Signs of Anxiety You Might Be Missing (And How to Find Relief)
Anxiety doesn’t always make a dramatic entrance. More often, it creeps in quietly—through tension in your shoulders, a short fuse, racing thoughts, or a vague sense that something’s off. If you’ve ever found yourself wondering, “Why do I feel so on edge all the time?” or “Why can’t I just relax?” - you’re not alone.
As a therapist in Oklahoma City and Dallas, I often work with adults who appear calm and capable on the outside, yet silently carry the weight of chronic anxiety. They’ve mastered the art of functioning under pressure until their minds and bodies begin to signal that something needs to change.
What Is Anxiety, Really?
Anxiety is a normal human emotion. We’re wired to feel anxious at times, it’s part of our survival system. That uneasy feeling before a big presentation? The quickened heartbeat when someone suddenly brakes in front of you on the highway? That’s your body trying to keep you safe.
In its healthy form, anxiety acts like an internal alarm system. It can help you prepare, pay attention, and stay motivated. People with ambition or strong personal standards often feel anxious because they care deeply about their work, relationships, or future. That’s not a flaw. It’s a sign that you’re engaged in your life.
The trouble starts when anxiety becomes constant, overwhelming, or disconnected from actual danger. Instead of being helpful, it starts running the show - flooding your mind with worry, tension, or fear that doesn’t seem to go away.
What makes anxiety tricky is how differently it can show up for each person. Some experience it mostly in their thoughts. Others feel it in their bodies. And many go years without recognizing it for what it is because they’ve grown used to living in a state of worry, tension, or overwhelm.
Common Signs & Symptoms of Anxiety
Anxiety affects more than just your thoughts, it’s a full-body experience. Below are some of the ways it can show up in your daily life, broken into physical, emotional, and behavioral symptoms.
Physical Symptoms of Anxiety
These signs often fly under the radar because they can mimic other issues or seem like “normal” stress:
Muscle Tension: You may catch yourself clenching your jaw, hunching your shoulders, or holding tension in your neck or back without realizing it. Chronic muscle tightness can lead to soreness, fatigue, or even pain.
Frequent Headaches: Especially tension headaches, which often feel like a tight band around the head and stem from stress or poor posture.
Digestive Issues: Anxiety and the gut are closely connected. Nausea, indigestion, bloating, and IBS-like symptoms are all common manifestations.
Sleep Disruptions: You may struggle to fall asleep, wake up frequently, or feel unrefreshed even after 8 hours. Sometimes, anxiety can also make you oversleep as a form of escape.
Fatigue: Living in a heightened state of stress can leave you mentally and physically drained, even if you haven’t done anything especially strenuous.
Heart Palpitations or Rapid Heartbeat: That racing heart feeling can be alarming, especially if it occurs without clear reason.
Shortness of Breath: Shallow breathing or feeling like you can’t get a full breath is a common physical symptom during anxious moments.
Sweating or Clamminess: Especially in your palms, underarms, or face, even without exertion.
These physical sensations can be distressing on their own and without knowing they’re linked to anxiety, it’s easy to spiral into worry about your health, further fueling the anxiety cycle.
Emotional and Cognitive Symptoms
Anxiety impacts how you feel, think, and relate to yourself and others:
Excessive Worry: You might feel like your mind is always running, replaying past conversations or rehearsing future scenarios with endless “what ifs.”
Irritability or Mood Swings: When your nervous system is constantly on high alert, even minor inconveniences can feel overwhelming or trigger frustration.
Restlessness: Feeling keyed-up, unable to sit still, or always needing to stay busy can be a form of avoidance, keeping yourself distracted from anxious thoughts.
Racing Thoughts: The mind jumps from one thought to another, often looping around fears, responsibilities, or perceived failures.
Difficulty Concentrating: Anxiety often causes what’s called “brain fog,” a cloudy or scattered feeling that makes it hard to focus or retain information.
Fear of the Future: A persistent sense of dread or uncertainty about what’s ahead can overshadow your daily experience, making it hard to enjoy the present.
Overwhelm: Even small tasks may feel like “too much,” especially if your mental load is already heavy. This can lead to avoidance, procrastination, or emotional shutdown.
Panic Attacks: These are sudden and intense episodes of anxiety, often marked by chest tightness, sweating, dizziness, or a feeling of losing control. Panic attacks can be terrifying, but they are treatable.
Behavioral Signs of Anxiety
Anxiety often leads to subtle shifts in behavior that you may not immediately connect to your mental health:
Avoidance: Steering clear of situations, people, or responsibilities that feel anxiety-inducing. This might look like canceling plans, avoiding conflict, or putting off important tasks.
Procrastination or Perfectionism: These two often go hand in hand with anxiety. The fear of doing something “wrong” can keep you frozen or trapped in an exhausting cycle of overdoing.
Nervous Habits: Nail biting, hair twirling, leg bouncing, or pacing are often unconscious ways of managing anxious energy.
Social Withdrawal: If being around others feels draining or you’re afraid of being judged or misunderstood, you might start isolating even from people you care about.
