Is this Anxiety?

Stress is often situational, triggered from external events like work deadlines, exams, or arguments. The symptoms of stress include headaches, muscle tension, and sleep disturbances, and tend to subside once the stressful trigger is removed. Anxiety (Opens in a new tab), on the other hand, is more persistent (even when stressors are not present), often arising from hypothetical fears of future concerns. While both stress and anxiety share symptoms like increased heart rate, rapid breathing, and sweating, anxiety often involves excessive worry and a sense of dread about future events. While stress can be motivating, helping us rise to a challenge, anxiety can feel debilitating, often interfering with our daily lives.

Anxiety can come in a number of forms, including:

• Generalized anxiety disorder (Opens in a new tab) (GAD) – Excessive, persistent, and unrealistic worry

• Social anxiety disorder (Opens in a new tab) – Involves an intense fear of social situations due to worries about being judged or criticized by others

• Panic disorder (Opens in a new tab) – Triggers sudden panic attacks in response to an internal threat

• Specific phobias (Opens in a new tab) – Presents as an intense fear of certain objects or situations, such as spiders or heights

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (Opens in a new tab) (OCD) – Centers on intrusive thoughts and repetitive behaviors

Understanding the types of anxiety and their signs can help you recognize your feelings and get you one step closer to finding the right support.

Anxiety (Opens in a new tab) has a broad range of symptoms that can make it difficult to identify, and easy to confuse with other conditions. Anxiety also tends to affect individual people in very different ways. Some common feelings are a sense that something bad will happen, tightness or heaviness in the chest or stomach, racing or cloudy thoughts, and inability to relax. The symptoms of anxiety can typically be broken down into four categories:

• Emotional – Feeling nervous or on edge, a sense of dread or doom, or that you’re losing control or “going crazy”

• Physical – Restlessness, muscle tension or headaches, sweating, shaking, and stomach issues like nausea or diarrhea

• Cognitive – Inability to control worrying (intensity or frequency), not being able to concentrate

• Behavioral – Becoming easily annoyed or irritated, avoiding people or situations, trouble sleeping

Anxiety can be triggered by a range of situations, thoughts, and experiences, both rational and irrational. Common anxiety triggers include:

• Stressful life events – Unexpected events like losing a loved one, moving, or divorce

• Work or school pressures – Meeting deadlines, expectations, and performance-related anxieties

• Trauma or past experiences – Exposure to past negative memories can trigger anxieties through fear and unease

• Financial stress – Concerns about money or rising debt

• Health concerns – Worries about a medical diagnosis, the fear of falling ill, or experiencing symptoms without a cause

Overall, anxiety stems from a deep sense of uncertainty, where the future feels unknown and uncontrollable.

Anxiety can range from occasional to extreme, and can get in the way of everyday life. However, most anxiety can be managed with simple strategies you can implement at home, such as deep breathing exercises, journaling, progressive muscle relaxation, or grounding techniques. Limiting sugar and caffeine intake can also help decrease symptoms of anxiety. A licensed therapist can help you understand your anxiety better and develop strategies to manage symptoms so anxiety impacts your life less.

When you’re feeling anxious, it is helpful to focus on the present moment. Shifting your attention away from future worries can help reduce anxiety’s grip. One way to do this is to focus on your breathing: Take deep, slow breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth to help calm your mind and body. Grounding yourself in the present moment can be useful as well. Something called the 5-4-3-2-1 technique can help you with this. To do it, follow these steps:

• Acknowledge five things you can see around you

• Acknowledge four things you can touch

• Acknowledge three things you can hear

• Acknowledge two things you can smell

• Acknowledge one thing you can taste.

Lastly, move your body by walking or gently stretching. This can help release physical tension that builds up from anxiety.