Is anxiety controlling your life? Take our test and find out!

Are you concerned that your worries are out of control? Perhaps you think that you worry excessively? What is the difference between an anxiety disorder, normal anxiety, and simply being worried? Everyone will experience worry from time to time. This can be when you have a financial difficulty, or you’re at risk of losing your job, or when you have to do something that is outside your comfort zone. Worrying about these things is completely normal. So how do you know that anxiety has taken over and is controlling your life? Take out test to find out.

Take our anxiety test

1. How many of these symptoms do you experience on a regular basis?

• You feel worried about big things (such as finances, job security, relationships).
• You feel worried about small things (something you said, a phone call you have to make).
• You are suffering with fatigue or exhaustion.
• Your worries prevent you from doing normal everyday activities.
• Your worries have been going on for months.
• You have trouble getting to sleep.
• You have trouble staying asleep.
• You have trouble getting back to sleep when you wake up.
• You wake up very early.
• You toss and turn and worry all night.
• Your mind is constantly racing and you can’t slow it down.

If you recognize these symptoms you may have a generalised anxiety disorder.

2. Irrational fears

• Is your anxiety linked to something specific – such as flying, crowds, animals?
• Does your worrying become out of control in specific situations?
• Do you panic?
• Do you struggle to breathe?
• Do you feel your worrying is out of proportion to the situation?

If you recognise these symptoms you may have a phobia, which is a type of anxiety disorder.

3. Tension

• Do you find you clench your jaw, or ball your fists?
• Do you often flex the muscles throughout your body?

If you do, you may have muscle-tension which accompanies anxiety disorders. You may have stopped noticing it, if you’ve had it for a long time.

4. Do you have any physical symptoms?

• Do you have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)?
• Do you suffer with frequent diarrhoea?

Your gut is very susceptible to psychological stress, and chronic bowel complaints are often a sign of anxiety.

5. In public

• Do you have severe nerves before addressing people?
• Do you fear any public event for weeks beforehand?
• Do you dwell on your ‘performance’ for a long time afterwards?
• Do you have it when you feel judged?
• Do you hate attending parties because you don’t feel comfortable making small talk?
• Do you tremble, sweat or blush easily?

If you recognise these symptoms you may have social anxiety disorder, also known as social phobia.

6. Are you prone to panic?

• Do you get a sudden onset of fear and helplessness that lasts for several minutes?
• Do you then have problems breathing?
• Is your panic accompanied by a thumping heart, sweating or weakness?
• Do you become weak or dizzy?

Not everyone who has a panic attack has an anxiety disorder, but if you have a few of them, it is likely you have an anxiety disorder.

7. Reliving a moment

• Do you have a tendency to relive a moment in time such as a disturbing or traumatic event, the sudden death of a loved one?
• Do you avoid places, people or things that bring back certain memories?

If so, you may be experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which shares some features with anxiety disorders.

8. Perfectionism

• Are you finicky, pedantic or a nit-picker?
• Does everything always have to be just so?
• Do you constantly judge yourself?
• Do you beat yourself up if you make mistakes?
• Do you find it difficult to forget your mistakes?

If you do constantly judge yourself, if you worry about ‘failing’ before you even do anything, then you probably have an anxiety disorder.

9. Other indicators of anxiety

• Are you generally impatient?
• Do you sometimes fear you are going crazy?
• Do you often feel overwhelmed or that life is too much for you?
• Do you say yes when you'd rather say no?
• Is your self-esteem high or low?

If you are worried

It can be difficult to tell whether your everyday worries have crossed a line and become more serious. As you have seen, anxiety comes in many different forms. If you are unsure, you should speak to a professional.

Other articles

Are most people good or bad?

Do you sometimes despair about humanity because it seems there are far more bad people than good? Are we primarily selfish individuals, thinking only about our own needs? Or is this cynical belief just because we spend so much time online? The truth is more complicated!

7 tips to help your dog with a fear of fireworks

As nice as it is for a person to celebrate New Year, it's not so nice for a dog, especially when the loud fireworks go off the whole night. This is really frightening for many dogs. Read our 7 tips on how you can help your dog with his fear of fireworks.

20 natural ways to prevent and relieve headaches

Headaches can be a real nuisance, especially if you get them frequently. Luckily, there are many natural ways to prevent and relieve headaches without needing to reach for over the counter medication.

Why it's never too late to change

People always think: that’s just me. I'm not good at 'X', that is just my character. Here are some reasons why it's never too late to change.

Do you 'Musturbate' too much?

Do you suffer from a disorder known as "musturbation"? This term was first coined in the 1950s by psychotherapist Albert Ellis and described the way a negative inner voice rules our minds and bludgeons us with words such as "must", "should", and "ought".

Live Forever: the Habits of People Who Live a Long, Healthy Life

Legends of immortality have been told and retold throughout history. From ancient Greek myths to modern movies and novels, the dream of eternal youth has been passed down from generation to generation.

Learn to live with your anxieties

If you suffer with anxiety, it’s important that you learn to live with it, and adopt techniques that help you manage how you feel, when anxiety interrupts your day to day life.

Feeling blue?

Feeling blue? You're not alone! We all feel sad at times; it's a normal human emotion. Sometimes, it's clear to see what has triggered our depression. Common reasons for feeling sad include bereavement, the end of a relationship, losing your job or money problems. But it's not always so clearcut.

Six things we think will make us happy, but don't!

When you think about things that will make you happy, what are the images that come to mind? Wealth, beauty, a dream house, long holidays, a top of the range car? Happiness is not a constant and how happy we feel depends on the way we choose to live our lives. 

Do you expect too much from others? Find out!

Most people are disappointed when others don't meet their expectations. But when you always expect too much, it isn't healthy, either for yourself or for others. If you often find yourself feeling let down by your loved ones or even by strangers, could it be that you have unrealistic ideas of how people should act?