Signs and Symptoms of Anxiety can be hard to spot. Not because they are subtle and mild – often they are not – more because they can be easily confused. I have heard of one person for example whose doctor thought he had epilepsy and sent him for an EEG scan.
Anxiety symptoms can be straight forward:
Palpitations
Churning Stomach
Difficulty breathing
These are the ones that people often mention. But there are many other symptoms that might also indicate anxiety or extreme stress:
Irritability
Vertigo/dizziness
Upset stomach (diarrhea/constipation etc)
Feelings of unreality (feeling disassociated, disconnected or odd/ungrounded)
Restlessness
Playing with hands or touching ones face or forehead.
Looking around as if for an escape route.
This list is not exhaustive, but it gives an idea of the range of anxiety signs and symptoms that could easily be confused with something else. Of course the reverse is also true, which is why it is imperative to have a complete medical check for other possible physical causes of these symptoms.
Some physical disorders that cause anxiety symptoms are Thyroid problems (both over and under active thyroids), food allergies and intolerances, vitamin and mineral deficiencies and IBS.
