What should you know about body feels anxious?

Anxiety activates the body’s alarm response. Muscles tighten, breathing can become shallow, digestion may change, and thoughts may race. Feeling anxious does not by itself identify a specific condition. Ongoing worry, poor sleep and difficulty relaxing can occur with Generalised Anxiety Disorder, while sudden intense episodes may fit Panic Disorder. Stress and exhaustion can also contribute to Burnout or Depression. A racing pulse, tremor or heat intolerance can sometimes have a physical cause such as Hyperthyroidism.

Pause and slow your breathing, with a gentle longer exhale. Move to a quieter, cooler place, loosen tight clothing, drink water and reduce caffeine or nicotine if they worsen the sensations. Note when symptoms begin, what you were doing, your sleep, medicines and any triggers. If worry is recurring or affecting work, relationships or sleep, arrange a Mental Health Assessment so the clinician can consider both emotional and physical explanations.

Seek urgent help for chest pressure, severe trouble breathing, fainting, new confusion, weakness on one side, or thoughts of harming yourself. Arrange prompt medical review if episodes are new, increasing, preventing sleep, or accompanied by persistent palpitations, weight change or marked shaking. A clinician can check your symptoms without assuming that anxiety is the only explanation.

Ask what physical checks may help explain the sensations, whether your medicines or caffeine could contribute, and which treatment or coping options suit your pattern of symptoms.