Many people with anxiety may not know that they have a problem other than a character flaw.

Anxiety sufferers are often labeled as ‘paranoid’ or ‘moody.’They have trouble reacting appropriately in stressful situations and tend to ‘overreact’ and blow things ‘out of proportion.’

PSYCHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS

The defining symptom of all anxiety disorders is having overwhelming thoughts of fears and worries that last for six months or more. There are several other symptoms of anxiety disorders, and they vary according to the type and severity of the anxiety.

A person with an anxiety disorder will likely be impatient (even short-tempered) and irritable.Such a person may also be restless, have trouble concentrating, or have a tendency to leave tasks and goals uncompleted.They may be forgetful, absent-minded, and easily confused.They often have trouble expressing their thoughts coherently. Sometimes an anxious person will feel as if their mind has gone blank.

Anxiety puts the body in a hyper sense of alertness.The anxious person is constantly on the lookout for danger and tends to anticipate the worst.Others around them will find the person to be pessimistic or a ‘wet blanket.’

Some people with anxiety may also experience agoraphobia, or fear of public spaces.This is especially the case of people with obsessive-compulsive disorders, although other anxiety disorder sufferers are prone to this problem as well, though likely to a lesser degree.

A person with more severe anxiety may also have to deal with hallucinations and depression.Thoughts can sometimes turn suicidal.

For those suffering with anxiety disorders, worrisome, irrational, and negative feelings are persistent.

PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS

Anxiety is a psychological condition, but it can be physically taxing on the body.It has a tendency to manifest itself into several symptoms that can further affect a person’s day to day functioning.

Some of the most common physical symptoms include an increased heart beat rate and higher blood pressure, sweating, dizziness, and headaches.A person with anxiety often has trouble taking deep breaths and hyperventilates quite frequently.He or she may experience fatigue, insomnia, and hyperactivity.

Because of the elevated levels of adrenaline present in the body of an anxious person, he or she may also have muscle tension and aches throughout the body.Adrenaline also helps to explain mood swings that come with anxiety.

And when the mind spends so much time in a state of worry, other bodily functions are compromised.This leads to a loss of appetite or nausea, diarrhea, or frequent urination, and constantly being thirsty.Many anxiety sufferers even complain about a reduced sex drive.

OTHER ANXIETY SYMPTOMS

However, not all anxiety disorder sufferers have the same symptoms.In fact, some show signs that contradict the symptoms mentioned above. These symptoms usually take place when anxiety levels become very high. For example, these symptoms may occur for a person with SAD when he or she is in a gathering of strangers.

One of these symptoms is low blood pressure (levels below 90/60) and this can reduce the amount of oxygen and nutrients that reach the brain.

Other anxiety sufferers have reported a heightened sex drive during levels of high anxiety.

Still others with chronic anxiety report having food cravings.Often the craving is for sugar, and this may be due to the fact that blood pressure is at times chronically low in cases of severe anxiety