“Do I Have Anxiety?” Use this Anxiety Symptoms Checklist to Find Out

Anxiety can be a buzzword in our society today, thought of as something bad and often times immediately labeled to feelings of discomfort. In reality, anxiety in moderation can be a normative reaction to unfamiliar situations, unknown expectations, and stress.

We have all experienced feeling anxious about a situation at a new job, an upcoming exam, or when making an important decision. It is common for all of us to experience periods of anxiety or feeling nervous in anticipation for something.

It can vary from person to person in what tends to make us feel anxious, but we all experience times or worry, fear, or anxiety around certain events throughout our life. In fact, it can help us to pay attention, be ready to react to startling stimulus, know when to fight or flight, and even be a bit of a motivator for us to put in effort and apply ourselves. However, like many helpful things, in moderation it is beneficial but when there is too much of that good thing, it goes from being useful to negatively impacting our ability to function or get things done.

So if experiencing some anxiety is normal, how can I tell if what I am experiencing is beyond normal? Anxiety disorders diverge from common feelings of anxiousness and move into the realm of excessive worry, fear, and anxiety.

Generally, with normal feelings of anxiety, they subside or disappear once the stressor or cause of the anxiety is over or removed. However, with anxiety disorders, even with the cause of the anxiety removed, the feelings or fear and anxiety persist and happen without any particular reason.

Anxiety can be a serious condition that makes it difficult to cope with daily life and for those experiencing it, the feelings are not easily controlled. Anxiety disorders affect approximately 20 percent of adults at some time during their lifetime and are the most common of the mental disorders in the United States. This means that if you are struggling with anxiety, you are not alone.

When we have too much anxiety, it begins to make it difficult for us to function in our daily lives. So how do I know if I have anxiety?

Are there different types of anxiety?

There are several different classifications of anxiety disorders, according to the American Psychiatric Association, each with its own unique symptom profile to help to distinguish between them.

A few common diagnoses include:

Generalized Anxiety Disorder Generalized Anxiety Disorder is characterized by the presence of excessive, persistent, and uncontrollable worry and anxiety about everyday stressors, often disproportionate to the situation for at least six months. Anxiety often manifests with physical symptoms such as muscle tension, feeling on edge, irritability, restlessness, and sleep disturbances.

Social Anxiety Disorder

Social Anxiety Disorder often causes a debilitating fear of being humiliated in public, rejected, or seen in a negative light by others. This can present as extreme shyness and someone struggling with this disorder may avoid meeting new people, eating or drinking in public, or social situations altogether. Symptoms also need to persist for longer for six months.

Phobias

Specific phobias involve a persistent and excessive fear of a particular object, situation, or activity such as flying, animals, toilets, heights, or getting an injection that can be prompted by the presence or simply the anticipation of the object or situation. The fear is recognizably disproportionate to the real risk or danger posed and it is common for adults suffering from a specific phobia to be able to recognize the excessive or irrational fear, but feel powerless against it.

Panic Disorder

With Panic Disorder, the central symptom is the sudden and recurrent panic attacks wherein a person experiences overwhelming physical and psychological distress all at once and seemingly out of the blue.

During a panic attack a combination of several symptoms will occur, possibly including: palpitations, sweating, dizziness, cold or hot flashes, fear of dying or losing control, nausea, chest pain, and shaking. Due to the severity of the symptoms, people experiencing a panic attack may go to the ER as they may believe they are experiencing a heart attack or other serious life-threatening condition. Anxiety and worry about consequences of having a panic attack and/or the fear of having further panic attacks is also common.

Consulting with a mental health professional can help you to more fully understand what type of anxiety you may be experiencing. Counselors are able to work with you to find out what type of treatment will work best for you.

The type of anxiety you may be suffering from as well as how it is impacting your daily functioning in life will determine which type of treatment plan that a counselor will create for you as an individual in order to provide the best care to find relief from your symptoms of anxiety.

Anxiety Symptoms Checklist

Knowing that there are several different ways and situations that anxiety can manifest and present itself, below is a checklist for you to do a quick self-assessment. Keep in mind that if you are experiencing these symptoms, you can reach out to a counselor to explore where this anxiety may be stemming from as well as to begin learning healthy coping skills to manage and, hopefully, reduce your symptoms.

If you can relate to the items on the checklist, persistently experience these symptoms, and identify an impact on your daily life functioning, you may be experiencing symptoms of an anxiety disorder.

In general, in order for a person to be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, the fear, worry, or anxiety must be either age inappropriate or out of proportion to the situation as well as hinder the person’s ability to function normally.

Although a specific diagnosis requires further assessment by a professional, this section will provide some common signs that may shed light on your current struggle in functioning with anxiety.

Do you:

… constantly feel tense, worried, or on edge?

… suddenly experience unexpected attacks of heart-pounding panic?

… experience an interference with your work, school, or family responsibilities due to anxiety?

