Anxiety doesn’t always manifest as extreme worry and/or fear—although it certain can. It comes in many different forms. Sometimes, those forms could include chronic pain, headaches, irritability, or shutting down.
For me, I’ve noticed that in addition to having excessive worry and fear, I will be incredibly quick to anger. In most cases, this will be directed at anyone who happens to be in my path. Family, friends, strangers—it doesn’t matter. If I’m having an attack, I will attack.
The toughest part about anxiety in these forms is I don’t often realize I’m anxious until later, sometimes days down the road. Since anxiety and stress can be so closely tied together, I will often be stressed and angry and anxious. This, in turn, leads to insomnia, so I will be stressed, angry, anxious, and super tired. Sometimes, when I’m super tired, I also get extremely emotional. I’m sure you can imagine how super fun I am to be around during these times.
One of the hardest things about having anxiety show up in one of these other forms is recognizing that it’s anxiety. After all, stress can cause a person to be angry. Being tired can lead to irritability. Stress can also lead to sleeplessness, and not getting enough rest can make a person hurt, both physically and emotionally.
So how do you know it’s anxiety and not one of these other ailments?
More than likely, you’ll have to look at the underlying cause of why you feel the way you feel. That’s how I know if my issues are tied to anxiety or other causes. That’s often why it takes me a few days to figure out that my emotional outbursts were actually anxiety.
I’m doing my best to get in tune and understand me as a person and my emotions. Even then, I still have moments of anger, stress, anxiety, and all of the other emotions in between. I’m learning that that’s okay. I’m still human, so I experience the range of feelings.
When it comes to my anxiety and how it manifests, that’s still a learning process. I’m still figuring out my triggers, too. All of this is incredibly important to help me cope and manage the variety of ways that anxiety can manifest.
In addition to anger, worry, and fear, sometimes my anxiety will shut me down. I’ll feel incredibly overwhelmed and I can’t deal with it, so I don’t. I get super tired, my mind goes “Nope,” and I sit and veg in front of the TV. This probably can also be tied to depression, but don’t forget that anxiety and depression often go hand in hand.
No matter how my anxiety manifests, I’ve learned that sometimes I just have to go with it. I know that to understand exactly what’s bothering me, I ride the wave. If that means I have to be angry, then I take some time to be angry. If I need to shut down, then I shut down.
At some point, all of these moments will fade and I’ll be able to look back with clarity at what was going on. It may take a few days or weeks or years, but looking back and learning from the experience is incredibly beneficial. Sometimes, I’ll reach out to a friend or family member and talk to them about what’s happening. Having an outside perspective can be so helpful.
When it comes to anxiety, there’s no one-size-fits-all way it manifests or impacts a person. That can make it challenging to recognize exactly what’s going on. By looking deeper and remembering my strengths, I can overcome any obstacle that gets in my way. I know you can too.
