For most of us, life often throws up challenges that can create anxiety. However, some people will be able to shrug off these feelings and continue with their daily lives without any significant interference. But for others, those feelings of anxiety can linger and severely impact on their quality of life.
There are many variants of this condition including social anxiety, specific phobias, panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and post-traumatic stress disorder.
There are two main forms of anxiety I am seeing time and time again at the moment. The first is generalised anxiety disorder (GAD). This is where a person feels anxious on most days and finds themselves worrying about a wide variety of things. Left untreated, GAD can severely affect many different aspects of a person’s life, including sleep. The second form is health anxiety. Unsurprisingly, I am seeing more people for whom fear around COVID-19 has contributed to their anxiety.
Here are some of the most common signs of anxiety to look out for:
- Experiencing a sense of impending danger – a general feeling panic or doom
- Breathing rapidly (hyperventilation)
- Feeling nervous, restless, or tense
- Thinking people are looking at you and perceiving you in a negative way
- Difficulty concentrating or thinking about anything other than the present worry
- Trouble getting off to sleep due to worry (Racing mind)
- Finding yourself double or triple checking things, and still worrying it’s not done or that something bad will happen.
These are just some of the signs that anxiety is having a harmful impact on your life. However, anxiety can manifest itself in a host of ways and can affect individuals differently. So, if you’re concerned about your anxiety, it’s important to seek professional help.