Do I have anxiety? What are the signs of an anxiety disorder?
Last reviewed: May 2026
Anxiety is a normal part of being human. Your nervous system is designed to produce worry and alertness in the face of genuine threat. An anxiety disorder is different — it is when that alarm system becomes overactive, triggering distress that is disproportionate to the situation, difficult to control, and persistent enough to interfere with your daily life.
Signs of an anxiety disorder
The defining feature of an anxiety disorder is worry or fear that feels out of proportion to the actual threat and does not resolve once the stressor passes. Common signs include: constant or near-daily worry that is hard to switch off, a racing heart, chest tightness, or shortness of breath without a clear physical cause, trouble falling or staying asleep because of racing thoughts, avoidance of situations or places that trigger fear, irritability or restlessness, difficulty concentrating because your mind keeps anticipating problems, and physical symptoms like nausea, dizziness, or muscle tension during or before stressful situations.
The worry in anxiety disorders often has a forward-looking, "what if" quality. You may find yourself running through worst-case scenarios, planning obsessively for unlikely catastrophes, or reassurance-seeking in ways that provide only temporary relief before the worry returns.
Types of anxiety disorders
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) involves persistent, hard-to-control worry across multiple life domains — health, relationships, work, finances — for at least six months. Social anxiety disorder is an intense fear of social situations and of being judged or humiliated by others. Panic disorder involves recurrent, unexpected panic attacks — sudden surges of intense fear with physical symptoms like racing heart, dizziness, and a terrifying sense of losing control — accompanied by ongoing concern about future attacks.
Specific phobias involve intense fear of a particular object or situation (flying, blood, spiders) that is disproportionate to actual danger. Agoraphobia is a fear of situations where escape might be difficult or help unavailable, such as crowded places, public transit, or being alone outside. Health anxiety (sometimes called illness anxiety) is marked by excessive fear of having or developing a serious illness despite medical reassurance.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) share features with anxiety disorders but are now classified separately — though both involve significant anxiety and are treated by many of the same therapeutic approaches.
When is anxiety a disorder versus normal worry?
The clinical threshold is whether anxiety is causing significant distress or impairment in your life. If worry is consuming a large portion of your day, leading you to avoid situations you would otherwise value, affecting your sleep or relationships, or making you feel physically unwell on a regular basis, those are signs worth exploring with a professional.
It is also worth noting that anxiety and depression frequently co-occur — many people experience both. If you are noticing signs of both, that is common and does not make treatment more complicated. A good therapist can work with both presentations simultaneously.