can you decribe how anxiety feels ???

[Gazzalee123]

Im suffering heightened anxiety at the moment due to starting a new med (venlafaxine) but find it almost impossible to describe how I feel to my loved ones when they ask .. can you decribe how anxiety makes you feel ... not why or your fears .. but how it feels inside ? Maybe help me tell my nearest that struggle to understand .. is it possible to describe and does everyone feel it the same way ?

[LunaLiuna]

The only way I can describe it is close to panicking, with added fear,worry and just general uneasiness with lots of horrible symptoms mixed in, ask them to imagine a time when they've been anxious and then tell them how yours is different, for example it lasts longer, you feel shaky, your thoughts are racing, you want to run away.

Sorry if this hasn't been much of a help, it is very hard to describe, it's easy to describe the symptoms, but not the actual feeling.

[trish1955]

I always say imaging a fierce dog standing in front of you how anxiousebwould you be feeling not knowing watbto do well a lot of us feel that many times through the day for some its constant and for some of us it turns it to share panic x

[MrAndy]

Going over the edge on a roller coaster

[Gazzalee123]

For me at the mo its constant .. it comes in waves of severity .. but bot getting any reat from it .. its exhausting :(

[MRS STRESS ED]

For me its like an intense fear ,a big black hole that I cant get out and its very dark :mad:

[Rennie1989]

It feels like my body is ready to fight off a dozen people or sprint a mile, terrified of something that does not exist.

[AnxiousPansa]

For me its a constant feeling that something is wrong or something terrible is going to happen. Like a bad dream

[nicola1980]

I feel paralysed with fear and sheer terror x x

[WhyWhyWhy]

For me its a constant feeling that something is wrong or something terrible is going to happen. Like a bad dream

This for me too. Never totally relaxed always waiting for something tragic

[Yossino]

Here is how it is for me. There's three levels. I manage it pretty well, but at it's worst 1,2 are very common with every once and a while 3's.

1. Generalized anxiety, worry about things. This can be present itself often and lingers for the majority of a day, for weeks at a time. Symptoms usually include: random heart events (thumps [not just in the heart but in the legs], wobbles, heavy beating), breathing probs (I don't get these much anymore), shakiness, weird body sensations, weird head sensations, random lightheadedness/dizziness, feeling like I'm gonna pass out. and a billion quadrillion other symptoms that are completely random that I can't think of.

2. Panic attack (normal). Just an exaggerated version of the general anxiety.

3. Panic attack (severe). I'm going to die. In the next few seconds I'm gonna pass out and it'll be like before I was born, nothingness. Extreme symptoms mostly in the heart. That feeling you get when you are really afraid of heights, that sinking falling feeling. Absolute despair and hopelessness.


I can go directly to 3 while sleeping. I'll suddenly be gasping and upright within an instant. I'll get up and start pacing, holding my chest with my hand and staring at the mirror.

[craigj1303]

The only way I can describe it is close to panicking, with added fear,worry and just general uneasiness with lots of horrible symptoms mixed in, ask them to imagine a time when they've been anxious and then tell them how yours is different, for example it lasts longer, you feel shaky, your thoughts are racing, you want to run away.

Sorry if this hasn't been much of a help, it is very hard to describe, it's easy to describe the symptoms, but not the actual feeling.

I like this one......


I always say imaging a fierce dog standing in front of you how anxiousebwould you be feeling not knowing watbto do well a lot of us feel that many times through the day for some its constant and for some of us it turns it to share panic x

And this one......:) That's how i'd describe it to

[Zeitgeist]

I tell my wife (who is an arachnophobia) imagine trying to go to sleep with the knowledge that there is a tarantula in the room

[Lyrica]

the way I describe it to my family is. When someone make you jump like if the shout BOO! At you. The split second when it terrifies you and you feel you heart jump a beat and you're scared. Anxiety is like that but its a constant feeling its not over in a split second or a few moments.

[TooMuchToLiveFor]

The way I have explained it is this:

Imagine how you would feel if the doorbell rang and when you answered it, it was a police officer there to tell you that your spouse and your children had been in a severe car accident…..but that was all the detail they can give and you would need to go with them to the hospital.

The terror and devastation that would surge through your body and cause physical reactions such as your heart pounding out of your chest at 100 miles per hour, dizziness, feeling faint, feeling your legs won't hold you up, uncontrollable shaking, and on and on- and the way your mind would race and whirl……so fast that there seems to be no rational way to get ahold of your thoughts and calm yourself down…..

….well, that is how I have explained it. I then go on to explain that it can go on, and on, and on very similar to a horrific nightmare- where you might even know somewhat that you are dreaming and that it is not reality, and yet- you can't get yourself to wake up,…..and that since there actually isn't a catalyst such as a tragic accident….you then start to question your own sanity as to why you are feeling this way.

Sometimes the "volume" on the panic is turned to a lower setting so the intensity can vary, but the feelings are the same…and you begin to actually believe they will never go away. That this is your life. And, you question how you will be able to live a life so full of torment.

…..All that being said- I would like to be sure to end cap this post with this---- WE DO NOT HAVE TO LIVE THIS WAY. THERE IS ALWAYS HEALING AHEAD. IT ISN'T EASY, AND IT TAKES TIME, BUT THIS IS NOT A LIFE SENTENCE.