7 subtle signs of anxiety
When you think of anxiety, you probably imagine the most obvious signs: sweating nervously, feeling agitated, worrying nonstop. But anxiety can manifest in countless ways, many of which we’re not even aware of. These subtle signs of anxiety probably don’t rise to the level of a “disorder,” but they can interfere with our lives in […]
When you think of anxiety, you probably imagine the most obvious signs: sweating nervously, feeling agitated, worrying nonstop. But anxiety can manifest in countless ways, many of which we’re not even aware of. These subtle signs of anxiety probably don’t rise to the level of a “disorder,” but they can interfere with our lives in ways we don’t realize.
Constantly planning ahead
In most situations of your life, you leave as little as possible to chance. For example, if you’re driving somewhere you think ahead to any problems that might come up and how to avoid them: traffic delays, difficult intersections, trouble finding parking. Or before conversations, you invest a lot of energy thinking about what you want to say and how the other person might respond. You might tell yourself you just like to plan ahead, but it’s driven by an underlying fear that something could go wrong if you don’t think it all through ahead of time.
Avoiding spontaneity
In a related way, you might seek predictability in everything you do: your schedule, your meals, your interactions with the people in your life. It’s normal to seek comfort in routines, but routines can easily turn into ruts that trap you in your comfort zones. As a result, you miss out on the surprising joy you might find off your well-worn path.
Always seeking distractions
Whenever you have a little downtime, you fill it with entertainment or other distractions. You immediately reach for your phone, check your email, or read the news. These behaviours are often unconscious efforts to quiet the agitation that arises in an unoccupied mind.
Perfectionism
Whether it’s writing a paper, cleaning the kitchen, creating an Instagram post, or composing an email, “good enough” won’t cut it. It has to be perfect, with every “t” crossed and every “i” dotted. While it may simply be attention to detail, more often it’s about the fear of getting something wrong and disappointing others.
Avoiding social situations
You often turn down or avoid opportunities to get together with other people. Maybe you tell yourself you’re “not in the mood” or that you’re an introvert, and that avoiding these gatherings is just a preference (those were the stories I told myself years ago). But once you recognize the presence of social anxiety, you start to see the many ways it’s guiding your choices.
Carrying physical tension
Anxiety often shows up physically as muscular tension. Although you may not feel anxious, your body is telling a different story. Your jaw is always tight, your shoulders are tense, and your stomach is in knots. Sometimes carrying anxiety in the body makes it less likely that you’ll feel it emotionally, and less likely that you’ll recognize it as anxiety.
- Difficulty delegating to others
When you’re in charge of something, you need to supervise the whole process—even when you don’t have time to. It’s hard for you to give up control, and you worry that others will let you down by not doing it as well as you would. When you do delegate, your anxiety about giving up control leads you to micromanage the process.
Courtesy: Seth J. Gillihan, PhD