7 weirder and lesser known signs of anxiety

Anxiety is a state of heightened fear and apprehension whenever our body senses threat in the environment. It triggers the arousal response system of our body which we popularly know as ‘the fight or flight response’.
This state of arousal prepares your body for either fleeing the situation or for fighting, there’s number of changes when this is activated. Bodily changes like increased heart rate, blood rush to the vital organs, sudden burst of energy, and cognitive changes like heightened concentration, and rushing thoughts for faster decision making.

When our brain starts sensing threat in the absence of a potential stressor, that is when it turns into a disorder. Someone with an anxiety disorder would frequently stress out about the most mundane tasks and happenings, or display sudden mood changes for no apparent reason. We know the most basic signs and symptoms of anxiety like palpitations, numbness or tingling in hands, panic, fear, restlessness, irritability and more.
Though these are all potential signs when going through bouts of anxiety, there are some lesser known signs of anxiety we might miss out on. Every person reacts to these feelings and emotions in his/her own distinct way, and that is why people are likely to miss out on some important indicators of anxiety that might follow.

Excessive yawning

Anxiety is a frequent cause of yawning. Anxiety has a negative impact on the heart, respiratory system, and energy levels. All of these can result in shortness of breath, yawning, and tension.
When a person is worried, they may find themselves yawning more frequently than other individuals, or more frequently than when they are not concerned.
Anxiety-related yawning frequently worsens as a person becomes more stressed, although it can sometimes occur without any evident cause.

Derealisation

Have you ever had that sensation where you feel like your surroundings are unreal, like being detached from the reality? That is derealization, feeling like you’re somehow in a dream like state.
It’s unclear what happens in the brain to lead people to experience such altered state of reality. It is thought to be a natural coping technique that our bodies have developed. During instances of acute anxiety, the mind appears to chose to tune out the rest of the environment in order to avoid thinking about the anxiety-inducing inputs, at least momentarily.
Because the mind continues to operate during this ‘tune out,’ the world appears to be a surreal realm. Derealization frequently happens during an anxiety episode, along with other anxiety-related symptoms. It may be mistaken as tiredness or overlooked most of the time, and that is why it’s one of the lesser known symptoms of anxiety.

Fatigue

Even if you’re receiving the necessary amount of sleep, anxiety might make you feel exhausted all of the time. It’s typically believed that anxiety keeps you wired and on high alert, but it is really fairly usual for nervous people to feel tired owing to the fight or flight reaction it triggers in your body. This is most likely due to all of your mental energy being spent worrying or overthinking, which exhausts both your body and mind.

Brainzaps

Anxiety or stress-induced brain zaps might feel like a quick buzz, shake, shiver, tremor, or electrical shock in the head. For example, it may feel as if you briefly vibrated your head with an electric vibrator.
Brain zaps might appear out of nowhere, or they can occur before, during, or after an anxiety or high-stress event. It’s one of the lesser known signs of anxiety because they’re often misidentified as the cold chills or flushes.

Vision disturbances

When you’re worried, you may find it difficult to see clearly, notice flashes or visual snow, or feel as if lights become excessively bright. This isn’t always a sign that something is wrong with your eyes; it might be part of your body’s natural anxiety reaction.
Anxiety can produce light sensitivity as a result of a momentary dilatation, or enlargement, of the pupil. When the body feels it has a cause to be terrified, it dilates its pupils as part of its fight or flight reaction. This is one of the reasons why scary movies frequently utilize special effects to create terrifying monsters or humans black or all-pupillary eyes: it makes us fearful. When your pupils dilate, more light enters your eyes, boosting your vision and allowing you to notice little visual information that might aid you in avoiding or battling the trigger.

Ringing ears

Tinnitus, often known as ringing in the ears, is a condition in which a person is aware of sound in their ears even when there is no external sound source. Anxiety and tinnitus are two conditions that are connected. Tinnitus patients frequently experience significant levels of tension and worry.
According to research, up to 45 percent of people with chronic tinnitus have anxiety symptoms, and tinnitus typically increases when people are stressed. It may wreak havoc on a person’s life, making it difficult to sleep and concentrate. Anxiety and despair might also worsen as a result of it.

Avoidance

This may take numerous forms, such as ignoring texts, deferring preparation for a presentation, or cancelling arrangements at the last minute. Ironically, it might exacerbate your anxiety by making you feel ill-prepared for the presentation or guilty for disappointing others.

We are all mostly aware about the typical signs of anxiety and may also be able to point it out if someone around us feels anxious very frequently. But it’s important to note that every individual reacts to these states of heightened anxiety in their own distinct manner. Someone might have tingling, palpitations, fear but there may be accompanying unusual symptoms such as ringing ears, the brainzaps or feeling like they’ve lost that touch on reality. Getting to know these signs can help us understand this further.