Anxiety is more than just 'worry'. It can affect every part of your experience - how you think, feel, move, and act. And sometimes in ways that don't immediately seem connected with fear.

Anxiety doesn't always come in the form of a movie-like panic attack. Sometimes it feels like restlessness. Or blankness. Or even a sense of stuckness from chronic avoidance.

To make things clearer, we'll break anxiety down into four main areas:

Emotional (feelings)
Cognitive (mind and thought)
Physical (body)
Behavioural (habits and patterns)

1 Emotional

A gnawing sense of dread - like something bad might happen, but you don't know what
Feeling helpless, stuck, or incapable of dealing with life in general
Being on high-alert all the time (hypervigilance)
Feeling tense, jumpy, restless, or constantly irritable
Occasionally feeling like you’re watching things from a distance (depersonalisation)

These emotional states can either be fairly constant, like background noise. Or come in waves - some days ramping up for no obvious reason at all.

Over time they can make the days heavier and more draining, chipping away at your self-confidence, and make simple things seem overwhelming.

2 Cognitive

Racing thoughts - either about one issue, or flitting between many
Recurrent 'worry loops' that feel out of your control
Overthinking even minor decisions - stuck in 'what-ifs' and 'but maybes' (indecisiveness)
Difficulty concentrating or finishing tasks
Jumping to worst-case scenarios (catastrophising)
Obsessing over symptoms, bodily sensations, or repetitive/intrusive thoughts (see: health anxiety)
Feeling blank or foggy - like mental burnout, where simple thinking is hard (often self-medicated with doom-scrolling)

An anxious brain is trying to protect you - by scanning, preparing, and planning. But instead of clarity, it creates more noise.

3 Physical

Shortness of breath - feeling unable to fully fill your lungs
Heart palpitations - a pounding, fluttering, or painful heartbeat
Chest tightness, dizziness, or feeling faint
Sweating unusually, shaky hands, or itchy skin
Gastrointestinal issues: feeling sick (nausea), butterflies, loose or watery stools (diarrhoea), constipation, bloating, or abdominal pain
Dry mouth
Appetite changes - either a loss of appetite, or increased cravings (e.g. carbs, comfort food)
Feeling like there's a lump in your throat (globus)
Muscle twitching, foot-tapping, or other repetitive movements ('anxiety tics')
Persistent fatigue or weak limbs
Frequent or urgent need to urinate
Occasional dissociative sensations i.e. feeling unreal, disconnected, or outside your body
Sexual symptoms e.g. difficulty getting an erection (impotence) or unexplained pain during sex
Headaches, feeling numb or light-headed, pins-and-needles, or vertigo (feeling of moving/swaying)

These symptoms can be terrifying - especially when they feel like a medical emergency. It's not uncommon for someone to find out they're suffering with anxiety after going to their GP for a stomach or heart problem that turns out to be stress-related.

4 Behavioural

Avoiding places, situations, or conversations that might trigger discomfort or uncertainty
Trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking from nightmares
Repeatedly asking for reassurance (e.g. "are you sure this is ok?")
Constant 'checking' e.g. your phone, the locks, your body, or inbox

These behaviours usually start as coping strategies. And they work - for a while. But over time, they reinforce the anxiety loop. And the crutch becomes a cage.

Understanding Your Symptoms

Anxiety won't often show up in just one of these areas. It tends to show up across all four - thoughts, emotions, body, and behaviour. Which can make it confusing, overwhelming, and difficult to explain.

Once you start to see how anxiety shows up, it becomes easier to name it - and hence choose your response.

The indecision may not be flakiness. The scrolling might not be laziness. They might be your nervous system trying its best to keep you safe from some kind of threat.

It doesn't mean you're sick or broken. But understanding how anxiety shows up for you can help you take back the reins. To meet it with curiosity instead of embarrassment or shame. And that’s the first step toward change.

Struggling with anxiety in Leighton Buzzard? I offer counselling and hypnotherapy to help you feel safer, calmer, and more in control. Get in touch now.