Anxiety shows up without warning. Sweaty palms, a churning stomach and circling thoughts are just a few of the possible side effects that come with anxiety.
Describing the anxiety experience is tough. Anxiety is a complex blend of sensations, emotions and thoughts. It’s difficult to describe and even more challenging to live with. Anxiety doesn’t have a lot of outward symptoms.
For some, anxiety is a toll paid every day, for every action. It’s a clenching stomach when leaving the house or panic attacks in the middle of the grocery store. For others, it’s worries that repeat endlessly, never giving a moment of respite. Expressing emotions in anxiety isn’t easy for someone during an anxiety attack or when they aren’t sure what words to use. While it’s almost impossible to understand fully the price anxiety exacts on those with an anxiety disorder, you can learn how to be supportive and lend a helping hand when symptoms are at their worst.
Using Descriptive Language to Communicate Anxiety Feelings
No two people describe their condition the same way, even with more than 40 million adults in the United States diagnosed with anxiety. A pounding headache. Suddenly feeling a crushing weight or struggling to take a deep breath. Losing track of what’s happening around you. These are all part of what anxiety feels like but not necessarily a good way to describe what anxiety is. It’s a feeling of dread, disconnected from rationality. If someone you love tends to regularly use words like worried, concerned, troubled, uneasy or nervous, it could indicate they struggle with anxiety. If you find yourself describing your thoughts with these words and experience some of the physical symptoms described, it might be a good idea to talk with a mental health professional.
Expressing the Emotional Landscape of Anxiety
Anxiety isn’t a single feeling. It’s a combination of several emotions, creating a tapestry that tells a story often divorced from rationality. Is it rational to fear a thunderstorm? In some cases, sure, but for some people, the fear is entirely irrational. Anxiety isn’t a phobia, but it can share many of the same emotions. Fear, uncertainty and nervousness blend to leave someone with anxiety constantly feeling off-balance. Communicating anxiety feelings can be challenging, particularly when someone doesn’t feel they have any reason to be anxious.
Personal Accounts of Anxiety: What It’s Like From Different Perspectives
The experience of anxiety is vastly different for different people. It may manifest in jittery, uncontrolled motion for some while creating near-paralyzing stillness in others. Understanding anxiety requires empathy for each individual’s experience.
Let’s take a look at how three very different people might describe anxiety and how it affects their daily lives. Each narrative offers insights into the expressions of this debilitating feeling.
Internalized Anxiety in Social Settings
Sarah, a professional in her early 20s, has regular meetups with other members of her team. She’s the youngest on her team and often feels she doesn’t have anything to offer in a professional scope. Her struggle to make engaging small talk is just part of the anxiety she feels. Every time she has a meetup scheduled, a voice inside tells her everything she says is uninteresting and only creates more problems. For her, anxiety tells her she’s an impostor and shouldn’t even be where she is.
Spiraling Thoughts and Out-of-Control Anxiety
On the other side of the spectrum, James confronts anxiety as a chaotic force, an unruly storm that wreaks havoc on his daily life. In bed trying to sleep, he might spend hours blinking into the darkness, wondering if his car’s brakes are in good enough condition and worrying about getting into an accident on his way to work the next morning. Every day is a constant struggle with his out-of-control thoughts.
Anxiety in Childhood
Max is a boy in second grade. He doesn’t know why he hates entering the school building or exactly what anxiety is, but it’s the worst thing in his world at the moment. He has uncontrollable crying fits and clings to his parents every morning. At school, he might seem fine from the outside, but internally he spends all day struggling. More than 75% of people with social anxiety disorder experience their first symptoms in childhood, and Max is among them.
What triggers anxiety is different for everyone. While everyone gets anxious sometimes, people with a generalized anxiety disorder experience it more frequently and more intensely.
If you or someone you love is struggling with anxiety at work, in social settings, when running errands or at home, reach out to Mental Health Hotline. We partner with mental health care providers nationwide to get you the help you need. There’s no bad time to start feeling better.