For many people, anxiety feels like a dizzy, jittery feeling that is accompanied by increased heart rate, irregular breathing, and endless worry-filled thoughts. These feelings may arise unexpectedly, even when there are no apparent triggers present.

For many other people though, anxiety may be more hidden and complicated. In these cases, it may even be hard to pinpoint the anxiety. Usually, there is no shallow breathing or feeling dizzy but there are bigger and more overwhelming problems. 

Here are some possible signs that you may actually be dealing with anxiety:

 

·      Stomach problems

After college, when I was stressed about finding a rewarding job and my career, I had a week filled with a total loss of appetite, nausea, and fatigue. The first few days I thought it was caused by something I ate. When symptoms didn’t dissipate for a week, I decided to go to a doctor. To my surprise, there was nothing wrong with my gut. Shortly after my doctor’s visit, symptoms disappeared and I’ve never experienced it again. Now, looking back, I can clearly see how my stomach was negatively affected by all the worrying thoughts I had in my mind about my career.

Do you often find that you eat the same food with a group of people and you are the only one who experiences a negative reaction? Even food sensitivities, gastrointestinal problems or chronic nausea may be related to anxiety. 

An article with the headline “The Gut-Brain Connection” from Harvard Health explains this well: “The gastrointestinal tract is sensitive to emotion. Anger, anxiety, sadness, elation — all of these feelings (and others) can trigger symptoms in the gut.” Think about it, during grief, many people lose appetite; before an important performance many people feel “butterflies” in the stomach, or we use terms like “I can’t stomach that”. Sounds familiar?

The mind and stomach are directly connected. And actually, many researchers think that the gut is the second brain. Our brain directly sends signals to the gut and vice versa, the gut directly sends signals to the brain. So, when you are anxious, you may be more prone to gastrointestinal problems such as irritable bowel syndrome, acid reflux, or abdominal cramps.

 

·      Hair loss

It’s normal and expected to lose hair every day. But when it becomes excessive, it can point out a bigger problem.

The problem with hair loss is that when we realize that we are losing a significant amount of hair, we become even more stressed and it leads to more hair loss. We get stuck in a stress chain that becomes harder and harder to break. 

Some of the common problems with hair loss are alopecia, hair loss after cancer treatment, or even things like ringworm. Although there can be many medical reasons for hair loss, often, it’s triggered by an anxious event. Even simple life changes such as moving, a new job, or loss of a relationship can trigger hair loss problems.

 

·      High blood pressure

High blood pressure can be another sign of chronic anxiety. First, let’s look at what high blood pressure is. Centers of Disease Control of Prevention (CDC) describes blood pressure as “heart pumps blood through the arteries, the blood puts pressure on the artery walls. This is called blood pressure.”  When this pressure is consistently higher than normal, it would be high blood pressure.

One of the common symptoms of anxiety is increased heart rate. Increased heart rate can also put pressure on the artery walls. Therefore, anxiety can lead to increased blood pressure and high blood pressure can lead to anxiety as well. A systematic review from 2015 supports this cycle; people who have anxiety are more prone to developing hypertension.

That is to say, if you have high blood pressure, looking into stressors in your life or understanding your triggers can be a good help.

 

·      Fatigue

It’s normal to feel tired after a long day or cardio but if you chronically feel fatigued, you may have to dig deeper. Although there may be many medically important causes for chronic fatigue, anxiety can also be one.

For one, dealing with the physical and mental symptoms of anxiety is very overwhelming for the mind. No wonder you feel like a truck ran over you in the evenings! Additionally, since anxiety triggers the fight-flight-freeze response, it also triggers hormonal changes to prepare the mind and the body for survival. These changes can make you feel drained and exhausted. 

In a study that was published in Cambridge University Press, researchers aimed to find the correlation between fatigue and anxiety disorders. The results showed that chronic fatigue is strongly correlated with psychological distress which can possibly mean that fatigue can be a symptom of anxiety or depression.

 

·      Skin problems

Have you ever had skin break out following a very stressful event? Well, you are not the only one! Skin problems such as eczema, acne or psoriasis, can be a sign of psychological distress.

Skin is our first contact with the world. It is where we are exposed the most and any scratches or bruises will show there first. This physical meaning also applies to mental processes as well. Not only anxiety can be a trigger for skin problems but also it can worsen the symptoms of skin problems.

If you don’t understand why you have developed a skin problem all of a sudden, understanding the root of it can be very helpful!

 

·      Lack of motivation

We feel motivated when we are excited but also a little bit challenged for the task ahead. The motivation decreases significantly if we find the task too hard or too easy. If you find that the things that you used to look forward to seems to be a hassle nowadays, it could be a good idea to assess your mental well-being.

Anxiety is strongly related to fear responses. Because of the fear, many people will develop avoiding behaviors or negative anticipation of events. As a result, they may have little to no motivation to challenge the fear or wrong beliefs.

For example, if you developed a fear of elevators, at first you may find that you are uncomfortable in an elevator. So, you start taking stairs instead. The more you avoid, the stronger the fear becomes. If it’s untreated, you may find that you avoid going into high buildings or even choosing your home according to your fear. However, instead, if you challenged the fear in the beginning, you would see that the fear reaction is false and you are safe.

Procrastination is another common example of a lack of motivation. Even if you know that the action will have positive outcomes, if you are still postponing it, you may be procrastinating. Sometimes we procrastinate because unconsciously, we are afraid that we may actually become successful. Or at times, the opposite happens! We procrastinate because we are afraid of failing! These are all examples of procrastination based on fears developed earlier in life.