9 Signs That You May Be Struggling With Anxiety Without Knowing It
Can you struggle with anxiety and not know it?
Anxiety can show up as symptoms in our physical body without us being consciously aware of it emotionally. Just because the anxiety isn’t something you may be aware of, it doesn’t mean that it’s not negativity impacting your quality of life.
The feeling of anxiety may be so normalized within our community, our families, and within ourselves that we don’t recognize where the problem stems.
In fact, Dan Harris from ABC News, wrote the book called “10% Happier” after he had been ignoring the physical symptoms of anxiety and had a panic attack on live television. That’s just one of the risks of ignoring the signs of anxiety for years.
Dan Harris, from ABC News, has a panic attack on live television.
Why work on my “anxiety” if I don’t recognize it as a problem?
While you may not recognize anxiety as an issue, if it happens to be something that you’re ignoring, taking the time to correct it can dramatically improve your quality of life both in the short and longterm.
For most people, they may recognize that there is some sort of problem, but not be able to get any answers as to what’s causing it.
Those who are struggling with anxiety may only recognize the physical symptoms, and therefore, not recognize that the issue could be stemming from high stress environments or anxiety disorders. Many will report issues with high blood pressure, heart problems, asthma symptoms, stomach aches, and can’t seem to find a real permanent solution for it.
For example, you may be working to correct your high blood pressure with no resolve. It may not be the blood pressure that’s the direct issue at all; it may be an issue stemming from anxiety, therefore, working on addressing the anxiety head-on may help correct the high blood pressure as well.
The following are some of the common signs that may hint to anxiety.
Irritability
Because anxiety is triggered by a fight of flight response in the body, it can trigger someone to want to “fight” as a way to protect themselves from a dangerous or threatening situation. People struggling with anxiety may express this through anger and frustration as a result. It may be easy to look at this situation and believe that the direct issue is anger management, but instead, it may be an anxiety management. If you’re struggling with feeling very reactive in negative or uncomfortable situations, this may be due to unresolved anxiety.
Issues with Sleeping
Changes and struggles in sleep patterns are another indicator of anxiety. Those struggling oftentimes experience insomnia, which is a sleep disorder that causes individuals to struggle with falling asleep at night and/or staying asleep. Insomnia will cause individuals to remain in bed for hours, and may even feel extremely tired, but still not be able to fall asleep.
Restlessness
Do you experience the inability to relax or sit still? You may feel the urge to move as a way to avoid discomfort, such as with restless leg syndrome, but you may also be restless without fully grasping the cause. This is oftentimes a symptom of anxiety.
Muscle Tension
Tension within the muscles can occur from both physical and emotional stress. When having anxiety (which is emotional stress), tension is created, causing the muscles to contract as a response to the fight or flight system. When remaining in high stress environments, whether physical or emotional, this can even lead to physical pain and injury down the line if left untreated.
Digestive issues
As a way for your body to protect you from danger, your digestion slows down and is no longer prioritized while in fight or flight mode with anxiety. This can lead to all sorts of digestive issues. The most common symptoms are: IBS, ulcers, stomach aches, diarrhea, constipation, and nausea.
Heart and Breathing Problems
Trouble with breathing alongside “heart” issues are also symptoms of a panic attack, but many don’t recognize these symptoms as that. Instead, many believe that they’re experiencing heart problems, such as a heart attack. This is typically a terrifying experience and its still very important in these situations to make sure the issue isn’t with the heart, but many people going through panic attacks believe that they are experiencing a heart attack.
The symptoms you’ll experience with panic attacks are a racing heart or heart palpitations, sweating, dizziness, ringing ears, tunnel vision, and gasping for breath or feeling like you can’t breathe.
Headaches
Tension headaches are common among those struggling with anxiety. If you’re not sure what’s causing your headaches, think about whether any high stress or emotionally draining events have occurred recently in your life or in the world. Tension headaches feel like a band around the head and the pain typically extends to the neck, shoulders, and behind the eyes.
Pins and Needles
If you’re experiencing parts of your body falling asleep, going numb, or tingling this can be another sign and symptom of anxiety. You may be experiencing this in any part of the body, but some common areas to experience this are in the arms, legs, head, or face. The causes of this are hyperventilation and entering "fight or flight.”
Constant worry
While for some people, it may be obvious that constantly worrying is a form of anxiety disorder, but especially in the United States, high stress environments are normalized, although very unhealthy for our longevity. Because feeling constant stress and worry may be normalized in many communities and families, it may be hard to pinpoint what is a healthy and unhealthy amount of stress and worry.
You may recognize that you’re never really “in the moment” and instead preoccupied with other potential stressors or concerns. You may not even recognize what exactly is causing you to feel constantly on edge. These types of feelings are common signs of anxiety.
This may show up as fear that you’re going to get fired if you make a mistake, constantly worrying about your safety even within your own home, constantly worrying about finances, constantly worrying about catching up with work and projects, or constantly worrying about getting sick.
When it begins to hinder your life is when you should ask your primary care doctor for steps on improving your anxiety or try therapy!
Final Thoughts
If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms and can’t figure out what the root of the cause is, then there is a possibility that anxiety may be the answer, or part of it. If this is the case, managing and coping with the stressors and anxiety may help to eliminate the problem altogether.
Something important to consider is that just because you experience any of these symptoms doesn’t necessarily mean you struggle with an anxiety disorder; it could be something else, but it’s important to know that anxiety comes with physical symptoms. It’s important to go to your primary care doctor or therapist to dig deeper to work through the roots of the issue.
Sources:
Book: 10% Happier by Dan Harris
YouTube: Dan Harris's Panic Attack on Live TV
Article: Muscle Tension + Anxiety
Article: Stomach Aches, Digestive Issues + Anxiety
Article: Tension Headaches + Anxiety
Article: Irritability + Anxiety
Article: Insomnia, Sleep Disorders + Anxiety
Article: Hyperventilation + Anxiety
Article: General Signs of Anxiety
