An Insider Look at Living with Anxiety

Anxiety is a worldwide leading mental health disorder. (1) With the World Health Organization estimating 264 million people living with an anxiety disorder. (2) So why do people feel so lonely when anxiety attacks?

How anxiety feels and what triggers it has commonalities across genders and nationalities. 

Although maladaptive, anxiety disorders derive symptoms from deep in our evolutionary history. Tense muscles, heart palpitations, shortness of breath…you name it, all gearing up for survival. 

Lisa is no stranger to these unpleasant sensations. Since being diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and Panic Disorder over a decade ago, Lisa has become quite familiar with anxiety. She even started her own business, adventures and anxiety,  to connect those struggling with mental health.  

“All in all, I feel that simply living with anxiety and panic for so long – dealing with the highs and the lows for 20+ years – has given me more knowledge on this topic than anything else can or ever will.”

Lisa @adventuresandanxiety

If you are feeling alone and out of whack about anxiety, this article is for you. Lisa and I (another life long GAD survivor) have joined together to share all our insights on how anxiety get us feeling funky – the physical stuff, the mental stuff, and the triggers.

What does anxiety feel like on the inside?

Anxiety is frantic and urgent energy in the body that has identified a risk, either perceived or real. The feeling of anxiety serves a very real purpose. It helps our bodies detect when something is threatening us thus triggering the fight, flight or freeze mode. 

Anxiety becomes a maladaptive disorder when the brain and body perceive dangers rather than reacting to an actual threat. For example, labeling thoughts as threats – ie. intrusive thoughts. 

When fight flight freeze is engaged, all sorts of chemicals and bodily functions slow, stop or jump into action. Our digestion slows down, our thoughts speed up, our breathing and heart rate increase. All of these changes come to us as sensations, worries, and overall fear. 

To be frank, in the past these symptoms have made me feel crazy. In Lisa’s words, “Honestly, it’s all very uncomfortable.”

A list of symptoms doesn’t completely reveal how anxiety actually feels on the inside. No, anxiety does not feel the same for everybody.  But for a point of reference, Lisa and I share our personal experiences of how anxiety has presented itself in our own lives.

The Physical Stuff

As our bodies gear up to fight an incoming threat, it starts to do all sorts of survival-focused things. These adjustments show up as symptoms that can feel scary.

For Lisa physical sensations presents themselves as:

Symptom: Shortness of breath, which sometimes leads to yawning

• What it feels like: panic, threatening, overwhelm
• Why does the anxious body do this? To prepare for flight/fight/freeze the body wants to maximize oxygen to the muscles, causing faster breathing (3)

 Symptom: Tension in the Chest 

• What it feels like: one giant knot in the chest
  Why does the anxious body do this? Chest tension is another tactic to optimize breathing and get oxygen to the muscles for flight/fight/freeze (3)

Symptom: Red blotches on chest, neck, and face 

• What it feels like: heat and worry, “the symptom I have that is most noticeable to others” – lisa
• Why does the anxious body do this? A common cause of anxiety rash is rising body heat which releases histamine, an allergic reaction fighting chemical that causes a rash to form (4)

Symptom:  Hands and feet tingle and start to go numb

• What it feels like: unease, intense nervousness
• Why does the anxious body do this? Reduction of carbon dioxide in the blood leads to a slew of chemical reactions that eventually unbalance the system and cause tingling in the feet and hands as a result (5)

For me physical sensations (other than some overlap from Lisa) look like: 

Symptom: Hyperventilation (similar to shortness of breath)

• What it feels like: can’t breathe, doom, complete panic, loss of control
• Why does the anxious body do this?  To prepare for flight/fight/freeze the body wants to maximize oxygen to the muscles, causing faster breathing – this may present itself as full-blown hyperventilation or shortness of breath  (3)

Symptom: Constricted throat

• What it feels like: being choked, heavy uncomfortable pressure 
• Why does the anxious body do this? Referred to as “globus sensation” and occurs due to muscles tensing during the stress response for flight/flight/freeze (6)

Symptom: Rapid Heartbeat 

• What it feels like: heart attack, urgency, danger
• Why does the anxious body do this? The autonomic nervous system (ANS) kicks flight or flight into gear which increases heart rate in order to run or fight off danger (7)

Some of the followers on the ChillChief Instagram account mentioned anxiety feeling like:

• “It feels like something in my throat, preventing me from articulating words.”
• “Impending doom, Crawling out of my skin with discomfort.”
• “Anxiety is a constant knot in my chest or pit in my stomach.”
• “It feels like I can’t control myself anymore and it’s making decisions for me.”
• “Physical tension and intrusive thoughts.”

