Determining whether your anxiety is normal level anxiety or borders onto anxiety that needs treatment can be difficult. Signs of anxiety can vary in every person, so determining if you have enough or severe enough symptoms to get treatment can be difficult.

Personally, I never knew that I had anxiety. Last year, while going through the legal separation with my husband, I knew I needed help.

I reached out to my primary care provider and started seeing a therapist. Over the course of my treatment, I was informed that I have anxiety.

Not just normal anxiety, but a level higher than what most people experience in their lives. After my therapist went over some of the main signs of therapy, I realized I had been struggling with a high level of anxiety since middle school.

Below are the main symptoms I experienced along with some additional ones I found through research.

Signs of Anxiety

Sleep Issues

Having sleep issues is one of the first signs of anxiety that showed up for me. Back in middle school is when I first started having sleep issues.

My sleep issues were a combination of things. Sometimes it would take me hours to fall asleep at night. Other times, I would wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to fall asleep for several hours.

Back then, I brought up my sleep issues to my parents. Mental health wasn’t as big as it was now. They didn’t have any advice on what to do to help me sleep.

We didn’t pursue not being able to sleep well any farther. I assumed it was just a normal part of life as you grew up.

After talking to my therapist, now nearly 20 years after my sleep issues started. I learned that not being able to sleep well, is a sign of anxiety.

There was a bonus here, ever since, I have been acutely aware that I function best on 8-9 hours of sleep per night.

Obsessive Thoughts

Having obsessive thoughts was another early indication that I had anxiety that started back in middle school.

For me, middle school is where things started to get tricky with classmates and friends.

Both at night and sometimes during the day, I would continuously replay conversations that I had during the day. The replay would go over and over in my mind and I analyzed every point of certain conversations.

I’d wonder if I’d said something stupid or if I’d really gotten across what I’d wanted to in a conversation. I’d even replay certain things that were said to me and try to decipher if I gathered their full meaning.

These continuous replays of conversations or events are what kept me up at night and led to my sleep issues.

Sweating

Sweating is another symptom of anxiety that started showing up for me in middle school.

Simple situations such as sitting in a classroom where you know you might be called on and have to participate would set me off to sweat profusely.

Similarly, situations such as spending time eating lunch with a group of friends or acquaintances would make me sweat a lot.

For me, it showed up as armpit sweat. At the time, I tacked it up to puberty. What I didn’t realize then is that it wasn’t normal to come home with pit stains in your shirts every day, even when you wore deodorant.

In others, the sweating may show up in other places, such as palms, back, or forehead.

Tense Muscles

Tense muscles are yet another sign of anxiety. For me, this one started showing up at the end of high school and early in college.

I began waking up in the morning with a sore jaw. Sometimes, my jaw wouldn’t even open far enough to eat breakfast and I’d have to try and shuffle my jaw around with my hands.

After talking to my dentist, I was referred to a specialist who was able to design a mouthguard for me to help with my jaw clenching.

The one thing I remember most from those visits is the doctor asking me what is so stressful in my life that would cause me to clench my teeth.

I told him it was nothing in particular. I left with my mouth guard and was told that I needed to manage my stress better.

Others may experience muscle tension in ways like clenching of fists, tightening of shoulders, or even pelvic floor tightness.

Perfectionist Tendencies

Perfectionist tendencies can also be a symptom of anxiety.

For me, I tended to focus my perfection on my grades and excelling in school. I don’t know exactly when this started, but I remember being disappointed in myself way back in fourth grade for not being in the “high” math class.

This only increased as I went through school, into college, and the master’s program. I remember being disappointed that I didn’t get a 4.0 in the master’s program.

Just once, I wanted to have some schooling where I had gotten the “perfect” grades. I thought it would be cool to do.

On Health.com they note that judging yourself for falling short of your standards is a sign of anxiety.

Irritability

Another sign of anxiety, or even depression, is irritability.

For me, this started during pregnancy and continued on afterward. I still battle it today when I’m having rough days.

In pregnancy, nearly anything could set me off. Nothing irritated me more than a co-worker of mine walking into my cube saying “Hey-o!” as their cheery greeting.

Constant interruptions when I’m trying to get something done also irritate me.

After I had my daughter, this increased even more. I thought I was doing better because the things that irritated me during pregnancy bothered me less.

I was wrong. Instead, my irritations shifted towards my husband, who was never doing enough or helping enough.

Silly things like him filling up the drying rack with bottles incorrectly would put me on edge.

These days, I can recognize when I’m feeling this way and at least voice it, so my husband knows when I’m having a rough day.

Difficulty Concentrating

Difficulty concentrating is another symptom of anxiety that showed up for me during pregnancy.

I tacked it up to pregnancy hormones and having more on my mind. Afterward, I tacked it up to “mom brain”, which I was told would go away after a year or two.

Having difficulty concentrating was a downward spiral for my anxiety.

I started worrying more about my inability to concentrate. I worried about the impact it had on my work and how it decreased my efficiency.

This symptom still haunts me to this day when I’m having highly anxious days. I find it hard to concentrate on tasks as my mind thinks about numerous other things going on in my life.

Panic or Anxiety Attacks

Panic or anxiety attacks are probably the worst symptom I’ve experienced from anxiety.

For me, these showed up once I knew that my husband was leaving me.

Mine were always in response to something specific, such as a text from my husband.

I experienced an increase in my breathing, shaky hands, increased heart rate, and sweating around my hairline.

Panic attacks are incredibly scary. Healthline.com lists the additional symptoms of nauseousness, chest tightness, and shortness of breath.

Excessive Worry

Worrying, to a certain extent, is a normal part of life. However, when that worry becomes excessive, possibly consuming, it is a sign of having an anxiety disorder.

As noted on healthine.com the worries tend to be disproportionate to the event that caused them.

For me, having excessive worry showed up in the form of massive anxiety over forgotten homework or worrying about interactions with friends at school.

Irrational Fears

For some, anxiety comes in the form of having irrational fears. Health.com notes that these are typically attached to a “specific situation or thing”.

These are also known as phobias. Heathline.com states that they can be so bad that they may interfere with your ability to function in normal life.

Getting Help for Your Anxiety

If you are concerned that you may have a high level of anxiety that may require treatment, you should reach out to your doctor.

Primary care doctors will give you a questionnaire or two, designed to help them determine your level of depression or anxiety.

They will also talk to you about your symptoms and how you have been feeling.

Based on your responses, they may refer you to a therapist or prescribe some medication.

My personal treatment includes both of the above. My primary care doctor put me on a low dose of medication to help with my immediate symptoms such as anxiety attacks.

Going to a therapist helped me discuss my feelings with a third party. I was also able to learn additional coping mechanisms on how to help my anxiety.

If you are wondering, whether therapy actually helps, check out my article on that topic here. The article will provide additional guidance on what you can expect from therapy, ideas of what you might learn, and other benefits.

Make sure you are taking care of yourself. Thanks for reading!