Symptoms of Anxiety
Because each person has a unique chemical make up, the type, number, intensity, and frequency of anxiety symptoms will vary from person to person. For example, one person may have just one mild anxiety symptom, whereas another may have all anxiety symptoms and to great severity. All combinations are common.Common anxiety symptoms include:
Body
- Allergy problems, increase in allergies (number, sensitivity, reactions, lengthier reactions) Back pain, stiffness, tension, pressure, soreness, spasms, immobility in the back or back muscles
- Blanching (looking pale, loss of color in the face or skin)
- Blushing, turning red, flushed face, flushed skin, blushing, red face or skin
- Body jolts, body zaps, electric jolt feeling in body, intense body tremor or “body shake”
- Body temperature increase or decrease, change in body temperature
- Burning skin, itchy, “crawly,” prickly or other skin sensations, skin sensitivity, numbness on the skin
- Burning skin sensation on the face, neck, ears, scalp, or shoulders
- Chest pain, chest tightness
- Choking
- Chronic Fatigue, exhaustion, super tired, worn out
- Clumsiness, feeling clumsy, co-ordination problems with the limbs or body
- Cold chills, feeling cold
- Craving sugar, sweets, chocolate, usual craving for sugar and sweets
- Difficulty speaking, moving mouth, talking, co-ordination problems with the mouth or tongue
- Dizziness, feeling lightheaded
- Dizzy, feeling dizzy
- Electric shock feeling, body zaps
- Excess of energy, you feel you can’t relax
- Falling sensation, feel like your are falling or dropping even though you aren't
- Feel like you are going to pass out or faint
- Feeling cold or chilled
- Feel wrong, different, foreign, odd, or strange
- Flu-like symptoms, general malaise, feel ill, like you are coming down with a flu
- Flushed face, red face, flushed skin
- Head Zaps
- Heart palpitations, racing heart
- Hyperactivity, excess energy, nervous energy
- Increased or decreased sex drive
- Infection - increased infections, persistent infection
- Muscles that vibrate, jitter, tremor, or shake when used
- Muscle twitching
- Nausea
- Nausea vomiting
- Neck, back, shoulder pain, tightness/stiffness
- Night sweats, waking up in a sweat, profusely sweating at night
- No energy, feeling lethargic, tired
- Numbness
- Numbness tingling, numbness and tingling
- Numbness and tingling, and other skin sensations on hands, feet, face, head, or any other places on the body
- Persistent muscle tension, stiffness
- Pounding heart, heart feels like it is beating too hard
- Pulsing or throbbing muscles. Pulsing or throbbing sensation.
- Rib or rib cage tightness, pressure, or feeling like a tight band around the rib cage
- Sexual Dysfunction, sexual disinterest
- Shooting pains, stabbing pains, and odd pressures in the neck, head, or face
- Shooting pains in the face
- Shooting pains in the scalp or head
- Skipped heart beats
- Sore or tight scalp or back of the neck
- Startle easily
- Sweating, uncontrollable profuse sweating
- The floor feels like it is moving either down or up for no reason
- Tightness in the ribs or rib cage area, may also feel like a tight band around the ribs or rib cage area.
- Tingling sensations, anywhere on the body, including the hands, feet, legs, arms, head, mouth, chest, groin area
- Trembling or shaking
- Twitching
- Unsteadiness, dizziness, feeling dizzy or lightheaded
- Urgency to urinate, frequent urination, sudden urge to go to the washroom (similar to urinary tract or prostate infection symptoms)
- Warm spells
- Weak - feel weak, weakness, low energy, light, soft, like you may faint
- Weak legs, arms, or muscles
- Weight loss, weight gain
- Chest pain or discomfort
- Concern about the heart
- Feel like you have to force yourself to breath
- Find it hard to breath, feeling smothered, shortness of breath
- Frequent yawning to try and catch your breath
- Heart Palpitations – beating hard or too fast, rapid heartbeat
- Heart - Irregular heart rhythms, flutters or ‘skipped’ beats, tickle in the chest that makes you cough
- Pounding heart, heart feels like it is beating too hard
- Rib or rib cage tightness, pressure, or feeling like a tight band around the rib cage
Fears
- A heightened fear of what people think of you
- Afraid of being trapped in a place with no exits
- Constant feeling of being overwhelmed.
