feeling disconnected from yourself and others.
Could it be an anxiety disorder?
Whilst anxiety disorders should always be treated by a doctor, both milder anxiety symptoms or anxiety disorders can still have many symptoms in common. Common anxiety signs and symptoms include:
1. Feeling overly nervous
There are lots of emotions that can crop up as a part of feeling anxious. Sufferers tend to feel more worried or stressed than their less-anxious counterparts, and although it's normal to feel these emotions now and again as everyone does, it's if they start to crop up more often than not, then it could signal that anxiety is at the root of the cause.
Feeling unable to relax or on edge much of the time can be another side to it, meaning that these more negative emotions can start to overtake the more welcome ones, and our overall relaxed vs. stressed balance goes a little askew.
Whilst generally, most of us are able to at least achieve a fairly relaxed bodily state whilst asleep, ideally, we want to be able to move into that state during some of our waking time too; for example, in the evenings, when the bulk of out busy day is coming to an end.
What can help?
Some people might need to work a little harder than others to make sure they are able to enter that more relaxed state for a longer proportion of time. This can be a little trial and error too, to find what works best for you.
For some, exercise does the trick nicely; the release of endorphins afterwards can facilitate relaxation, not to mention sounds sleep, plus all the other health benefits that moving more can bring, are a welcome bonus. Then, for others, actively reducing social media time, or partaking in some self-care activities such as having a bath or meditating, may be the most effective solution for you.
2. Overthinking
Everyone is partial to a little overthinking now and again. But again, when it starts to take over, and becomes a routine habit, this suggests that something like anxiety might be underlying.
Together with overthinking you might also experience some other psychological symptoms too, such as experiencing unwarranted dread, panic, racing or erratic thoughts, which in many cases can affect your sleep, and this in itself can then create its own set of problems.
See my blog on; 'Is sleep anxiety a real thing?' for more on this vicious cycle scenario.
What can help?
If some of these psychological symptoms of anxiety are getting you down, then why not consider trying our Passiflora Complex tablets to help?
Together with the herb Passiflora, these tablets also combine two additional calming herbs; valerian and lemon balm, plus some magnesium and zinc for some all-round nervous support and protection from oxidative stress.
3. Experiencing mood swings
Whilst not always related to anxiety, in some cases being overly anxious can make us feel a little up and down; both in terms of our mood (with feeling quite agitated, irrational or irritable being some common characteristics), but this can also translate into additional up and down symptoms in terms of our energy levels. So, we also may end up feeling quite tired and fatigued, and lacking our usual get up and go vigour.
This set of symptoms can often then go hand in hand with many of the other symptoms such as dread or avoiding social situations. But, please note if, your mood has switched to being consistently low, then it's always worth chatting this over with your doctor.
What can help?
Firstly, when it comes to this subset of symptoms, it's important to try and rule any other common causes out. PMS, for one, can often give rise to ups and downs in both our mood and energy levels, as can menopause. However, if your symptoms appear to be less cyclical, or less likely to be related to hormones, then the influence of possible anxiety would be one to consider.
Regulating blood sugar levels with a diet low in refined sugar and caffeine, is another helpful tactic to help tackle the anxiety and intertwined peaks and troughs in mood and energy levels.
4. Feeling physically out of control
The physical symptoms of anxiety shouldn't be undermined and arguably can be some of the most frightening of all. Feeling tense both physically and mentally is common, but people may not put 2 + 2 together and realise those stubborn muscular aches and pains, stiff necks or shoulders, headaches or digestive upset are also linked to anxiety lurking under the surface.
Other more acute symptoms of anxiety can include a pounding heart or subtler but equally as unnerving palpitations; increased breathing rate or hyperventilation which can bring on some other symptoms; plus, sweating, trembling, feeling dizzy or experiencing a dry mouth.
Many of these symptoms arise as your bodies 'fight or flight' responses kick into action and blood is diverted away from your extremities and towards your vital organs, such as your heart and lungs instead, as they become primed for action.
What can help?
Regaining control of your body is key in these situations, although it often takes some practice. Deep breathing and especially expiring helps to re-activate your calming 'rest and digest' system and helps switch of your sympathetic nervous system branch which has unnecessarily, become more dominant.
The 5,4,3,2,1 technique is also a helpful tactic to help tune yourself back into your body and your surroundings, rather than risking the awful feeling of losing control. Click the link above for more information on this.
5. Feeling disconnected
Self-doubt, trouble concentrating, dissociation, wanting to avoid situations that you'd previously felt comfortable in or even enjoyed before, are all symptoms that can ultimately leave you feeling disconnected from your old self, plus some of the people around you who you are closest to.
These are just a few of some of the common social symptoms of anxiety which can risk upsetting relationships, or can affect your performance in places like the workplace, for example.
What can help
My advice here is to not be afraid to talk. Whether this is to a close friend who you feel you can confide in, your boss, if you feel additional pressures at work aren't helping, or a health professional if you feel you need some extra support.
When anxiety starts to take over and you feel like you're unable to get back to being your old self, then talking is often a useful tactic to help get it back under control.
When to see a doctor
If the duration and severity of your symptoms become more pronounced, this could signal an anxiety disorder is at play. These symptoms may not be suitable for treating at home or with herbal remedies, and it would be best to check in with your doctor for advice.
