Which is the worst way anxiety manifests itself in your daily life?

I manage a parts shop for a seed/feed bin manufacturer. We are constantly playing catch up due to antiquated machinery that is constantly breaking down.

My anxiety is due to the above. It manifests itself in what I can only describe as manic giddiness. I alleviate it by constantly whistling.

First, I tend to cover up fear and anxiety with anger (something it took me years to learn) so that when I was anxious I would have an angry outburst.

Second, I tend to overeat when I’m anxious.

Third, my intestines turn to water when I’m upset.

Luckily, all of these problems have been mitigated somewhat by taking an anti-anxiety medication.

I’ve never been prone to any ongoing anxiety issues, some situational depression but not really anxiety. I find it best to not futurize and waste my energy on “what ifs.”
My philosophy is I will deal with whatever, when it actually happens. The only real anxiety that hits me on occasion is in the realm of my finances, of which I lost everything, my job, home, in the great -recession—, depression, of which the trickle down effect culminated in a mudslide of shit, but even then, I am very good at rallying in the midst of chaos.
While I am not at all happy about this it also has shown me how adaptable and resilient my personality is.

I am at peace with my mortality too, after all, none of this earthly crap really matters in the grand scheme of the universe, if it gets too bad I’ll just check out, so really, I am in control after all. lol It is very important to stay in the moment, and not let your thoughts create so much anxiety that you miss the now, which is all any of us have. The past is gone, the future doesn’t exist.

Be here now and know that even if your worst fears come to pass you will survive, one way or another. Knowing this is very liberating.

My anxiety manifests when I get caught out in a snow storm and can’t see 10 feet in front of the truck and realize I still have 400 miles to go before I get home.

@SQUEEKY2 Okay…yes, me too, and driving at night here with deer jumping around. A good friend just destroyed their car on the highway last week when they hit a deer that leapt in f front of them going 65 mph. They kept control, didn’t wreck but 5k damage to their car. :-(

Insomnia. I wake up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep. It was the worst right after my Ex left when I literally didn’t know how I would cope. It’s a lot better now.

What tends to trip me up now are friend or relationship issues that trigger childhood wounds and make me feel disproportionately helpless or afraid.

I grow a little anxious when deciding which of the wife’s tits to suck on first, left or right, right or left?
This soon passes though, because when it comes down to it, its a pretty trivial issue.

Nightmares.

Last month, I spent four days in the hospital for anxiety-related isses. Left unchecked, it can actually mimic a stroke. It took a couple CT scans and a couple MRIs to determine that I was not in life-threatening peril.

Prior to that, I had worsening migraines, sometimes bad enough to make me call in to work. Then the mood swings got worse. Not just bouncing from irritable to moping, but actually going from laughing and crying at the same time to catatonic to violent, as well as everything in between… often all in three minutes or less. What got me a trip to the ER (where I was admitted) was a mix of tremors and paralysis.

Currently, I am out of work (unpaid medical leave; cannot return until medically cleared), which has reduced my household income nearly 70%. Needless to say, that causes a bit of anxiety. My sleep pattern is utterly random; sometimes up for 6 hours, sometimes 36, sometimes sleep for 4 hours, sometimes for 14, all with no real rhyme or reason. I still occasionally get the headaches that make me curl up and cry, but those are less common as the meds start to work.

Yeah, I’m a bit high-strung.

I’m currently really battling with my anxiety and the worst symptom is the constant sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach with very regular trips to the toilet. My eyes sting and my head feels heavy and I have a strong urge to stab myself in the stomach (can anyone relate to that?) My inner voice is constantly saying ‘I wish I could curl up and die’. I don’t actually want to die, I’m not suicidal, just very, very tired at the moment and scared all the time.

I also have stress dreams/nightmares.

