Anxiety is a natural response of the body, and at moderate levels it helps cope with challenges. However, when it becomes constant, intense and without a clear reason, it begins to compromise mental and physical health. Recognizing the first signs is essential to avoid more serious attacks.
Below, learn the three main signs that anxiety is spiraling out of control.
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1. Your sleep stops working – and it happens night after night
Difficulty falling asleep, waking up repeatedly during the night, or waking up feeling unrest may indicate that anxiety is active even when you are trying to relax. The body remains on alert, releasing hormones that prevent deep rest. Over time, insomnia worsens irritability, reduces concentration, and further increases the anxiety cycle.
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Anxiety is a type of psychological condition characterized by constant and excessive worry that something negative may happen. According to researchers from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), it is also a diffuse feeling of discomfort caused by a frequent feeling of apprehension that can trigger disorders.
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According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Brazil is the most anxious country in the world and has recorded even more cases of this disease during the Covid-19 pandemic. Besides adults, anxiety can also manifest itself in children for various reasons, such as parental divorce, exams or school problems, for example.
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Although it is considered relatively common, as it can affect anyone for any reason, anxiety becomes a real problem when everything becomes a cause for exaggerated worry and the patient begins to experience attacks.
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An anxiety attack is a situation that causes a great feeling of anxiety, nervousness and insecurity, as if something very serious, completely uncontrollable, would happen at any moment.
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Crisis usually occurs due to specific stressful situations that generate triggers, such as having to give a presentation, having a short deadline to deliver work, being in a place you don’t want to be or having suffered a loss, for example.
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Symptoms of an anxiety attack include: rapid heart rate, feeling short of breath, tingling in the body, feeling of lightness in the head, chest pain, nausea, excessive sweating, tremors, among others.
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These symptoms are due to an increase in the hormone adrenaline in the blood, which is normal when a person faces an important moment. However, if symptoms become constant, they may signal generalized anxiety disorder.
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What you should do during an anxiety attack depends on the severity and frequency of the symptoms and, therefore, the ideal is to always receive specialist advice from a psychiatrist or psychologist.
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Despite this, doing breathing exercises, drinking soothing tea, trying to talk to someone you trust, resting, turning off your mind, doing physical activities that you enjoy or trying to keep your thoughts on something that comforts you are some tips that can help alleviate the problem.
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When the anxiety attack first occurs or you are unsure of what is happening, it is important to go to the hospital to make sure it is not another, more serious problem, such as a heart attack.
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In any case, if the attacks are frequent, you must call a specialist to identify the cause and begin treatment.
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Anxiety can trigger problems that, depending on the symptoms, can be classified as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social phobia, panic syndrome, among others. These problems can have an impact on the patient’s personal and professional life. So, the earlier they are diagnosed, the less problems they will face.
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2. Racing thoughts that you can’t “turn off”
The mind does not stop, even when there is no real problem to solve. This continuous stream of thoughts – often catastrophic, repetitive or exaggerated – is one of the first signs of anxiety dysregulation. The person has difficulty concentrating on simple tasks, makes impulsive decisions or, on the contrary, avoids acting for fear of making a mistake.
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