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Although I’ve lived with mental illness my whole life, I am not a medical professional. If you need help finding a mental health care provider, call 1-800-662-HELP (4357) or visit BetterHelp to talk to a certified therapist online at an affordable price. This post contains affiliate links. You can read my full disclaimer.
Oh, anxiety. Such a dreadful, inconvenient thing.
When I think about having to deal with anxiety the rest of my life, it can seem like a very daunting task. Especially because there are so many symptoms that are attached to it.
The common symptoms are feeling nervous or powerless. You can have an increased heart rate, and you’re most likely worrying irrationally.
But, you know what? There are a lot of symptoms of anxiety that people don’t really like to talk about. Maybe it’s because we think people wouldn’t understand, or maybe there’s a stigma attached to it. Or maybe, just maybe, some of these symptoms can feel downright embarrassing.
So here I am. I’m here to take some of the pressure out of mental health. We need to talk about it, because it’s the only way we can start to heal.
Time for me to get deep. TMI here I come.
4 Side Effects of Anxiety We Like to Keep Secret
1. SWEATING
Like a double-edged sword, anxiety causes sweating, and sweating causes anxiety. This is probably the most self-conscious symptom that is caused by anxiety.
Many people who have anxiety also have a condition called hyperhidrosis. If you haven’t heard of hyperhidrosis, you’ve most likely seen it. It’s a fancy word for excessive sweating.
I’ve been struggling with hyperhidrosis for almost 9 years. When I shake hands, they’re often dampened by sweat. I sweat through my brand new t-shirts, and my favorite shoes become wet on the inside.
My hyperhidrosis stemmed from my anxiety, and it only got worse because of my anxiety. I even developed worse social anxiety because of it.
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2. ANGER
Anxiety isn’t always about having a racing heart and a feeling of you’re about to die. What people don’t realize is that anger can be a sign of an anxiety attack as well. A common cause of anger is a loss of control, and that’s pretty much all anxiety is. It’s a feeling of not being in control.
Anger is one of the hardest things for me to control, because it usually comes on so quickly with little to no warning. And it’s not I’m angry because you cut me in line angry. No. I feel pure, raw anger.
The worst part about that these bouts of anger is that they cause me even more anxiety because of my inability to control my anger. Once again, a vicious cycle.
The only way for me to remedy this is to walk away and take a break from the things that are causing me anxiety. Pretty much as soon as possible.
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3. VOMITING
Ever heard of having a nervous stomach? Well, having a nervous stomach is very common with those who struggle with anxiety.
Morning nausea was so common throughout high school that I could never, ever keep my food down. I would seriously dread waking up because I would have to spend about thirty minutes each morning trying to get any amount of food down.
If I could get through half a piece of toast, I was considered lucky. And basically any food that I did manage to get down, I would ultimately throw up when I would brush my teeth.
I kept this a secret for about a year or two. It was really hard to open up and try to get people to understand.
4. DIARRHEA
I feel like you can talk about throwing up, but can you really talk about diarrhea?
Well, screw it. Here I go.
If I didn’t throw up in the morning, I would have diarrhea. Like full-on diarrhea.
Most days, I struggled with both. At the same time.
What’s worse is that this would occur multiple times throughout the day. There were times I even left class and had to go home sick from “stomach flu.” In reality, I was just having really high symptoms of anxiety.
There we go. I said it. The secrets are revealed.
What symptoms do you experience because of your anxiety?
Related posts:
- An Open Letter Confronting My Anxiety For the First Time
- 4 Reasons Why Cleaning My House Helps Ease My Anxiety
- 6 Apps for Relieving Anxiety and Improving Mindfulness
More Recommendations:
1. ONLINE THERAPY
Better Help is the largest online counseling platform worldwide. It makes professional counseling available anytime, anywhere, through a computer, tablet or smartphone.
2. THE MINDFULNESS WORKBOOK FOR OCD
3. SOCIAL ANXIETY TO SOCIAL SUCCESS
Social Anxiety to Social Success is an eBook Kel from Anxious Lass created. I’ve read countless ways to recover from social anxiety, and I still found new, important information in her book. The best part is it’s written in a warm and relatable way.
4. RESILIENT BIG EBOOK BUNDLE
In the Resilient Big Bundle, you’ll get 6 amazing personal development products, such as 30 Day Negativity Detox and Figure Out Your Life. All of these together would cost over $120 if you purchased them separately, but you’ll get a big discount if you get the whole bundle.
5. MENTAL HEALTH JOURNAL GUIDES
Rose Minded created three 52 week Mental Health Journal Guides. You can pick from anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder. In the guides, you can find weekly gratitude, emotional intelligence, self-care prompts. Use the code meagan15 to get 15% off.
6. BLESSING MANIFESTING DIGITAL PRODUCTS
Blessing Manifesting sells a bunch of digital products focusing on self-love and personal development, like the Self-Love Workbook Planner and Anxiety Workbook. You can either buy them in a digital version or physical copy.
7. DREAMS INTO REALITY
Dreams into Reality eBook covers different topics of personal development to improve your mindset and your life. It will help you overcome anxiety, limiting beliefs, fears, and become a much happier and more positive person.
Until quite recently I worked as an IT support specialist. Even though the office was almost always chilly, I sweated. Bad. I had to scrub sweat and deodorant stains out of my shirts and tried several different deos, to no avail. My feet would sweat. My back would sweat. It does not happen quite so badly now but it sure is embarrassing!
I also suffer from IBS and found myself running to the bathroom frequently or suffering abdominal pains. I felt so self conscious of this and was afraid everyone was noticing how often I went to the bathroom. Which of course made it worse.
I also get angry. I had the feeling of losing control but once I got going there was no stopping it until it ran its course.
Also I was the only female in the office (and the youngest member of the whole team) and I never really shared with any of my co-workers why I acted as I did. I learned it was a stressful place where everyone was easily irritable. It’s only been a week since I left but I’ve realized that wasn’t good for me at all. They thought it was funny when something set me off and I went on a rant but I would go home and tell myself how stupid I had acted. It never got me in trouble thankfully. Even though I was laid off due to corporate buyout I’m starting to see that as a blessing. I need to get myself under control. I genuinely liked the job and am looking for another one now.
I’m not open about my struggles at all. I find that even people close to me aren’t understanding.
Definitely these are symptoms less known but no less valid. Thank you for showing me that I am not alone!
You are definitely not alone! Thank you for sharing your story with me. 🙂