You’re feeling like your life has gotten busier, or that there is more at stake. Situations that would have felt ordinary in the past are feeling heavier now. You find yourself frequently thinking about upcoming meetings, conversations, or family dynamics and it’s difficult to pull yourself out of those thoughts.
Maybe you’ve noticed that you’re sleeping less or feeling more irritable. Someone may have suggested you’re feeling anxious, but you’re not sure what you’re going through is “serious enough” to be labeled as anxiety.
Our Tampa anxiety therapists know that you can be struggling with anxiety and still functioning well. While there are some familiar anxiety symptoms that catch our attention more often, you might be dealing with some symptoms that you may not associate with feeling anxious.
Fixation or Rumination
Have you noticed that you’ve been playing out situations over and over in your head, trying to imagine all the outcomes so that you can anticipate your next moves? Have you been unable to stop replaying a conversation you had in order to pick out how you were experienced by the other person? Maybe there’s been a task that you have been striving to complete, even to the detriment of other things in your life, because you’re afraid of any negative consequences arising from it not getting done.
All of these are examples of fixation or rumination, and symptoms of anxiety. A Tampa anxiety therapist can help you explore and identify why you’re ruminating and create strategies so you can cope.
Indecision
If you’re noticing that decisions are beginning to carry more weight or concerns then they used to, you might be dealing with anxiety. Indecision can be a symptom of anxiousness when we:
- Start to ascribe more importance to the decision. For example, you’ve historically never had a problem deciding what you want for dinner but now you’re afraid you’ll make a “wrong” choice. You’re afraid that your choice may have some consequence you’ll be unable to foresee.
- Are feeling overwhelmed. Anxiety can cause feelings of overwhelm which can spill over into areas of decision-making. Often the overwhelm causes us to shut down in a way, and we end up doing nothing about the decision at hand. Sometimes we avoid the decision by focusing on a different task.
Sudden indecision can feel disconcerting. A Tampa anxiety therapist can help you determine why you’re experiencing it and what the next steps may be.
Body Tension
There are many reasons that people may hold tension in their bodies. Anxiety is one of these possibilities. Try an experiment: Take a deep breath, and then slowly exhale everything like you’re trying to get rid of all of the air in a balloon.
Notice what happens with the muscles in your shoulders. Did your shoulders drop? How much did they drop? Exhalation is a natural muscle relaxant.
Many people don’t notice how tense their bodies are until they’re actively paying attention to it. Your muscle tension may be a sign of embodied anxiety.
There are countless reasons that people experience anxiety, and anxiety presents itself in a variety of symptoms. Anxiety can also be scary, especially if you’re not sure why you have it or where it’s coming from. A Tampa anxiety therapist can help you explore these symptoms, define if it’s anxiety, make sense of what’s happening, and develop tools to navigate it. Give us a call today.