Changes in Appetite: Some people lose their appetite due to a nervous stomach. Others may eat more as a form of comfort or distraction.
Substance Use: Alcohol, caffeine, or other substances might be used to self-medicate, calm nerves, or temporarily escape but often worsen anxiety over time.
Inability to Relax: Even when you’re technically “off the clock,” anxiety can make it hard to unwind, enjoy hobbies, or simply be still.
Why These Signs Often Go Unnoticed
Part of what makes anxiety hard to identify is how normalized it has become in our culture. Being busy, tired, or stressed is often worn as a badge of honor. People who struggle with anxiety are often seen as “go-getters,” “perfectionists,” or “overthinkers” - traits that are sometimes praised rather than flagged as distress signals.
And if you grew up in an environment where worry, tension, or hypervigilance were the norm, it may not even occur to you that your baseline isn’t supposed to feel this way.
Recognizing anxiety for what it is doesn’t mean you’re weak. It means your body and brain have been trying to keep you safe—and that you’re ready for a gentler, more sustainable way of living.
What Helps: Managing and Healing from Anxiety
No matter how long you’ve been dealing with it or how mild or intense your symptoms might be, there are proven ways to find relief, feel more in control, and reconnect with a sense of calm and confidence.
Therapy in Oklahoma City & Dallas: A Safe Place to Explore and Heal
Therapy can be a transformative step in understanding and healing anxiety. It provides a safe, nonjudgmental space to explore the root causes of your distress and unpack how anxiety is affecting your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.
I often work with clients in Oklahoma City and Dallas who have spent years quietly managing their anxiety. In our sessions, we gently untangle the mental loops and emotional pain that keep them stuck. Together, we identify triggers, build emotional awareness, and develop effective tools to calm the nervous system.
Some approaches I use include:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Helps you recognize unhelpful thought patterns, challenge them, and replace them with more balanced, empowering perspectives.
Mindfulness-Based Strategies: Teach you how to slow down, tune into the present moment, and observe your experience without judgment.
EMDR Therapy (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing): Especially helpful for clients whose anxiety is rooted in past experiences or trauma. EMDR allows the brain to reprocess distressing memories in a safe, contained way, reducing their emotional charge.
You don’t have to figure it out alone. Therapy can help you move from simply coping to truly healing.
Lifestyle Shifts: Small Steps, Lasting Change
While therapy addresses the internal roots of anxiety, lifestyle choices can support your healing from the outside in. Often, small shifts in your daily habits create a foundation for long-term relief.
Daily movement:
Physical activity is one of the most powerful natural tools for managing anxiety. Even 10–15 minutes of walking, stretching, or dancing can release tension, boost endorphins, and shift your mental state. The goal isn’t perfection, it’s consistency.
Nourishing meals:
Anxiety and blood sugar crashes go hand in hand. Skipping meals or relying on caffeine and sugar can create spikes and crashes that amplify anxious feelings. Try to eat regular, balanced meals with protein, fiber, and healthy fats to keep your body and brain steady.
Sleep hygiene:
Anxiety often interferes with sleep, and poor sleep, in turn, heightens anxiety. Creating a calming bedtime routine can help. This might include turning off screens an hour before bed, taking a warm shower, practicing deep breathing, or journaling to unwind your mind.
Mindfulness practices:
You don’t need to sit in silence for an hour to benefit from mindfulness. Even a few minutes of slow, intentional breathing can help reset your nervous system. Body scans, guided meditations, or grounding exercises can anchor you in the present and ease racing thoughts.
Digital boundaries:
Constant notifications and doom-scrolling can overstimulate your nervous system. Try setting specific times to check your phone or limiting your exposure to stressful media. Reclaiming quiet moments throughout the day can help your mind settle.
Self-Compassion: The Heart of Healing
One of the most powerful antidotes to anxiety is self-compassion.
Anxiety often carries a harsh inner dialogue - “Why can’t I handle this?” “What’s wrong with me?” “I should be doing better.” These thoughts may feel familiar, even automatic, but they don’t serve your healing.
Self-compassion means approaching your anxiety with gentleness, not judgment. It’s the practice of saying, “This is hard, and I’m doing my best.” It’s acknowledging that you’re human and that struggling doesn’t make you broken.
You might begin by simply noticing how you speak to yourself when you’re anxious. Would you say those same words to a friend or a child? If not, what might a more loving response sound like?
You deserve kindness. The path to healing isn’t paved with criticism—it’s walked step by step with patience, care, and curiosity.
A Note of Encouragement
If you’re living with anxiety, you’ve already been carrying a lot. You might be used to putting on a brave face, pushing through, or staying “productive” while your inner world feels like it’s on fire. Please know this: it doesn’t have to stay this way.
You can learn how to soothe your nervous system. You can build tools that help you feel more grounded and resilient. And you can feel safe in your own mind and body again.
Working with a therapist who understands anxiety can make all the difference. I’d be honored to support you.
Whether you’re in Dallas or Oklahoma City, I offer a free consultation where we can talk about what you're going through and whether therapy might be a good fit. You don’t have to figure it out alone and you don’t have to wait for things to get worse before reaching out.