… have consistent fears that you are aware are irrational, but can’t seem to get rid of?

… believe that something bad will inevitably happen if specific things aren’t done a specific way?

… avoid everyday situations or activities because they cause you to have anxiety?

… feel as though danger and disaster are around every corner?

Sometimes it can be helpful to take time to examine the breakdown of how exactly anxiety is impacting your life. We can often miss or dismiss what is happening in our bodies as signs of stress.

Because of the different types of anxiety disorders and the plethora of different ways that anxiety can manifest, it can look differently for each individual.

Below are lists of just some of the ways that anxiety can impact our mental, emotional, and physical selves:

Cognitive and Emotional Symptoms

• Feelings of apprehension or dread
• Constantly watching for signs of danger
• Anticipating the worst, catastrophizing
• Trouble concentrating
• Feeling tense and jumpy, unable to relax
• Easily annoyed and irritable
• Feeling as though your mind’s gone blank
• Excessive worry or fear

Physical Symptoms

• Racing or pounding heart
• Quickened breathing
• Sweating
• Restlessness
• Headaches
• Stomach upset
• Frequent urination and/or diarrhea
• Dizziness
• Hot and cold flushes
• Shortness of breath
• Muscle tension or twitches
• Shaking or trembling
• Insomnia
• Panic attacks

What can I do to treat my anxiety?

Anxiety disorders can often cause people to attempt to avoid situations that would trigger or worsen their symptoms of anxiety, which in turn has an effect on school work, job performance, and personal relationships. Often it is once these negative consequences are felt that individuals realize that their struggle with anxiety is larger than what may be considered as normative.

One way to begin differentiating between normal anxiety and a potential anxiety disorder can be to examine where it comes from and how it is impacting your life. Learning to look at what is causing the anxiety and examining if your reaction is proportionate to the situation can be helpful.

Identifying the source of the anxiety is useful in order to understand what type of anxiety you are struggling with and to be able to begin working on the reduction of the symptoms. Reaching out to a counselor to help you examine the cause and figure out how to manage and reduce your symptoms is a great next step.

Not everyone who experiences anxiety or worry has an anxiety disorder. Their symptoms may be stemming from a lack of sleep, demanding schedule and pressures from work or school, or even sometimes too much caffeine! It is important to keep in mind how much lifestyle can affect our mental health well-being.

Taking time to evaluate your work-life balance, nutritional intake, and self-care practices can shed some light on how one may be able to reduce some of their anxiety.

Ask yourself: Do I allow for times to relax and have fun? Do I have and utilize people in my life who are emotional supports? Do I ask for help when I need it? And how do I take care of my body?

All of these questions can assist you in gauging where some intentional changes may need to occur to lower some stress and anxiety in your life.

Healthy balanced lifestyles and coping skills are effective in managing and reducing anxiety. However, if the anxiety, fear, and worry has increased and you are finding it difficult to control, reaching out to health professionals can be beneficial. Checking in with a medical professional can help to assure that something physical (such as asthma or a thyroid problem, etc.) or medicinal (such as drug interactions, herbal supplements, etc.) are not causing the anxiety symptoms.

If an anxiety disorder is diagnosed, a mental health professional can come alongside you to begin helping you to manage and treat your anxiety. A counselor can assist in teaching you healthier and more effective skills to help you cope with the anxiety.

A common type of therapy used to treat anxiety is Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT). CBT helps a person to examine their thought patterns, and learn a different way of thinking, responding, and behaving in order to feel less anxious.

On occasion, if anxiety is severely impacting the ability to function and therapy or self-help solutions alone are not enough, a doctor may recommend an anti-anxiety or antidepressant medication to assist the body — not to cure, but to find some relief from some symptoms.

A counselor can help you to prepare to talk to your doctor or a psychiatrist if that is indeed a necessary step in order for you to find relief in your process to be able to function. Know that just because you are struggling with anxiety does not mean you automatically require medication; many people can benefit from therapy as well as implementing healthy coping skills and anxiety-reducing techniques.

Christian Counseling Can Help

Anxiety is a common mental health issue and is treatable. You do not have to stay stuck in the overwhelming feelings of anxiety, fear, and worry. The Bible speaks of releasing anxious and fearful thoughts to the Lord, to not be afraid, and to think on what is true.

By reaching out to a Christian counselor, you will be able to work together to examine what is true and change your anxious thoughts, relieving your symptoms of anxiety.

If you are struggling with anxiety, please do not ignore these feelings and symptoms. Anxiety is treatable, but if left untreated it can lead to further distress and depression. Do not avoid your symptoms and the causes of your anxiety any longer.

I encourage you to reach out to us at Seattle Christian Counseling and set up an appointment with a counselor you feel comfortable with. Do not be afraid to reach out to a Christian counselor to come alongside you in your struggle with anxiety. You are not alone. Help is here for you.