Severe Anxiety Symptoms You Should Never Ignore
Anxiety can be a confusing subject, and an anxiety disorder diagnosis is complex. While mild worry is a part of everyday life, severe anxiety symptoms can be an indication that professional support is required. If your work performance, relationships, and social activities are starting to be affected by significant panic, you may benefit from speaking to a professional about your anxiety.[1]
Anxiety can present in numerous different forms, but all can have serious negative effects on both physical and mental health. If you feel exhausted or overwhelmed from managing chronic anxiety, this page will help you understand:
- The cycle of overwhelming anxiety and how avoidance reinforces chronic anxiety.
- The difference between stress and extreme anxiety.
- Grounding techniques for managing anxiety attack symptoms.
- What anxiety flare-ups are and what they may signal.
- Anxiety treatment options.
Becoming Aware of the Anxiety Cycle
Many people who experience extreme anxiety symptoms find themselves in a continuous cycle.[2] This involves an initial frightening or stressful thought, which then produces physical symptoms of anxiety. When these symptoms occur, you may avoid the situation that caused the fear, successfully managing the severe anxiety symptoms. However, this relief is usually short-lived. The next time the situation arises, you may feel significantly more anxious.[3]
This cycle is your brain’s method of protecting you from potentially “dangerous” situations, even when no real danger exists. Your nervous system remains constantly ready to face danger, resulting in chronic anxiety.[3]
If this pattern sounds familiar, exploring the physical symptoms can help you develop coping strategies for managing debilitating anxiety effectively.
Physical Red Flags: Stress vs Chronic Anxiety
Spotting the difference between the physical effects of stress and severe anxiety symptoms can be difficult, but your body offers clear signals.
Stress symptoms are usually temporary reactions to a specific situation, such as a tight deadline at work or an unexpectedly high phone bill.[4] However, once this stressful situation is resolved, these symptoms should subside. Common symptoms of stress include:[4]
- Short-term fatigue.
- Tightness in specific muscle groups.
- Slight restlessness (for example, leg shaking, foot tapping, fidgeting).
- Tension headaches.
- Loss of focus.
- Irritability.
- Feeling overwhelmed.
Extreme anxiety symptoms, by comparison, are more intense and can have a real impact on physical health. When you are living with debilitating anxiety, your body’s warning systems frequently go into overdrive, and in response, blood is automatically sent from your organs to your muscles.6 This increase in blood flow can cause symptoms, including:[5]
- Chest tightness.
- Increased heart rate.
- Physical exhaustion.
- Digestive issues.
Some of these are recognized anxiety attack symptoms. While stress is a normal experience, severe anxiety symptoms can feel overwhelming and exhausting as you battle internal panic.[4][3] These symptoms can arise in different contexts, but grounding techniques can help you manage and reduce anxiety.
How to Bring Yourself Back
It is a long-standing myth that you can resolve anxiety symptoms by ignoring them. Grounding techniques are more effective because they slow down the body’s alarm system and help you accept and work through your anxiety.[6] The following grounding methods can help prevent mild anxiety from escalating into severe anxiety attack symptoms:
Physiological Sigh
The Physiological Sigh is a breathing technique that has been shown to reduce anxiety and tension.[7]
- First, take one deep inhale through your nose to fill your lungs as much as possible.
- Next, take another sharp, quick breath through your nose.
- Finally, slowly exhale through your mouth as if you’re blowing out a candle, until your lungs are empty.
Repeating this for at least three cycles when you feel overwhelmed can help your body reset. You can pair this breathing technique with the next grounding behavior to soothe severe anxiety symptoms.[8]
Sensory Orientation
By focusing on your environment when exhaling, you can shift your attention back to the present. When you breathe out through your mouth, turn your head to look at three still items in the room, naming them mentally. Doing these things at the same time can:[7][9]
- Engage your natural calming response.
- Reduce your panic.
- Decrease your heart rate within a few minutes.
Box Breathing
Box breathing is a grounding technique that can calm your body and mind by slowing your breathing and heart rate:
- Breathe in through your nose slowly for four seconds, filling your lungs.
- Hold this breath for four seconds.
- Breathe out through your mouth for four seconds.
- Hold your breath for four seconds now that your lungs are empty.
While this might feel uncomfortable initially, box breathing is an effective wellbeing strategy for people experiencing anxiety.[8]
Muscle Relaxation Techniques
Muscle relaxation helps your major muscle groups release any remaining tension. One example is a wall push, in which you:
- Place your flat palms against a flat wall.
- Breathe in slowly through your nose.
- Breathe out through your mouth, using your arms, chest, and shoulders to push as hard as you can against the wall.
