You may notice the following symptoms and signs in yourself or in others:

Poor memory, focus, and concentration – You are finding it harder and harder to focus on tasks that need to be done. You struggle to recall information on the spot, if at all. Your concentration is significantly impacted, where you find it difficult to concentrate on a particular task or item that needs to be done. You are easily distracted and on edge.

Tension, irritability, and worry – You notice muscle tension and all over body aches and pains. You are more easily irritated with people and situations, often “snapping” at people. You worry often, and struggle to turn the intrusive and negative thoughts off.

Feeling a loss of control and nervousness – You feel as if you have no control over your life, and that something bad happening is inevitable. You feel nervous to leave the house, go to social events or work, and you may even struggle to relax and sleep at night.

Rapid heartbeat, trouble breathing, and dizziness – You become so anxious that your heart rate and blood pressure increase. You start to breathe rapidly, or have trouble breathing. All of these factors can lead to making you feel dizzy which is a common anxiety symptom.

Sweating – You become so nervous, that you actually begin to sweat. This is often a side effect from rapid heart rate, fast breathing, and shaking.

Shaking hands and body – You start to shake uncontrollably. You notice tremors in your hands, and have trouble making this stop. This is due to increased adrenaline, and the body’s reaction to fear and stress.

Increased fatigue with associated sleep issues – Too much sleep, too little sleep, trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, tossing and turning all night, and daytime drowsiness. The most common issue is not being able to turn your thoughts off at night, and being afraid to fall asleep.

Fearing the worst – This is an overall impending sense of doom, and that something will go wrong. It is also catastrophizing, where you fear the worst possible case scenario.

Restlessness – You have trouble relaxing. You can’t turn your body or your mind off. Your mind is racing and fearing the worst, and your body cannot settle down and get comfortable as it fears it will need to flee or move.

Physical aches and pains – An overall feeling of aches and pains, and a general feeling of not being well. Anxiety can manifest physically in this way due to constant muscle tension and an inability to relax.

Headaches and migraines – You may or may not have had a history of migraines and headaches. Whatever the case, they are now more frequent, and are typically more intense in nature. These are often rooted in the constant tension you are experiencing in your body.

Nausea and/or vomiting – Individuals can become so anxious that they become nauseous from the stressful thoughts and physical reactions to the body. Our thoughts have a strong impact on our body. Some people will become so anxious, and so nauseous, that they end up vomiting.

General Anxiety

6.8 million adults, 3.1% of the U.S. population
These individuals feel anxious most of the time, many without knowing the root cause. These individual often have more physical than emotional symptoms.

Panic Disorder

6 million adults, 2.7% of the U.S. population
This includes panic attacks, and fear of having one. It often becomes a cycle of panic and being in a constant anxious state, due to fearing another panic attack. These can feel up to the extremes that you are having a heart attack, and this can also be accompanied with Agoraphobia, which is a fear of public places and being somewhere you can’t escape.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

2.2 million adults, 1% of the U.S. population
This involves intrusive thoughts and patterns that the person feels unable to stop. It is constant worry, and fear that something bad will happen if they do not repeat patterns or take part in compulsions.

Phobias

19 million adults, 8.7% of the U.S. population
This is fear of objects, people, activity, places, or specific situations. People go to great lengths to avoid their phobias,
which actually serves to make those phobias stronger.

Social Anxiety Disorder

15 million adults, 6.8% of the U.S. population
This is the belief that no one likes you, or no one will like you in new social or work situations. Some people think of this as shyness, but do not understand what is going on in the person’s mind. Performance anxiety falls into this category.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

7.7 million adults, 3.5% of the U.S. population
This is the type of anxiety that an individual has after they witness or experience a traumatic event. This typically has the additional anxiety symptoms of nightmares, flashbacks, hypervigilance, isolation, and avoiding situations that remind the person of the event.