#LetsTalkAboutIt: What Does Anxiety Feel Like?

Anxiety is a whole-person response.

Dr. Elizabeth McMahon shares what happens in your body when you feel anxiety. We'll cover the 5 ways anxiety affects you physically—and emotionally!

If your body and emotions tell you you're in danger, it wants you to find the danger, and then you stop thinking about everything else while seeking out danger.

#MentalHealth #Anxiety #Anxious

__

Check out our other videos on coping with anxiety:

Follow and subscribe to Psych Hub:

__

Psych Hub is an educational service, and the information in this video is not a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you or someone you know are experiencing what you believe are mental health symptoms, please consult with a trained medical professional or a licensed mental health provider. We recommend consulting with a licensed behavioral health provider before trying any of the strategies mentioned in our materials.

If you or someone you know are having thoughts of suicide or self-harm or are experiencing a mental health crisis, please call a national 24/7 hotline. For United States residents, those are:

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
For anyone experiencing a mental health crisis.
AVAILABILITY: 24/7/365
PHONE NUMBERS:
Primary line: 1-800-273-8255
Ayuda en Español: 1-888-628-9454
Video relay service: 800-273-8255
TTY: 800-799-4889
Voice/Caption Phone: [phone]

Crisis Text Line
For anyone experiencing a mental health crisis.
AVAILABILITY: 24/7/365
TEXT NUMBER:
US & Canada: Text HOME to 741741
UK: Text 85258
Ireland: Text 086 1800 280

US: [phone]
Canada: [phone]

Call: [phone]
Text: START to 678678
Chat online: go to website

Call: [phone]
Text: TEEN2TEEN to 839863
Chat online: go to website

Call: [phone] (press 1)
Text: 838255
Chat online: go to website

© 2021 Psych Hub, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

[kanayadeliz]

Anxiety was a LOT harder to deal with when I didn't know I had it. Culturally, we think of anxiety as "I'm a bit nervous"; nobody tells us that it can make you feel like you're going insane.

[shawunminor]

My heart feels like it is aching or something like I’m scared for no reason

[yourcatisbetterthanyou]

It’s pretty scary for me, I feel slightly dizzy and I get extremely nervous over the smallest things. It’s such a horrible feeling for me, I get nervous, my hands shake, my legs feel wobbly, and it’s harder for me to breathe. I feels like there’s something stuck in the bottom of my throat. Overall it’s pretty scary for me.
Have a nice day to whoever read this :)

[livingwithanxiety]

I hope everyone who had anxiety can manage it.

[vaughane.]

Thanks for letting me know that I’m not actually dying, but rather only suffering from anxiety.

[FlowerGrl]

The hard part about anxiety for me is being able to relax after a situation. I still feel uneasy.. for no reason.

It’s like I’m waiting for something bad to happen.

[jasonw]

I haven’t been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, but I get the sinking feeling. My chest tightens up and feel like I need to take deep breaths. I feel like everything in my life is great. It comes out of nowhere. The busier I am, the less often it happens. When I’m not doing anything that exercise my brain, I feel trapped like I’m in prison. I was prescribed .5mg Xanax to use as needed and it seems to work after about 15 minutes. I hate it and don’t understand it.

[arianna_ca]

Thank you so much. Feeling anxious and I feel tightness in my chest especially. I thought I had COVID (despite being a hermit and never leaving my house) due to my chest tightness and pain, but it was anxiety.

Hearing you calmly talk about anxiety and the scientific cause, it helped calm me. Knowledge is power.

[kaehyuuna]

I have panic disorder, and found out when I unexpectedly had a very scary panic attack over chest pain. I thought I had a heart attack. I had intense fears about the future and what would happen tomorrow. Good thing is that I can reduce it by calming down and control my breathing.

[toneswisdom]

Exactly how im feeling. Thank you. I went to the Hospital 3 times this week because I thought my heart was giving out and I was normal the entire time

[neochaositizen]

My anxiety makes me dissociated with my surroundings, I don't respond to name call as quickly as usual. I just roam around aimlessly and hopelessly like a ghost. I just sit down sometimes and just think soo much that sometimes I forget what was initially causing my anxiety in the first place. It feels like I've gone blind for a good while, even though I think it feels like my mind has just gone blank and is empty. Its not fun lmao.

[hmoess]

My scariest symptom is I tend to feel light headed or like my mind and body aren’t attached almost like day dreaming kind of. It triggers my anxiety to become worse.

[eliotacosta]

Anxiety sucks so bad I feel like I’m going to die at times. But I’m learning how to control it. I panic a lot and I feel in my head as if I was going to get a Seizure. My chest tightens up a lot

[kellywallace]

I get a heavy head, a feeling as if my mind is having some sort of power surge, the simple task of needing to do housework feels too overwhelming to even contemplate and then I go over everything, I need to do housework but then the apartment is not clean enough, I have no money to get anything so I don’t see the point in going out, I then think of, “what is the point in trying, no one likes me, my friends don’t talk to me so I have no one here, what if this hat if that” and then I get stomach cramps, bloating as a result of constant anxiety. (That probably didn’t make sense but that’s how anxiety goes for me)

[nicola_x]

depression and anxiety absoluetly finishes me off all the time, i have to deal with it daily. the anxiety gets so bad that i almost throw up a lot, i can't eat, and my entire body feels like it has worms inside it. i also have constant dp/dr and have had it severely for about 6 years, but mostly my whole life. idk what to anymore.

[vaughane.]

Yup. It’s that disconnected feeling. Then the feeling of “My god, am I having a heart attack or stroke?”. Then it’s the lightheaded feeling, followed by the racing heart rate.

[RandomvideosGRs]

Well, The instant cure for anxiety is to understand the fact that there are infinite amount of possible outcomes in this universe and our brain only thinks of a handful . A bad outcome can become the means of a good outcome in the future. Just like that a good outcome can become the means of a bad outcome. For example, you lost your job (bad thing). But then you got a new job which is better ( bad thing led to a good outcome.) It's an endless cycle. So just go with the flow and don't think about it . 😄 Goodluck.

[shawnknepper]

I’ve just got back from my second visit from urgent care cause my right arm was hurting and getting so sore, and my chest was hurting and heart pounding. But turned out to be anxiety again. I try to get off the Prozac and felt fine but it got pretty bad again

[eunicefunny]

Thank you for this video, I have been having anxiety, I was feeling like I couldn’t breathe anymore, and my chest, heart ❤️ was too tight. And I had a lot of fear, living in my apartment thinking that someone was attacking me spiritually.

[goldschool]

This is the best Anxiety video on Youtube. Thank you. I needed this.