- Let go of the wall and let your arms hang by your side.
This method will help your body relax, but you can repeat it if necessary to feel the full effects.[8]
However, grounding techniques do not always prevent anxiety flare-ups, which may require professional anxiety treatment.
Labeling an Anxiety Flare-up
An anxiety flare-up is a sudden spike in anxiety that can occur without warning.[10] It could be a result of several different factors, including:
- Decreased sleep quality.
- Financial pressures.
- Important meetings.
- Just a busy Monday morning.
These factors can mean you need to use more of your physical and emotional reserves throughout the day, which may lead to a flare-up as old anxiety symptoms temporarily come back to the surface. These can include increased heart rate, difficulty breathing, and a strong desire to avoid certain anxiety-inducing situations.
Frequent anxiety flare-ups indicate that you’re living with chronic anxiety, which is a symptom of numerous anxiety disorders. However, flare-ups are short-term phases as anxiety naturally moves up and down.[11] They are not a sign that your anxiety is worsening or that you are losing the progress you’ve made. Flare-ups can be managed effectively with the right tools and treatment.
However, some flare-ups come with severe anxiety symptoms such as acute heart and chest pain. If this is the case, you may wish to visit the ER for reassurance and to make sure there is nothing else causing the symptoms.
Mission Connection is here to help you or your loved one take the next steps towards an improved mental well-being.
Exploring Hospital Treatment for Debilitating Anxiety
ER treatment for extreme anxiety symptoms usually follows a standard pattern.
The essential first step is ensuring that you are experiencing anxiety attack symptoms and not a physical heart emergency. Medical staff can rule out further conditions through examinations. They will then likely explore temporary solutions for anxiety, as research suggests 30-40% of admissions for low-risk chest pain have underlying severe anxiety symptoms.[12]
Staff may guide you through grounding techniques and breathing exercises, and give you consistent reassurance to help calm you down. In some cases, they may provide anti-anxiety medications if symptoms are not improving with other methods.[13] However, these are only temporary solutions.
A trip to the hospital, while common, could indicate a severe anxiety disorder. The ER typically prioritizes short-term relief over long-term treatment, so staff may encourage you to explore anxiety counseling.
Anxiety Treatment and Speaking to a Professional
If you have been living with chronic anxiety, anxiety counseling can be freeing. Modern anxiety treatment can come in many forms, so you can find the most effective option for you.
One of the main therapies for severe anxiety symptoms is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT works by helping you identify how your thoughts, feelings, and actions influence one another in your daily life.[14] By recognising negative thinking patterns, you can challenge them, potentially reducing anxiety symptoms.
In CBT, thought challenging is a technique that reframes negative or unhelpful thoughts. You can become more comfortable viewing your negative thoughts as possibilities instead of facts, and develop more accurate thinking patterns. The steps are:
- Identify the negative thought (for example, “I ruined everything.”)
- Collect evidence “for and against” this thought.
- Consider another point of view.
- Create a new, balanced thought to replace the old one.
Talking therapies such as CBT have been shown to have high success rates for reducing chronic anxiety, setting the foundations for a calmer daily life.[14]
Other anxiety treatment options include:
- Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) – A modern therapy that helps you to feel comfortable living with discomfort in life, and commit to positive behaviours.
- Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) – An approach that focuses on managing your emotions, reactions to distress, and strengthening your relationships and well-being.
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy (EMDR) – A trauma-informed eye movement therapy that helps you work through anxiety linked to uncomfortable memories in a safe environment.
- Humanistic therapy – A well-rounded therapy that prioritises overall well-being and personal growth instead of focusing on a specific mental health concern.
If you are unsure which may suit you best, Mission Connection can talk you through them.
Flexible Anxiety Treatment for Your Schedule
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Find Relief: Expert Outpatient Care With Mission Connection
Mission Connection is an excellent solution for anxiety treatment that fits into your busy schedule. With our approach to outpatient care promising flexibility around your responsibilities, you can begin your journey toward mental wellness.
Through non-invasive assessments, our professionals can identify the presence of generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety, panic disorder, and other anxiety-related conditions. We can then suggest suitable bespoke, evidence-based treatment options to ensure the right symptoms are being targeted.
We offer several options for treatment, including in-person programs at our locations in California, Virginia, and Washington, virtual telehealth, and a hybrid program that combines in-person and virtual care. Our programs fit around your existing schedule so you can remain consistent with treatment.
Mission Connection is Joint Commission-accredited. We also accept almost all insurance providers, so that your recovery is not hindered due to financial issues.
Reach out to us online or call us at 866-833-1822 to find out how we can support your long-term recovery.
