What can mimic anxiety? (2023)

What else can cause anxiety like symptoms?

Health issues that may seem like anxiety can be cardiac, endocrine, GI-related, inflammatory, metabolic, neurological, and respiratory. Within those groups, conditions that might first present like anxiety include irritable bowel syndrome, cardiac arrhythmias, hypoglycemia, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)

your worrying is uncontrollable and causes distress. your worrying affects your daily life, including school, your job and your social life. you cannot let go of your worries. you worry about all sorts of things, such as your job or health, and minor concerns, such as household chores.

Anxiety usually has a trigger—an event or thought that provokes an anxious response. However, most people aren't aware of their triggers, and believe they have become anxious for no reason. As human beings evolved, our species developed an instinctual response to danger, known as “fight, flight, or freeze”.

Health anxiety can actually have its own symptoms because it's possible for the person to have stomachaches, dizziness, or pain as a result of their overwhelming anxiety.

You may feel drowsy, confused and unable to think. Depression and anxiety, especially if either develops suddenly, may be an early symptom of a brain tumor.

What causes sudden onset of anxiety? A sudden onset of anxiety can be triggered by a plethora of things—from a major event, like a death in the family, to everyday stressors, such as work or budget worries—but sometimes it can be caused by seemingly nothing at all—or even issues you're not consciously aware of.

Worry is usually short term. There's a concerning situation (like COVID-19) and you worry about it. Worry prods you to use problem-solving skills to address your concerns. Anxiety is persistent, even when concerns are unrealistic.

Free-floating anxiety describes feelings of discomfort, uneasiness, worry, and anxiety that can appear for seemingly no reason. Many times, this anxiety can feel generalised or even random, and does not appear to be tied to any particular object or situation.

Panic disorder involves feelings of intense terror that strike out of nowhere and occur repeatedly, without warning. People who have panic disorder may feel as though they're suffocating, having a heart attack, and going crazy.

Can you have anxiety over nothing?

Occasional anxiety is a normal part of life. Many people may worry about things such as health, money, or family problems. But people with GAD feel extremely worried or nervous more frequently about these and other things—even when there is little or no reason to worry about them.

In general, the most common symptoms of a brain tumor may include: Headaches. Seizures or convulsions. Difficulty thinking, speaking or finding words.

In summary, the laterality of anxiety can reflect the differentiation of the two hemispheres. We suggest that a primary supratentorial tumour can cause anxiety symptoms, especially in patients with the tumour located in the right hemisphere of the brain and with gliomas.

A little anxiety is fine, but long-term anxiety may cause more serious health problems, such as high blood pressure (hypertension). You may also be more likely to develop infections. If you're feeling anxious all the time, or it's affecting your day-to-day life, you may have an anxiety disorder or a panic disorder.

Feeling nervous, restless or tense. Having a sense of impending danger, panic or doom. Trouble concentrating or thinking about anything other than the present worry. Having difficulty controlling worry.

Symptoms of severe anxiety are frequent and persistent and may include increased heart rate, feelings of panic and social withdrawal. These symptoms can result in loss of work and increased health care costs.

Can you feel anxious without having anxiety?

Although there are some similarities between feeling “normally” anxious and having an anxiety disorder, they're not the same. Normal anxiety is usually short-term and related to a stressor. It doesn't cause significant distress, and is resolved in a short time.

Anxiety doesn't just show up in your thoughts. For some people, anxiety proves more physical than anything else. Commonly recognized physical signs of anxiety include a nervous stomach, sweaty hands, or a pounding heart. But that's not all anxiety can do.