Anxiety is one of those mental illnesses that can show many physical signs, some that others will notice and some physical symptoms only the person suffering from anxiety will notice. The reality of mental illness is that most of these illnesses do cause physical and emotional symptoms. As a means to help you understand your anxiety or figure out if you may suffer from anxiety, I’ve created a list of the physical symptoms of anxiety that you may have overlooked.
What are the Physical Symptoms of Anxiety?
Heart Racing
All too often people with anxiety experience what is known as a panic attack, or a mild version of what feels like a heart attack. This is due to the heart-racing physical side effect of anxiety. Your mind controls your central nervous system and when your anxiety goes into overdrive it makes your heart start racing and in turn, you start getting even more worried because this can feel very scary.
Stomach in Knots
Someone who suffers from anxiety can get themselves so worked up that they have this irrational level of fear and worry about something going on in their life that they literally walk around with knots in their stomach. If you’ve ever been super nervous about something, such as public speaking, then you know exactly how this feels, but someone with anxiety can experience it on a regular basis and it can cause major nausea or want to simply lay down and do nothing.
Jaw Clenching or Grinding Teeth
When someone with anxiety gets all worried about something with or without realizing it their jaw naturally clenches up. Jaw clenching or grinding your teeth can be a tough physical symptom of anxiety to deal with. Jaw clenching and teeth grinding can actually cause a headache as well as dental problems if you don’t seek help to calm your anxiety levels down so that you stop having instances of jaw clenching or grinding teeth.
Insomnia
Last, but not least, someone who has anxiety may have a difficult time falling asleep, staying asleep or even lying still during bedtime. Anxious thoughts can run rampant when you finally lay down to get some rest. Your mind will start overthinking and worrying about anything going on in your life and start to make you suffer from insomnia. Many people with anxiety have had to try to use sleep hypnosis or meditation apps to try to lull their mind to sleep at night.
If you or a loved one think you may have anxiety it’s best to schedule an appointment with your healthcare provider. Your doctor will know best whether you truly have anxiety and help guide you forward in getting help with this crippling mental illness so that you can lead a happier life.
Similar Posts About Coping with Anxiety
- How to Help Someone with Anxiety
- 20 Anxiety Life Hacks to Overcome Those Anxious Moments
- How to Cope when Anxiety Rolls In
Brandy Ellen has been a blogger since 2008 and enjoys spending her free time with her family and making the most out of every moment she has. Brandy enjoys sharing personal stories, tips, and other advice based on real-life & work from home experiences to help others live a fulfilling life.
Thanks for sharing these physical symptoms of anxiety. It is so difficult to see someone you love dealing with anxiety and sharing these symptoms help spread awareness. Thanks!
Part of me wonders if my daughter has a bit of anxiety. Every now and then she says how badly her tummy hurts, but there is no reason that it should.
That’s what I wonder about our youngest too. He was getting really bad tummy aches when he was in public school. I couldn’t pinpoint why and he was missing a lot of school because of it. We decided to switch him to homeschool (for many reasons) and voila – he has no more tummy aches like that. I think it’s anxiety … but not a HUGE case of it. Kids often complain of tummy pain which I call nervous stomach when anxiety hits them, but they just don’t realize that’s what it is as they are kids. Anxiety sucks, I had it all my life and wasn’t diagnosed until early ’20s. Now I realize where a lot of my issues were stemming from in childhood.
I have anxiety issues due to dealing with chronic pain. It’s not easy to deal with ๐
Anxiety is so awful! But you need to find a way to control it. Thanks for sharing these info!
While a little anxiety is normal in certain situations, my heart goes out to people who suffer from severe anxiety. A few people that I know suffer from anxiety and it can be debilitating. Fortunately, they have gotten help and are able to manage their anxiety.
Oh, my goodness. I have anxiety attack all the time and it is very challenging. Meditation helps sometimes. Thanks for sharing!
I have anxiety and have insomnia. It’s so difficult because even when you want to just rest, not so good thought and worried always flood me.
I think this is such an important post. It’s nice to know more about these symptoms. I have a bit of anxiety myself, so I can relate.
I have a friend who has insomnia and I have another friend who is having panic attacks from time to time. I am not sure if they have seen a doctor though. Great post!
I’ve known people who experience anxiety most of the time. I really recommend them to go and to a doctor to help them get through it.
I thought I had anxiety, but apparently I was having panic attacks according to my doctor. I didn’t look up the symptoms, but if I had, I guess I would have realized it was not anxiety like I thought. This is a very informative post, and I hope it helps others out there with these issues!
Oh yes, panic attacks suck. I have anxiety .. diagnosed with that, which does cause attacks. I am not familiar with what panic attack versus anxiety attack differences would be. Now I must look that up!
I clecnh my jaw a lot when I am getting anxious. I also grind my teeth a little bit.
OMGosh, yes me too ๐ I cannot help it.
Yup, my son can have anxiety and can go through these. My husband as well! He has some nights where he barely sleeps at all.
It’s so hard living with anxiety. I have it. My kids have different levels of it. It’s crazy how much it can impact us physically ๐ I hate when my kids get stomach aches from it (I call it nervous stomach).
Anxiety can be very difficult to deal with. It’s important to have a big support network in place and the right tools & resources available. Thanks for spreading awareness on this topic.
Yes it is so hard to live with. Thanks for the comment.
This definitely sounds like something that can happen often to a lot of people. I know there are times I get anxious and it is a rotten feeling. I am glad that you can share your experiences because it makes people feel less alone.
I have a friend who has anxiety issues. She is under a doctor’s care and I’m so glad you shared these symptoms. I had no idea.