Top 10 Signs of High Anxiety

Stress, anxiety, and depression are experienced by a lot of people at a certain point in their lives. Anxiety is a normal response to stressful events that take place in your life like changing jobs, moving, financial troubles, etc. When the symptoms of anxiety are greater than the events that triggered and they start interfering in your life, then they could be signs of anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders can be exhausting. 

If you are having anxiety disorders, then don’t worry because they can be managed with the proper help of medication and professional therapy. Before you opt for medication and therapy, it is necessary to recognize the signs of anxiety. 

Top 10 Signs of High Anxiety

Irrational Fears 

Extreme fears about specific things such as closed spaces, spiders, heights, etc. can be a sign of phobia. A phobia is a definition of a high anxiety disorder or feat that humans have about a situation or an object. The phobia sensation can be strong enough to disable your normal functions. 

Some common phobias include:

  • Animal phobias: Fear of specific insects or animals
  • Blood injection wound phobias: fear of injections, blood, sores, or needles.
  • Phobias of the natural environment: Fear of natural events such as earthquakes, floods, or hurricanes.
  • Situational phobias: Fear of certain situations such as an elevator ride or a plane. 

Another type of phobia known as Agoraphobia involves fear of at least two of the following:

  • Use of public transport
  • Be in open spaces
  • Be in closed spaces
  • Line up or be in a crowd
  • Be alone or away from home

Phobias are developed during childhood or adolescence. They are common in women than in men. As you develop phobia or agoraphobia, you are more likely to have a high anxiety disorder in different situations.

Excessive Worrying 

Excessive worrying is one of the most common symptoms of anxiety disorder. The worrying is out of proportion to the events that trigger them and it usually occurs in response to everyday situations. If you are associating worrying with anxiety disorder and you consider it as a general sign of anxiety, then it should occur almost every day for at least six months. Also, it should be difficult to control.

Worrying in daily life can be intrusive and severe that makes it difficult for you to concentrate on your daily performance in various tasks. They can be daily tasks at work, home, or anywhere else. People under the age of 65 are at higher risk of high anxiety disorder, especially those who are single. This group of people is having a lower socioeconomic status. Hence, they have many life stressors. 

Restlessness 

Another symptom of high anxiety disorder is restlessness. It is mostly found in children and adolescents. A person having an anxiety disorder defines the feeling of restlessness as nervousness or an uncomfortable need to move at a certain point. 

Restlessness is one of the main symptoms of anxiety. Also, it can be a cause of many disorders. Not all people with anxiety disorder experience restlessness but it is one of the red flags for doctors when they are diagnosing anxiety in a patient. 

If you are experiencing restlessness on most of the days for six months, then it is something to worry about because it is a sign of an anxiety disorder. You can be one of the sufferers. 

Feeling Agitated

If you are feeling anxious then your sympathetic nervous system goes into overdrive. As a result, it triggers a cascade of effects throughout your body. You will be having a fast heartbeat, shaking hands, sweaty palms, and a dry mouth. This symptom occurs because your brain is thinking that it has sensed danger and it prepares your body to respond to the threat. 

Although, the threat might not be as dangerous as it seems to be your anxiety is preparing you to respond to the threat. Your body diverts the blood from your digestive system to your muscles. It is to ensure that in case you have to run or fight back for defense. Hence, your heart rate increases, and your senses are sharper.

These effects can be helpful when you are under a real threat but they can be debilitating if you are just thinking of the threat in your head. The research suggests that people with anxiety disorders cannot reduce their arousal as quickly as people without anxiety disorders. It means that people with anxiety disorders feel the effect for a longer time.

Difficulty Concentrating 

Anxiety disorder makes it difficult for you to concentrate on your daily tasks. This symptom is found in children, adolescents, and young adults where they are having difficulty concentrating on their daily tasks. It is because anxiety affects your working memory. A type of memory that stores the information for the short term gets affected because of anxiety disorders.

Difficulty concentrating can also be a symptom of other medical conditions than an anxiety disorder. It can be a symptom of depression or attention deficit disorder. Difficulty concentrating is not sufficient evidence to diagnose a high anxiety disorder.

Fatigue 

If you are getting tired easily then it is another potential symptom of anxiety disorder. An anxiety disorder is usually associated with arousal or hyperactivity. To your surprise, fatigue or getting tired easily can be one of the high anxiety symptoms. For some people, fatigue can follow an anxiety attack but for others, the fatigue can be chronic. 

It might not be a clear thing that why anxiety sufferers are having fatigue. It can be because of the common symptoms of anxiety such as muscle tension or insomnia. Also, it can be linked to the hormonal effects of chronic anxiety.

Fatigue is one of the common symptoms among those who are suffering from stress or depression or any other medical conditions. Fatigue cannot be the only reason that you are having an anxiety disorder. Other symptoms are necessary too.

Tense Muscles 

Another common symptom of anxiety is having tight muscles for most days of the week. It can be common and it is yet not understood that why tense muscles are associated with high anxiety disorder. Muscle tension itself may increase feelings of anxiety. Also, there are higher chances of muscle tension because of anxiety disorder or you can consider a third factor that is causing both.

Treating muscle tension is not a big deal. A muscle relaxation therapy can reduce anxiety disorder. It is one of the effective cognitive-behavioral therapy for people suffering from a high anxiety disorder.

Irritability 

Excessive irritability is experienced by those who are having high anxiety disorders. Irritability is found in adults when the anxiety disorder is at its worst. As compared to self-conscious people, young and middle-aged adults have more than twice irritability in their daily lives. 

High anxiety disorder is linked with arousal and excessive worrying. To your surprise, irritability is one of the common symptoms of higher anxiety disorder. 

Panic Attacks 

Panic attacks or disorder is associated with anxiety disorder. They produce an overwhelming and intense sensation of fear. It can be debilitating. If you are having an extreme fear then you might be accompanied by sweating, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, tremors, nausea, chest tightness, and fear of losing control or even dying. 

You are most likely to get a panic attack in isolation. If they occur unexpectedly or frequently, then there are higher chances of panic disorder. Panic disorders and anxiety disorders are correlated and both can be common symptoms of any of the disorders.

Trouble Falling or Staying Asleep 

Anxiety disorders strongly affect your sleep disorders. You might wake up in the middle of the night or you might have trouble falling asleep in the night. These two are the most common symptoms of high anxiety disorders. 

Some research suggests that insomnia in childhood is not good because it might link to the development of anxiety in your later life. There are higher chances of developing an anxiety disorder in young adult age when you have insomnia in childhood. Hence, insomnia and anxiety are closely related. It works both ways whether insomnia leads to anxiety or anxiety leads to insomnia. 

When you are having high anxiety disorder therapy, you will be improving the sleeping patterns. It will help you to improve both at the same time because they are closely related. 

High Anxiety Disorder – Pinpointing Anxiety Symptoms

High anxiety disorders can be developed and experienced at any age. Most of the symptoms start from childhood and they develop anxiety disorders in your younger age or later in your 60s. All of the anxiety disorder symptoms affect your daily tasks and mental health. Having any of the mentioned symptoms can be a sign of high anxiety disorder.