Although Anxiety is under the mental illness umbrella a lot of the symptoms are physical and more importantly everyone and anyone has the capability of feeling anxious at any time in their life. Anxiety is largely developed from unhelpful thinking styles and as a result worry may become disproportionate to the actual situations. There can be many reasons that people suffer with anxiety but in some cases such as mine my anxiety is 'free floating' and naturally in my body so therefore it can be triggered more easily than other peoples and doesn't necessarily have to be due to a stressful situation, in fact I find that serious situations and things which are 'normal' to worry about I am actually fine with . Everyone's body has the ability to react to extreme situations and the flight or fight adrenaline response kicks in which is actually very useful. Initially for someone suffering from anxiety these feelings can be very daunting because when they take place they are usually aren't in a frightening situation. Being able to recognise and understand the symptoms which can occur during periods of high anxiety allows you to realise that, that is what it is and not something abnormal. This has helped me tremendously and the more times I have felt them I have managed to notice them sooner and calm myself down. It has taken me two years to get to the point where I am able to understand my anxiety and not completely freak out every time I have the same feelings, this is disappointing in contemporary society and I really want to help people realise that what they are feeling is completely normal. I read somewhere that a helpful way to view anxiety is that it is a defense mechanism and is in no way trying to purposely harm your body.
Physical symptoms of anxiety
Racing heart or palpitations
This is one very common symptom of anxiety and equally scary if you don't know why you suddenly feel like your heart is racing. Your heart beats faster because your body realises adrenaline and therefore blood is pumped around the body quicker to prepare your body in the fight or flight response this makes perfect sense when you read it like this but when it happens from the tiniest trigger it feels much worse.
Body Temperature
Your body temperature usually rapidly changes when you are feeling anxious. Initially you will feel very hot and probably start sweating as a way of cooling down (very glamorous I know) Once you reach the peak of the anxiety attack you may start to feel shivery and shaky this is a result of your muscles contracting because you will naturally tense up during this time and also your body will start to cool down after a short while.
Fuzzy head/headaches
As a result of all the adrenaline pumping around the body and your heart beating faster, it is likely that you will feel faint or dizzy. This again is a perfectly normally response to feeling anxious.
Tummy trouble
During a period of feeling anxious your body is concentrating on your heart and getting the blood to the right places as a result your digestive system temporary shuts down. This can lead to feelings of butterflies, sickness, churning, poor appetite and going to the toilet frequently. Having these kind of symptoms aren't very nice but once you understand the reasons why you are suffering from them it makes it just that little bit easier to deal with. You may also notice that tummy problems stay around even after you aren't feeling particularly anxious.
Tiredness
My doctor said to me that every time you have an episode of anxiety or a panic attack your body produces enough adrenaline to be able to run a marathon, no wonder you feel tired afterwards. Being tired can therefore have an impact on your thought patterns and a result become more negative which will have a knock on effect on your anxiety.
Rapid breathing
As the blood in your body is been directed to all the vital organs this may increase your breathing. Over a period of time in your body being used to taking short sharp breaths it may lead to hyperventilation. This again is pretty scary at the time and more than likely will make you freak out even more. Once you begin to understand the reason behind you feeling this way the easier it is to manage and eventually calm down. I went through a bad spell with thinking I couldn't breathe and as a result thinking it was something to do with my heart at the time I was at my fittest and could comfortably run just over 6 miles, this made me realise that if it was something more serious wrong with me I definitely wouldn't have been able to do that.
Derealisation
I have had this symptom numerous times during when I have felt anxious or had a panic attack and it can be quite difficult to explain to people who have never experienced it. Basically, derealisation is the feeling as though what you are experiencing is a dream and it doesn't feel real. Having anxiety you are constantly aware of how you and your body feels and therefore, sometimes you aren't really paying attention to your surroundings and whats going on around you, this can make you feel like you aren't yourself at times.
I want to do a couple more posts surrounding Anxiety and helping people understand it a little bit better, so next time I will cover the unhelpful thought patterns which can be created as a result of having Anxiety. Remember anyone can experience Anxiety whether you are actually suffering for a short or long period of time.
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