Anxiety Symptoms: Recognize Signs of Anxiety With This List

Anxiety is a common mental health condition characterized by feelings of worry, fear, and apprehension. But anxiety symptoms can affect your physical, mental, and emotional health as well as behaviour. Understanding these symptoms is crucial for early recognition and effective management.

What is anxiety?

Anxiety is a basic emotion, describing a feeling of stress or worry. However, it is more commonly used to describe a mental health condition defined by persistent and excessive fear or concern about everyday situations.

While it is normal to experience one or two signs of anxiety occasionally, when these symptoms increase or become overwhelming and start interfering with daily life, it’s time to seek help from a mental health professional. The earlier anxiety symptoms are addressed, the less likely they are to develop into a chronic anxiety disorder.

A Comprehensive List of Anxiety Symptoms

The following lists include symptoms that may or may not indicate anxiety. Anxiety is a very individualised experience; not everyone will experience all or even most of the symptoms listed below.

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Physical signs of anxiety

• Rapid heartbeat: Feeling your heart racing even when at rest
• Sweating: Profuse sweating not related to exercise or heat
• Trembling: Uncontrollable shaking, especially in the hands
• Restlessness: Being unable to relax, feeling the need to move, or feeling as though you have excess energy
• Shortness of breath: Difficulty catching your breath or feeling suffocated
• Dizziness: Feeling lightheaded or dizzy without any clear cause
• Digestive issues: Upset stomach, diarrhoea, or nausea
• Muscle tension & pain: Tightness in muscles, often causing discomfort or pain – e.g. headaches. Anxiety-related muscle tension can affect any muscle group, but tension in the neck, shoulders, jaw, and hands are common
• Fatigue: Feeling tired or exhausted despite adequate rest
• Insomnia: Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep

Cognitive symptoms of anxiety

• Excessive worry: Constantly imagining worst-case scenarios
• Racing thoughts: A mind that won’t slow down or quiet
• Difficulty concentrating, reasoning, or taking decisions: Thinking that feels effortful or overwhelming, lapses that feel careless
• Memory problems: Forgetfulness or difficulty recalling information
• Overthinking: Constantly analyzing situations or conversations, especially while planning for future events

Emotional symptoms of anxiety

• Irritability: Feeling easily angered, impatient, or grumpy
• Agitation: Feeling constantly on edge
• Nervousness: Feeling apprehensive or jumpy, often about a specific situation
• Fear: Fearing or dreading specific situations or objects
• Panic: A sense of intense, overwhelming fear, distress, and/or helplessness
• Sense of impending danger or doom: Feeling like something bad is about to happen

Behavioural signs of anxiety

• Procrastination & missing deadlines: Putting off tasks and responsibilities at school, work, or home because they feel too overwhelming
• Avoidance: Avoiding people, places, or situations that trigger emotional symptoms of anxiety
• Alcohol or drug dependence: Using substances like alcohol or drugs to cope with negative emotions
• Sensory hypersensitivity: Being extra sensitive to touch, sounds, smells, light, etc. and/or exhibiting an exaggerated reflex when startled
• Difficulty sitting still & exercising excessively: Needing to move your body due to restlessness
• Self-harm: Taking actions that harm the body (e.g. cutting) in order to ease or release some of the emotional symptoms of anxiety
• Nail biting, lip biting & skin picking
• Leg bouncing, finger tapping & jittery movement

Recognizing these anxiety symptoms is the first step towards seeking support and managing anxiety effectively. If you or someone you know experiences these symptoms frequently and they interfere with daily life, consider reaching out to a mental health professional for guidance and support.

Therapy, whether digital or one-on-one sessions, can help you learn to manage symptoms and live a more peaceful, empowered life.

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SOURCES:

• Chand SP, Marwaha R. Anxiety. [Updated 2023 Apr 24]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-.
• Munir S, Takov V. Generalized Anxiety Disorder. [Updated 2022 Oct 17]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-.