The Mental Stuff

When the chemicals and signaling frequencies change during a period of high anxiety, thoughts may begin to shift as well. They can become rapid, irrational, hyperfocused on one issue, or overwhelming. 

Racing and irrational thoughts are a common symptom of anxiety – here are a few Lisa and I (and possibly some of you) have experienced.

For Lisa mental changes present themselves as:

Thought: Flee the Scene 

• What it feels like: literally do anything to escape the moment
• Example: bee-lining it to the next exit when panicking on the highway

For me mental changes look like:

Thought: Impending doom

• What it feels like: that nothing is going to work out right and misery is inevitable 
• Example: believing that everyone hates me when a friend responded to a text oddly

Thought: Repetitive thoughts stuck on “danger” at hand

• What it feels like: a broken record going around and around one thought 
• Example: repeating an intrusive thought over and over

Thought: You need to protect yourself!

• What it feels like: Defensive Paranoia 
• Example: being completely resistant to any change or pressure from others

What triggers us makes us stronger. At least that is one way to think about it.

Although anxiety triggers often feel crippling, they give us a place to start and a place to work through what is really going on internally. 

Anxiety can be triggered by almost anything.  A trigger is created when our body has been trained to initiate the fight or flight response as a reaction to a specific stimulus. (9) This stimulus can range from specific situations to thoughts to general places. 

Usually, what triggers anxiety is what helps doctors diagnose what type of anxiety disorder somebody is experiencing. For instance, individuals who are triggered by social situations are typically diagnosed with social anxiety. On the other hand, people who are triggered by a wide range of thoughts and situations are typically diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. 

Lisa shares her top three triggers – and how she copes when the anxiety gets too loud.

Driving Anxiety

“Driving over bridges or in traffic on major highways – this is my biggest trigger/fear in life!”

Lisa @adventuresandanxiety

She isn’t alone – our “Panic Attack while Driving” article has gotten some of the highest engagement – and I myself experience driving anxiety as well. 

Some quick tips outlined in the article are – practice deep breathing, muscle relaxation technique and listening to a guided meditation.

Public Speaking Anxiety

“I work hard to overcome this, as presenting is a big part of my career in Public Relations, and my goal in life is to one day speak on the topic of mental health!”

Lisa @adventuresandanxiety

Public Speaking is one of the most reported triggers on anxiety, many people without anxiety disorders experience this as well.

Tiny Spaces Anxiety 

Feeling trapped in any way has Lisa feeling a little funky. She says, “For example, being stuck on the subway in NYC … AH.” 

This is called claustrophobia.

Anxiety is a liar – you are far from alone.

When anxiety makes you feel small, scared and alone – remember this article. You are NOT alone – far from it in fact – even if the symptoms you experience are not listed here.

To join a community where you feel connected check out @chillchief, @adventuresandanxiety or join our newsletters! 

We both started our communities to help others with anxiety feel more connected and be more aware of the resources to help them cope. We are your people!

---

About Lisa @adventuresandanxiety

Since being diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Panic Disorder almost a decade ago, Lisa worked hard to take back control of her life. She’s explored therapy, spoken with experts, done the research, and worked through plenty of trial-and-error to find ways to thrive with these mental illnesses. 

As she opened up about mental health, she connected deeply with others about their own struggles – eventually sharing her story publically through her blog, adventures & anxiety. 

Aside from passionately discussing mental health, she is a daughter, sister, wife, friend, and proud dog mom – who loves sunflowers and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.

You can learn more about Lisa (and plenty of tips to help with anxiety) on her blog as well as on Instagram and Facebook.