Everyone who has ever had a responsibility (all of us) has experienced anxiety.  A child stresses about being yelled at by his mother for not doing his chores; he is feeling anxiety.  A student feels his heart rate rise significantly before a final exam in college.  A mother feels anxiety when she watches her 10 year old son playing pee wee football, worrying about him getting hurt.  There are examples of anxiety in almost every walk of life, the only exception may be an island caretaker — but there are only so many of those in the world.

For all of us who are not paying for an island hut by conscientiously swimming with sea turtles, anxiety is a big part of life.  Understanding anxiety as a normal part of life can be the first step to overcoming the problem of anxiety.  How do you know if you are having a problem with anxiety?  If you feel like you are unable to live your life the way you want to, you may have to be aware of the signs and symptoms of anxiety disorders, as you may be suffering from one.

An anxiety disorder is a constant and overwhelming presence of anxiety in your life.  While every person experiences anxiety, a percentage of population may suffer from an anxiety disorder.  An anxiety disorder can impair your ability to both relate with others and act as a normal citizen in society.

To determine whether you have an anxiety disorder and should seek treatment, you can ask yourself a few things:

Does your anxiety complicate your normal day (work, school, family)?

Do you experience irrational fears?

Do you constantly feel stressed, tense, or worried?

Do you often experience heart-pounding panic attacks?

The signs and symptoms of anxiety disorders can vary between people, making it harder to diagnose.  The overarching symptom between all people suffering from an anxiety disorder is the constant fear or worry in situations that a normal person would not feel threatened.  However, there are other symptoms that you should look out for, both emotional and physical.  The rest of this article will focus on listing these symptoms:

Physical symptoms- an anxiety disorder can affect your physical state in many different ways, and can often be misdiagnosed as a medical illness.

- If you experience an increased heart rate, muscle tension, and twitches

- Sweating, dizziness, and shortness of breath

- Headaches, fatigue, and insomnia

- Upset stomach, frequent urination and diarrhea

Emotional symptoms – an anxiety disorder brings upon many emotional symptoms, in addition to the primary symptoms of fear and worry.

- A constant feeling of dreading or apprehension

- Easily irritable, tense, or constant restlessness

- Feeling jumpy and having trouble concentrating

- Watching for signs of danger

- Feeling like your mind is blank

In addition to these physical and emotional symptoms, an anxiety disorder may be linked with depression.  They are thought to be caused by the same biological vulnerability.  Each disorder makes the other worse, so should you experience both disorders it is important to get treated.