Isn’t Everybody Anxious? How to Know When Your Anxiety Deserves Attention
If you look around, you might notice some level of anxiety in the eyes of the people around you. They may notice the worry and tension in yours as well.
To some degree, we’re all living in times that manufacture worry-making incidents, events, and headlines every day. And to some degree, we simply struggle to process our fears and concerns well enough to keep them from affecting us negatively.
But how much worry is too much? How do you know when you’ve crossed the line from reasonably concerned to unproductively anxious? What’s “normal”? And when is time to seek help?
Anxiety isn’t “bad.”
First of all, if you are currently trying to cope with worry on your own, try not to exacerbate your internal upset with shame or unkind self-criticism. Anxiety is a perfectly normal response to danger. Often, it is just what you need to make you perk up, pay attention, and choose wisely for your own safety or best interests. It’s when your brain gets stuck on the anxiety setting, and can’t resolve that feeling, that you run into trouble.
How do you worry?
Some worries are very specific, about realistic things or occurrences. Such anxiety is well-founded and linked to something that is actually happening or likely to happen. These worries are not general and constant. They exist, are usually temporary, and often have solutions, even if the solutions to them are difficult to execute.
On the other hand, anxiety that is broad and general tends to blanket your life with unrealistic concerns or fear. There is a pervasive sense that you are out of control and unprepared. One worry seems linked to another without much relief. Your anxiety isn’t temporary but a lingering state of disquiet and discomfort.
If you find that you lean toward the latter form of worry it may significantly affect your emotional, mental and physical health.
Signs That Your Anxiety Deserves Professional Attention
Healthy anxiety arises appropriately and in proportion to the event taking place. It is finite, lasting as long as the current danger warrants. Anxiety is intrusive when it lingers too long and distracts you from the here and now.
Anxiety can inhabit your mind and body over time if you aren't able to manage it well. Unresolved, it can also damage your self-esteem, relationships, and physical health. It's time to seek help if anxiety consistently disrupts your life and daily functioning in the following ways:
Physical Discomfort:
increased heart rate/irregular heartbeat
chest tightness
rapid breathing, shortness of breath, hyperventilation
tremors or shakiness
disrupted sleep patterns/insomnia (night sweats, snoring, sleepwalking)
gastrointestinal trouble (recurring upset stomach ache, diarrhea, constipation, nausea, or vomiting)
physical burnout (your body feels worn down)
headaches, dizziness, fainting
weakness, exhaustion, fatigue
muscle tension, shoulder pain, backache
fidgeting, sweating
vision problems
Emotional Disturbance:
persistent nervousness, restlessness, or tension
constantly feeling stressed out about work, relationships, unmet needs, or goals
dread and inability to cope with uncertainty (persistent sense of impending doom, or danger)
irritability, anger, withdrawal
constantly alert/hypervigilant
a tendency to be extremely controlling or require constant reassurance
Cognitive Distress:
racing thoughts (unable to stop thinking about possible problems)
cognitive distortions (black-or-white thinking, overgeneralization, catastrophizing,)
difficulty reining in the worry, fear
strong desire to avoid things that trigger distress
fixation on worries and potential problems
poor concentration and inability to focus
How Mental Health Professional Can Help
If you are feeling that your fear and worry seem to be beyond your control to sort or manage, it okay. Please know that you are not alone. You can live in uncertain times without succumbing to debilitating fear, hypervigilance, or avoidance. You deserve to live your life with the knowledge that you can handle upcoming problems, unexpected circumstances, and triggers.
Take time to obtain healthy support and the right tools. Therapy can provide the safe place you need to develop a plan for coping and overcoming anxiety run amok.
Please read more about anxiety treatment and reach out soon for a consultation. Sessions with a compassionate and experienced professional can help guide and support you. Let's talk soon.