What Anxiety Feels Like to Me – 19 Authentic Examples

This is what anxiety really feels like. And you are not alone.

A Day with Anxiety

A few days ago, I went into my workplace and taught from my classroom instead of from home. I needed a change of scenery and often I get more done working from my desk at school than I do with notebooks and planners sprawled across the kitchen island.

My wake up time was about 15 minutes earlier than the previous couple days, so I had time for a shower and makeup. I didn’t start the day feeling anxious per se. But I did feel those painful stress spots in my back kicking in as soon as I rolled out of bed.

I showered and picked out a cute dress with a black and white floral pattern, and a maroon sweater to go with it. Then, I sat down at my new stool in front of our double sink and started my makeup. 

Foundation isn’t my favorite, but it helps cover the stress-induced acne that is typical for me these days. Eyeliner went on smoothly, as did eyeshadow, but when I curled my eyelashes and began to put on my mascara, I noticed something.

For those of you who attempt mascara regularly, you know how important it is to have a steady hand. One wrong swipe and it all becomes a big mess. This morning, I noticed was how badly my hands were shaking. Not good news for my mascara.

After less than an hour of having been awake, my body started to show signs of the physical toll anxiety takes even before I left my bedroom.

This is what anxiety feels like.

Anxiety doesn’t always look like a panic attack. It doesn’t always result in needing to take a Xanax. 

Sometimes it means that our brain can’t handle the stress anymore, so our body takes one for the team and sends the stress along our nervous system to wreak some havoc.

Today, for me, anxiety included showing up to work looking completely coordinated. Anxiety included fidgeting uncontrollably under my desk while teaching to a screen with a smile.

Today, I appreciated the time I took to wear a cute outfit and spend some me-time on doing my makeup. I think I would’ve been much worse off without those few minutes of sitting in the mirror (and for those of you wondering, I calmed my hand enough and my mascara looked great!). Looking put together helped me feel put together on the inside too. 

…which is why anxiety can be deceiving. Sometimes we call it high-functioning anxiety, because I can do everything I need to do for everyone else – at the expense of my ability to do what I need to do for me. I can show up to work and teach. I can follow all the rules and norms when I’m out and about in society. 

But today, when I closed the garage door behind me, got out of my car, and walked into my home, it only took about seven minutes before I felt like I was failing again. 

I don’t always know how to stop the cycle of this automatic thought. But I do know that today, coordinating my outfit and taking the time to look presentable (dare I even say…pretty?) gave me enough confidence to say, “Yes, I am.”

I want us all to realize that anxiety is sneaky. It finds the cracks and presses just a little bit harder.

You might also like: 5 Simple Ways to Lower Your Stress

If you feel alone right now, if you’re anywhere near ready to burst, hear what others just like you are saying about anxiety.

This is what anxiety feels like.

“For me anxiety looks like the need to control situations and others. I get anxious and want everything in its place. For me anxiety can look like nagging others outwardly or even myself, as my wanders to what I should or should be doing or thinking or feeling.” – Dawn

“Anxiety is like having waves wash over you and waiting for them to stop so you can take your next breath.” – Ria

“Anxiety is the thoughts swirling around in my head. They begin as small fears and grow until they have lost all logic and common sense. That churning influences my behavior and how I treat my family. I try to push through it, making myself better, doing projects, trying to find contentment but it grows until I hand it over to God.” – Heather C.

“For me, anxiety feels like everything is getting louder, and everything starts happening faster, as if time itself is speeding up. My body and my mind can’t keep up. I panic as I try to process what’s happening, and when I can no longer stand it and I become too overwhelmed, I eventually slip into a state of dissociation, where I don’t have to face what’s going on right in front of me, and I focus on something completely different.” – Kayla

“Anxiety for me is perfectionism. Others may see a hard worker, an overachiever, a go getter but in reality, I’m fighting that voice in my head that tells me I’m not good enough, I can’t do anything right, I’ll never make it.” – Miranda

“My heart starts racing and it feels like the room I’m in gets a million miles away. I can’t focus or follow conversations. All I can think about is how to get out or get away. I feel trapped.” – Heather H.

This is anxiety: such a lonely experience yet so similar when we start to share.

“Anxiety feels like being trapped and closed in. Living in fear and a mind not at peace.” – Jamie

“For me, anxiety colors everything I do and think. How can I create order? How can I stay calm? So I tend to be very structured, to have systems, to make plans – heading it off before it can start. And if my systems and plans get disrupted, it’s very hard for me to adjust. Then I feel it in my body – digestive distress, back aches, twitching eyes, etc.” – Kimberly

“Anxiety looks like a wave drifting in until it hits the rocks. It crashes and splits into a thousand directions so fast, you can’t focus on a single droplet of water. Then as you breathe in, it recedes, just to come and crash again, and repeat.” – Lisa

“For me, anxiety starts off with a bit of exhaustion (for whatever reason) and a tiny thought of wanting comfort in some form. Then it propels into a larger issue of feeling dread over something. So I low key freak out and either refuse to move, or run away from the situation. And it usually takes over my whole body.” – Amanda

“Anxiety for me is a snowball effect: one little worry continually builds until the truth is disoriented and all I am left with is my head swirling with situations that will rarely ever become reality. But it’s my reality at that moment.” – Jessie

“My brain goes to the worst possible thing that could happen and I try to brace myself for every possible outcome which is exhausting.” – Susan

“For me anxiety happens from triggers or sometimes just out of the blue. It is a racing heart, sometimes shortness of breath. It is a fight or flight feeling. I can’t focus or concentrate. I feel trapped sometimes and find it hard to do anything. Other times, I feel like I’m in ‘go’ mode and have to fix and do everything.” – Elizabeth

“Anxiety is getting so wrapped up in my negative thoughts that I can’t decipher between what is real and my thoughts. My thoughts are perceived reality but not real reality.” – Haley

“It’s a build up of unpleasant energy inside which makes me feel shaky like there’s impending doom. I literally pray through it every time which can end in a release of tears.” – Lauren

“Anxiety feels like I’m a child crying for a parent to fill a need, but getting nothing or told to earn it.” – Tia

“Anxiety is me rehearsing something over and over in my head. Trying to resolve what I should’ve said or what I will say in a given situation. My mind is not at peace because it’s bombarded by anxious thoughts replaying over and over.” – Dwala

“Anxiety feels like something is telling me, ‘Hurry up.’ ‘Rush.’ ‘Do something.’ But I never know what that something is, and although I might be relaxed on the outside, there’s always this nagging, unsettled feeling on the inside that I’m never doing enough.” – Sarah

What do you want to take away from this today?

Each lovely lady listed above is a friend from my Christian Blogosphere. Click on their names to go directly to their inspiring and encouraging websites!

Friends, I want to leave you with a thought my therapist always asks me: What do you want to take away from this today?

Here are two things anyone facing anxiety can learn from this post:

1. You are not alone. So many women and men know exactly what it’s like to feel how you feel. Did any of these quotes about anxiety resonate with you? That’s because they know. They get it. They’ve been where you are.

2. Anxiety can look wildly different for everyone, and that’s okay. 19 different people (myself included) shared a different version of what anxiety looks and feels like. Medication is okay. Mental health days are okay. Whatever you need to feel more like yourself to move through your reality (which might very well include anxiety right now) is okay.

So what about you?

What do you want to take away from this article today? How has this encouraged you? Share with me and continue to encourage each other as we walk through these difficult seasons.

All my love,