Anxiety Symptoms
Anxiety Symptoms: More Than Just Worry
When new patients first come to therapy, they often report that they feel anxiety or stress. As we begin to talk more specifically about their experience we come to understand what they mean by the word “anxiety.” Most often people are aware of feeling worried about things they can’t predict or control. With more discussion, it often becomes clear that in addition to worry, a new patient is experiencing multiple and complex anxiety symptoms.
Many people are not even aware that these experiences are also part of their anxiety. I would like to discuss some of the symptoms of anxiety that are often overlooked and that you may not even realize are related to anxiety. Knowing the various ways in which anxiety can affect you can help you more quickly realize that what you are feeling may be an anxiety disorder and can motivate you to seek support in addressing these symptoms. As I discuss each category of anxiety symptoms, I will suggest a coping technique that I have found to be effective with some of my previous patients.
Physical and Physiological Anxiety Symptoms
An often overlooked but very important component of anxiety is the related physiological reactions and physical symptoms. Physiological reactions are bodily changes in response to anxiety in the moment. Panic attacks involve intense spikes in heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension and rapid breathing in reaction to anxiety or stress. Other physiological reactions of anxiety can include a feeling of muscle tension or jumpiness. We often see increased hypervigilance, or a sense of feeling physically unsafe and easily startled, when someone has an anxiety disorder or a disorder like PTSD.
Physical symptoms, as opposed to physiological reactions, are more chronic in nature. People with anxiety disorders often find that they experience physical symptoms that are related to their stress such as stomachaches, tensions headaches, lowered immunity, or pain symptoms for which doctors cannot find a clear medical cause. Coping strategies such as muscle relaxation, slow and relaxed breathing and healthy self-soothing are all effective for coping with physical symptoms and physiological reactions associated with anxiety
Thoughts about Yourself and Your Situation
In addition to worrying about past or future events, a variety of thoughts are associated with the experience of anxiety. Maybe you find that your expectations for yourself and others are very high, leading to disappointment and frustration. Perfectionism is a recipe for anxiety because the focus is exclusively on the pursuit of an unrealistic standard, success cannot be fully appreciated and failure is always right around the corner.
Negative thinking is also related to anxiety disorders. Sometimes an individual attempts to cope with worries about the future by expecting the worst. The hope is that this will reduce the pain of disappointment if the worst happens, but in reality we experience our thoughts as if we were having the real experience we are imagining. So, if you expect the worse, you are making yourself live through the emotional experience of “the worse,” often repeatedly. Rumination, obsessions and superstitions are also thinking patterns that you may experience if you are dealing with an anxiety disorder.
Many of my patients find it effective to observe their thoughts. Realizing that what you are experiencing is a thought and may not be based in reality can help your experience feel less overwhelming and scary. Another strategy that can work is to keep your attention on the current moment, rather than letting your thoughts stay stuck in the past or the future.
Behavioral Anxiety Symptoms
The subjective experience of anxiety can result in a wide range of behavioral symptoms. In the moment of anxiety you might feel “hyperactive” and find yourself pacing or wringing your hands. This nervous energy can lead to irritability and even angry aggression if it is not dealt with effectively. You may feel a compulsive desire to behave in ways you don’t understand or that do not make sense to you. One anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, is marked by compulsions that are used in an attempt to soothe anxious discomfort. And some people with Borderline Personality Disorder find themselves struggling with impulses to harm themselves, often in order to discharge anxiety.
Another behavior that is very common is anxious avoidance. Avoidance can appear passive, rather than like a behavior, but it has an intense impact on the quality of life of many people with anxiety. If you tend to avoid social situations, specific objects or other circumstances, please know that this can be changed with intervention, and you do not need to have a life that is so limited by these symptoms.
Two of the strategies that have been effective for my patients in dealing with behavioral symptoms of anxiety include healthy discharge of “nervous energy” and supported exposure to things that have previously been avoided. Through exercise, yoga or massage, patients can discharge nervous energy, lowing their overall level of tension and resulting in less of a subjective urge to behave in symptomatic ways that are associated with anxiety. Exposure to events or objects that have been avoided is often done in the context of therapy, with understanding about why you have been avoiding something and with the support you need to change this pattern, you can feel increased freedom from this anxiety related behavior.
What Anxiety Symptoms Do You Experience?
I hope that this discussion of some of the ways, other than worry, that anxiety can manifest will provide some insight into your experience. Anxiety is not only “worry or stress” but can include many different symptoms. What physical/physiological effects, thoughts, and behaviors serve as symptoms of anxiety for you? As you become more aware of your experience, you will be able to address the specific impact anxiety has on you and build the coping skills that will be most effective for the types of symptoms you tend to experience. This increased self-awareness may also help you communicate your experience to supportive family and friends or to a professional who you might consult for treatment. If you would like to discuss your situation and how therapy might help, please give me a call at 404-668-9893.