I experience diarrhea, heart palpitations, shortness of breath and trembling. I didn’t know I was dealing with anxiety until recently. Medication has helped tremendously. The little anxiety I experience now only lasts for moments instead of hours or days at a time,

There’s a difference between general anxiety and anxiety disorders @Coloma. You make it sound like we all have a choice to be anxious or not. It’s not as simple as telling yourself to not worry about “what ifs.” I wish it were that simple. (I do know you’re only speaking about yourself. I wish a positive outlook could help me, but it can’t.) The exact cause of anxiety disorders is unknown; but anxiety disorders—like other forms of mental illness—are not the result of personal weakness, a character flaw, or poor upbringing. As scientists continue their research on mental illness, it is becoming clear that many of these disorders are caused by a combination of factors, including changes in the brain and environmental stress. source

@jonsblond and hormones should be added to the list.

I have pizza anxiety. When I wait for something I get as nervous as a man in the delivery room. For me everything stops when I have to stay alert and wait. I don’t have a buzzer for my apartment.

@talljasperman I have a similar issue. Waiting for an expected phonecall or text is painful for me.

@jonsblond Well, I was addressing basic neurotic anxiety not serious mental health disorders. All anxiety is about one reacting physiologically as IF some serious threat or danger was imminent when, infact, the danger/threat is only in ones mind, not a clear and present danger in reality. Seeing a bear 10 feet away from you is cause for real anxiety, simply thinking about seeing a bear is not. haha
No offense intended, and I don’t see people with anxiety disorders as being character flawed or weak or victims of poor upbringing,

I think a lot of it is based on existential dread, nothing more. Fearing a bear around every corner and bringing on the physical symptoms involved in the fight or flight response. I still think most people can be helped with some sort of meditation practice and realizing what is happening to them when the attacks occur. I do think for many, that it is a mind over matter thing, hence my generalized response based on my experiences/philosophies.

Lately, it manifests as lack up sleep.

Sleeping like a baby, wake around 3AM to pee, aaaannnddd the mind starts racing, problems snowball in my head — and I’m up for the rest of the night.

@cookieman Been there. Feel for you.

@cookieman Call me at 3 a.m. We’ll talk about cookies.

In my opinion, most of what causes people anxiety is just the normal stuff of existence.
You are lucky to be here at all. I would say act like it.
Except for outrageous circumstances (hopeless disability, political imprisonment, combat etc. ) most of life’s challenges are the standard shit.

Stress is a normal part of my life and has been for a few years. It doesn’t seem to be doing me any harm. When I feel anxious, I feel edgy and upset. So I vent. I talk about it, sometimes with accompanying emotional outburst. Then I get on with resolving whatever the hell is making me feel anxious. Or, I get over it and accept it’s outside my control.

@josie I’m curious, where do you draw the line between “standard shit” and “outrageous circumstances”? Does your definition allow for the possibility that maybe the majority of people are putting up with outrageous shit, or does your definition rely on how common it is, and therefore nothing can be outrageous if it affects enough people?

@marinelife & @janbb: Thank you both. That alone makes me feel better.

I have had severe anxiety attacks periodically through my whole adult life. They last from days to months. Been to the doc more times than I can count and nothing is ever found. Recently I took a genetic test and I have a gene mutation that keeps b12 and folate from being used properly. I basically have to start supplementing with the useable forms of those vitamins. Hopefully that’ll solve this little enigma. I found out about this two days ago.
Apparently this can cause all kinds of emotional issues and even migraines. I’ll report back if this is indeed the answer for me.

@jerv
I thought I gave a few examples of outrageous circumstances…
How long a list do you want?

When I become stressed and anxious I develop a very short fuse. I become easily irritated and sometimes even lash out at others, later having to apologize for my behavior. Luckily, it is not a daily occurrence.

@josie If I read you right, you set the bar pretty high, and merely having your livelihood threatened (as tens of millions of Americans do) isn’t sufficiently outrageous to cause justifiable anxiety. Personally, I get anxious when I feel threatened, and not all threats are physical! But if you require a literal gun to the head before you consider it “outrageous circumstances”, then we disagree enough that there is no chance of us reconciling our views.