What Is Anxiety?

Anxiety is your body's response to anticipated danger. It is typically associated with worry or fear and is often accompanied by cognitive issues such as difficulty concentrating and physical symptoms like nausea, shaking, and muscle tenseness. Anxiety can be a normal response to specific situations, but sometimes anxiety is part of an anxiety disorder.

There are multiple types of anxiety disorders, and they involve similar symptoms, with some differences in their symptoms.

It might feel like your anxiety symptoms control your life, whether that means fear of a panic attack, avoiding people due to social anxiety, or constant worry and agitation. Understanding the symptoms of your specific type of anxiety can help you seek the most appropriate treatment and improve your quality of life.

Anxiety is described by the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (DSM-5) as anticipation of a future threat. Everyone feels anxious at one point or another, but not everyone experiences an anxiety disorder.

There are multiple types of anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety, social anxiety, and more. These conditions should not be confused with day-to-day worrying.

It’s normal to be anxious about important events, like a job interview, a performance, a first date, a big exam, childbirth, or any number of life moments. Sometimes, however, worrying gets out of control and becomes an anxiety disorder.

Anxiety disorders are diagnosable mental health conditions characterized by excessive fear, anxiety, and related behavioral and physical changes that may worsen over time.

Symptoms

The effects of anxiety usually include a combination of physical, psychological, and social symptoms. Your exact symptom profile will differ based on your individual circumstances, a specific type of anxiety disorder, and personal triggers.

Some common symptoms of anxiety disorders include.

Excessive fear and worry

Dry mouth

Muscle tension

Nausea

Irregular heartbeat

Difficulty sleeping

Cautious, avoidant behavior

Panic attacks

Keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive list of symptoms, because each type of anxiety disorder has its own symptom profile and diagnostic criteria based on guidelines of the DSM-5.

Social Anxiety Disorder

Social anxiety disorder, which was previously called social phobia, is characterized by excessive fear of social and performance situations.2 It is more than just shyness. People with social anxiety disorder feel intense anxiety that may lead to avoidant behaviors around meeting new people, maintaining relationships, speaking in front of others, eating in public, and more.

Symptoms of social anxiety disorder include:

Disproportionate fear and anxiety in one or more social situations

Blushing

Sweating

Trembling

Rapid heart rate

The feeling of “mind going blank”

Self-judgment and self-consciousness

Nausea

Avoiding social situations, or experiencing intense fear during them

Impairment in social, occupational, and other areas of functioning

People can either experience general social anxiety disorder, or performance-specific social anxiety disorder (such as when speaking or performing in front of an audience).

Social anxiety disorder can look different in children. Notably, for children, the anxiety must occur in peer situations, and not just with adults. Symptoms can manifest as tantrums, freezing, crying, clinging, and refusal to speak.

These conditions manifest as both physical and mental symptoms and impact daily activities such as school, work, leisure, and relationships.