There is no doubt to the fact that anxiety is one of the most common mental conditions that people of this generation go through. Even though it isn’t actually a physical disease, it makes your life difficult for a number of reasons and can also affect your physical body.
But there is a fine line between common everyday worry and anxiety which one needs to know. So, how to know if you have anxiety or common worry? You can check with the help of the following points:
- Let’s say you are traveling and once you leave you genuinely aren’t sure if you locked the door. That’s worry. But if you keep thinking if the door is locked, if the lights are switched off, if you have taken all necessities, etc., it is anxiety.
- Worry is just related to the mind but if you notice that your entire body is responding to your worry, it is probably anxiety. It works differently for diff. people. For example, you might feel the frequent urge to pee, your hands or feet might shiver, palpitations, etc.
- Worry is short-lived while anxiety lasts much longer. Mostly, it keeps getting on your nerves until you get medical help.
- Worry is solution-oriented. For example, you have an assignment to submit the next morning so you worry and plan to complete it by tomorrow. If you have anxiety, you will think more about what if you aren’t able to complete it, what if it isn’t good enough, etc. It hinders your affectivity.
- Worry is realistic while you keep imagining scenarios in the head if you have anxiety.
- When you worry about something it is a temporary phenomenon but when you keep thinking about stuff continuously on a daily basis, it is probably anxiety.
- Worry is a normal psychological condition which doesn’t need medical attention while anxiety does!
If you think you match with at least 4-5 of the points above which indicates you have anxiety, you must seek medical help. Anxiety in itself is capable of doing enough damage and above that, it can also transform into more serious medical illnesses. So, talk to a psychiatrist as soon as possible and get it treated before it gets hold of you entirely.