Symptoms Of Anxiety Disorder and Its Impact On Your Life

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a type of anxiety disorder that many people confuse with daily or routine stress. Feeling anxious while doing any work and feeling anxious all the time are two different things. When you have anxiety, you feel stressed or anxious all the time.

Sometimes it may be triggered by any event or other times you may not find a reason of becoming anxious. Stress in anxiety messes up with all aspects of your life and reduces the quality of your life drastically.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a type of anxiety disorder that many people confuse with daily or routine stress

Anxiety begins with a thought that is fixated in your mind. When it affects all aspects of your life then it is referred to as an anxiety disorder. Anxiety does not only keep your mind occupied but also has physical symptoms associated with it, such as rapid heartbeat, sweating, twitches in stomach, shortness of breath or dizziness. Other than GAD, there are numerous types of anxiety disorders which include panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression.

If you feel like you are suffering from an anxiety disorder, then you should definitely seek treatment. The following symptoms are apparent in those suffering from anxiety disorder.

Your Anxiety Is Constant

Anxiety is constant when it keeps you on edge all the time. You might notice yourself feeling more anxious compared to members of your family or peers, especially in gatherings or events. Thoughts about upcoming events may keep your mind occupied for a long time, or all the time, before its actual occurrence, and this overthinking has a significant impact on the quality of your life.

Physical Symptoms Of Anxiety

It’s okay to feel anxious sometimes, but anxiety becomes a disorder when it also has physical symptoms associated with it. People have reported feeling various types of physical symptoms. Most commonly, people have reported feeling muscular pain in their arms or chest, dizziness or the feeling of constant fatigue. Some people also suffer from gastrointestinal issues due to long-term anxiety.

This is because the mind and gut has a very strong connection. Feeling constant anxiety keeps your nerves stressed all the time, and resultantly it has an impact on the gut system. Gastrointestinal issues, such as IBS, diarrhea, bloating, constipation, and heartburn are often reported by people suffering from anxiety disorder.

People have reported feeling muscular pain in their arms or chest, dizziness or the feeling of constant fatigue when suffering from anxiety

Lack Of Focus

Anxiety disorders hamper your ability to focus on things which require your utmost attention. A lot of effort is required in maintaining your focus when you have anxiety disorder. Focus is lost because other thoughts are fixated in your mind.

You Are Afraid of Getting Anxious

People suffering from anxiety disorders worry too much about becoming too anxious in certain situations. This is because there are many physical symptoms associated with anxiety which lead to a person feeling uncomfortable or embarrassed in those situations. People who are anxious all the time want to avoid the occurrence of such physical symptoms, such as activity in their gut due to the triggering of IBS, and in an effort of avoiding becoming anxious they instead become more anxious. All of this happens even before the event has taken place.

You Have Negative Thoughts about Yourself

Your self-esteem is lowered to a great extent when you have anxiety disorder. Because of continuous anxiousness, you lose confidence in yourself and you are always afraid of making wrong decisions. Your lack of focus makes you confused about the endless repercussions of your decisions. Thus, you rely upon others to make even some of the important decisions pertaining to your life.

Experiencing Withdrawal

If you are suffering from an anxiety disorder, then your mind is probably occupied with negative thoughts about negative outcomes coming from otherwise neutral situations. This keeps you anxious and worried all the time. You start losing interest in daily activities, and as a result become anti-social, making your anxiety worse by keeping yourself away from the people you love and who love you.

What to Do?

If you are experiencing a few of the above-mentioned symptoms, then it is possible you are leading yourself towards developing, or are already suffering from, an anxiety disorder. The best strategy to avert it is to accept your situation and face life as it comes. Positive thoughts and acceptance of different situations can mitigate these symptoms, as you will become more open to change, both positive and negative.
If you cannot help yourself, then it is best to take advice of qualified psychologist for treatment of your symptoms. They may refer to you a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), stress management techniques, or medication such as antidepressants.