We often talk about anxiety as though you only experience it in your mind. When we show pictures of anxiety, like the picture associated with this post, we show people that are worried, people that are fearful, and people that are scared that something is or might occur.
Anxiety is more complicated than that.
Somewhere, deep in a person’s mind, there is some feeling of fear or worry. But the person with anxiety may not know it. In fact, it’s possible for a person to have symptoms of anxiety and otherwise have no idea they’re anxious – physical symptoms, without the worry.
Purely Physical Anxiety
One way to understand this is to picture someone that doesn’t feel like anything is really going on for them to be worried about. Maybe they’re scrolling their phone, or going for a nice walk, or they’re having a lovely date with their significant other.
Yet their body feels tense. Their stomach is uncomfortable. Maybe they’re sweating more or they have eye pain, or they’re shaking their leg a lot. Although they themselves do not feel like they are worried about much, their symptoms are identical to those that have anxiety. But if you ask them what they’re worried about, not only may it be difficult for them to share – they may not feel worried about anything at all.
This can even be true with panic attacks. Some people experience panic attacks when they’re worried about something. But other people may experience them seemingly out of the blue (more on that in a moment), even when nothing feels wrong.
Is Anxiety Ever Really Purely Physical?
What we often find is that, even in situations where the anxiety *feels* as though it’s purely physical, it is not truly so.
In the panic attack example, the person may not have specific worries that are on their mind, but they may be worried – deep down – about getting another panic attack, which in turn triggers one. Or there are people with anxiety that have the coping skills they need to enjoy life and enjoy their day, but they still have worries that they’re just not focused on.
I remember an acquaintance had a significant fear of flying and was scheduled to go on a plane for work. If you talked to him in the days leading up to the trip, not only would he not sound anxious, but he often forgot that he was going on a trip at all, so his thoughts were not filled with worries. He was perfectly managing his thoughts and his life.
Still, he was feeling “unexplainably tense” and was shaking his leg a lot. Suddenly, his trip got canceled, and he experienced this *wave* of relief as though a huge weight was lifted on him. He had been experiencing all the tension and stress that someone experiences with anxiety caused by his fear of flying, but it was all happening behind the scenes. Even though he didn’t feel worried, his brain still knew that a trip was coming up.
That’s an example of a person that did technically have worries that needed to be uncovered, but their experience – the way their anxiety manifested – was entirely physical.
Help for Your Anxiety with Audrey Jung
It is thus absolutely possible to experience the symptoms of anxiety, even when you don’t feel like you’re anxious. Yet there are still often worries and stresses that are happening, they may just not be your focus with your thoughts.
Get help for anxiety today by contacting me at Jung Psych Services. Let’s learn more about your anxiety symptoms and, no matter how they manifest, make sure that you’re getting the help you deserve.