- Fear of being in public
- Fear of dying
- Fear of losing control
- Fear of impending doom
- Fear of making mistakes or making a fool of yourself to others
- Fear of passing out
- Fear that you are losing your mind
- Fears about irrational things, objects, circumstances, or situations
- Fears of going crazy, of dying, of impending doom, of normal things, unusual feelings and emotions, unusually frightening thoughts or feelings
- Heightened self awareness, or self-consciousness
- Need to find nearest washrooms before you can feel comfortable
- Need to seat near exits
- Burning, itchy, tight scalp
- Dizziness
- Dizzy
- Dizziness or light-headedness
- Frequent headaches, migraine headaches
- Feeling like there is a tight band around your head, pressure, tightness
- Head, neck or shoulder pain, tightness/stiffness
- Head zaps, head tremors
- Giddiness
- Numbness
- Numbness tingling, numbness and tingling
- Shooting pains, stabbing pains, and odd pressures in the neck, head, or face
- Shooting pains in the face
- Shooting pains in the scalp or head
- When you close your eyes you feel like are beginning to, or will, float upwards
- Sore jaw that feels like a tooth ache
- TMJ (Temporo-Mandibular Joint) - clenching of the jaw or grinding of the teeth
- Reduced hearing, frequent or intermittent reduced hearing or deafness in one or both ears
- Low rumbling sounds
- Ringing in the ears, noises in the ears, noises in the head
- Pulsing in the ears, throbbing sound in the ear(s)
- Afraid of everything
- Altered state of reality, consciousness, or universe feeling
- Deja Vu, a feeling like you've done or experienced something before
- Depersonalization
- Derealization
- Desensitization
- Difficulty thinking, speaking, forming thoughts, following conversations
- Disorientation
- Fear of going crazy
- Fear of losing control
- Fear of impending doom
- Feelings of unreality
- Frequent feeling of being overwhelmed, or that there is just too much to handle or do
- Having difficulty concentrating
- Nightmares, bad dreams
- Obsession about sensations or getting better
- Repetitive thinking or incessant ‘mind chatter’
- Spaced out feelings, feeling spaced out
- "Stuck" thoughts; thoughts, mental images, concepts, songs, or melodies that "stick" in your mind and replay over and over again.
- Trapped in your mind feeling
- Underlying anxiety, apprehension, or fear
- You often feel you are carrying the world on your shoulders
- Always feeling angry and lack of patience
- Depersonalization
- Depression
- Dramatic mood swings (emotional flipping)
- Emotionally blunted, flat, or numb
- Emotional "flipping" (dramatic mood swings)
- Emotions feel wrong
- Everything is scary, frightening
- Feeling down in the dumps
- Feeling like things are unreal or dreamlike
- Frequently being on edge or 'grouchy'
- Frequently feel like crying for no apparent reason
- Have no feelings about things you used to
- Not feeling like yourself, detached from loved ones, emotionally numb
- Underlying anxiety, apprehension, or fear
- You feel like you are under pressure all the time
- A ‘tinny’, ‘metallic’ or ‘ammonia’, or unusual smell or taste
- Aerophagia (swallowing too much air, stomach distention, belching)
- Choking
- Constant craving for sugar or sweets
- Constipation
- Diarrhea
- Difficulty swallowing
- Difficulty talking, pronouncing certain letters or sounds, mouth feels like it isn't moving right, slurred speech
- Dry mouth
- Feeling like you can’t swallow properly or that something will get caught in your throat
- Feeling like your tongue is swollen
- Frequent upset stomach, bloating, gaseous
- IBS
- Lack of appetite or taste
- Lump in the throat, tight throat, something stuck in your throat
- Mouth muscles twitching/jumping
- Nausea
- Nausea vomiting
- Nausea or abdominal stress
- Numbness
- Numbness tingling, numbness and tingling
- The thought of eating makes you nauseous
- Tight throat, lump in throat
- Tongue symptoms - Tingly, “stretched,” numb, frozen, itchy, “crawly,” burning, twitching, “jumpy,” aching, sore, or swollen tongue (when it isn’t).
- Urgency to urinate, frequent urination, sudden urge to go to the washroom
- Vomiting
- Burning skin sensations, skin sensitivity
- Numbness
- Numbness tingling, numbness and tingling
- Skin problems, infections, rashes
- Difficulty falling or staying asleep
- Frequent bad, bizarre, or crazy dreams
- Hearing sounds in your head that jolt you awake
- Insomnia, or waking up ill in the middle of the night
- Jolting awake
- Waking up in a panic attack
- You feel worse in the mornings
- Distorted, foggy, or blurred vision
- Dry, watery or itchy eyes
- Eye tricks, seeing things our of the corner of your eye that isn’t there, stars, flashes
- Eyes sensitive to light
- Spots in the vision
- Flashing lights when eyes are closed
- Your depth perception feels wrong
- Burning skin sensations, skin sensitivity
- Feeling cold or chilled
- Numbness
- Numbness tingling, numbness and tingling
- Pain
- Tingling, pins and needles feelings
Being like a hypochondriac, muscle twinges, worry all the time, tingles, gagging, tightness in the chest, tongue twitches, shaky, breath lump, heart beat problems, head tingles, itchy tingling in arms and legs, and so many more.
In addition to these anxiety symptoms, you may also find yourself worrying compulsively about:
- Having a heart attack
- Having a serious undetected illness
- Dying prematurely
- Going insane or losing your mind
- Suddenly snapping
- Losing it
- Uncontrollably harming yourself or someone you love
- Losing control of your thoughts and actions
- Being embarrassed or making a fool out of yourself
- Losing control
- Fainting in public
- Not breathing properly
- Losing control of reality
- Choking or suffocating
- Being alone
These are some of the more common anxiety symptoms. This list isn't exhaustive.
Please note that these are not just symptoms of anxiety. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms you may need to get your medical practitioner to check you out.
This list copied from the Anxiety Centre website: www.anxietycentre.com
