For example, feeling as if your emotions and motivations have been turned “off”, as if by the flip of a switch, following an episode of intense worry or stress may be a sign that you are experiencing excessive anxiety.
If difficult or stressful situations — be they social, financial, or work-related — cause you to feel overwhelmed and incapable of dealing with your problems, you may be experiencing the effects of excessive anxiety. It is normal to sometimes be troubled by thoughts of death and dying, either your own or that of someone close to you, but if these thoughts begin occurring with such frequency or intensity that they distract you from important activities or prevent you from sleeping they may be a sign that you are experiencing an unhealthy amount of anxiety.
Frequent anxiety sufferers often find themselves feeling irritable and display difficulty concentrating or participating in social interactions.
For example, if you find yourself often procrastinating school work, professional responsibilities, or social interactions because you fear being overwhelmed by the stress caused by these activities, you may be experiencing the effects of excessive anxiety.
Fidgeting behaviors, such as tapping your hands and feet, grinding your teeth, or clenching your jaw may also be signs of anxiety-related physical tension.
Many anxiety sufferers experience a frequent or even constant queasy feeling, much like the pit-in-your-stomach sensation associated with a stressful realization.
Anxiety attack sufferers often experience a “deer-in-the-headlights” feeling of being stunned and unable to decide how to respond to a stressful situation.
While these obsessive thoughts may be associated with a concrete problem in the sufferer’s life, they can also be much more abstract. For instance, the obsession may be centered on a disturbing or stressful image or sound which becomes “stuck” in the sufferer’s mind, preventing thought of anything else.
