Today, we are going to learn about 12 signs you have hidden anxiety. Now, let’s begin.
- Seeking Reassurance
People with hidden anxiety don’t know their own value. They doubt their abilities. They underestimate their strengths and overestimate their weaknesses. In other words, they don’t know just how capable they are.
If you can’t find confidence from within, you may rely on reassurance from the people around you. You depend on compliments and praise to build your ego; otherwise, you don’t have faith in yourself. Think about where your confidence comes from.
Do you believe you’re a strong and capable person? Do compliments make you feel better about your shortcomings? If the answer is yes, you may be struggling with hidden anxiety.
- Lightening Up
Do people think you’re cold or unfriendly? Has someone ever told you to “smile more” or “lighten up?” If you have hidden anxiety, people may think you’re stoic, cold, or unemotional, even if nothing is wrong.
You may worry that something is wrong with the way you look. Or maybe you’re not expressing yourself well enough to strangers. But there’s nothing wrong with the way you express your emotions.
Stress and anxiety impact your facial expressions, causing your eyes to narrow, your muscles to tighten, and your smile to turn upside down. A cold look on your face doesn’t mean you’re mad, sad, or unhappy. It means you’ve got a lot on your mind.
- Indecisive Instincts
Do you worry about every little thing that might go wrong? Do you imagine impossible scenarios and crazy hypotheticals? People with hidden anxiety can’t stop asking “what if.” You imagine every catastrophic situation. You try to prepare for everything, but the deeper you fall into that rabbit hole, the more irrational your imagination becomes.
You may imagine all your hard work going down the drain. You may picture people laughing at you, arguing with you, or getting angry with you. You may envision a string of coincidences culminating in the worst disaster your mind can put together.
Unfortunately, this bad habit hinders your ability to make decisions. You can’t decide one way or the other, because you want a sense of certainty. You want to know how things are going to playout.
But there’s no way of knowing. You have to make the best decision you can and have faith in your instincts. If that doesn’t sit right with you, you may be more anxious than you realize.
- Anxious Tics
Are you a restless person? Do you tap your fingers, crack your knuckles, or play with your hair? Restless behaviours are common signs of hidden anxiety. Even if your anxiety doesn’t affect your performance or your productivity, it can find other ways to change your behaviour.
For example, your anxiety may unconsciously manifest as repetitive actions or nervous tics. Some of the most common tics include tapping your feet or fingers, cracking your knuckles, biting your lips, or playing with your hair or clothes.
In each case, restless behaviour stems from a surplus of internal stress. You may not realize that something is bothering you. Maybe you’re trying your best to ignore your anxiety. Either way, your body won’t stand still, because your restless energy is looking for a way out.
- Toxic Loyalty
People with hidden anxiety are loyal friends. They maintain lasting friendships and long-term relationships, and they rarely, if ever, change partners or friend groups. But that’s not always a good thing.
Sometimes, their friends or partners take advantage of their loyalty. They don’t treat them as well as they should, and this puts you in a difficult position. You know you should stand up for yourself, but there’s one worrisome thought you just can’t shake: what if I never meet someone else? What if this toxic person is the only friend I’m going to have? If you have thoughts like these, you may be an anxious person.
You may be intensely loyal, but that’s not a good reason to let someone treat you poorly. It’s important to know your worth and respect your boundaries. Because no matter how scared you are of meeting new people, you deserve someone who values everything you have to offer.
- Competitive Criticism.
Many anxious people are secretly self-critical. They regularly compare their lives to others’, including the lives of friends, celebrities, and strangers on social media.
These comparisons lead many anxious people down a self-destructive path. They begin to criticize their flaws and exaggerate their weaknesses. They lose sight of their strengths, because they’re too concentrated on everything they’re doing wrong.
Unfortunately, this judgmental mindset impacts your ability to create, achieve, and succeed. When you underestimate your abilities, you lose confidence in yourself. You can’t overcome obstacles, because you don’t believe you can overcome them. If you bring yourself down, there’s something else going on below the surface. You have hidden anxiety, and that anxiety is getting the best of you.
- Absence of Separation
Can you separate work and down time? Do you find it challenging to relax, even after the workday is over? This is a common problem among people with hidden anxiety.
You work a long day. You drive home, settle down, and try to have a relaxing evening, but you’re worried about work. You’re thinking about what you did today or what you’ll do tomorrow. Either way, you can’t relax, destress, or unwind. Your anxious mind can’t let go of your responsibilities.
This is especially problematic for people who lead busy, successful lives. You worked hard to get where you are today. You thought a high-paying job would bring you confidence and peace of mind. But now that job has a stranglehold on your brain.
No matter how hard you try to relax… you can’t let go.
- Nervous Chatter
Anxious people aren’t always quiet or concise. Many people with hidden anxiety are prone to nervous chatter. In other words, they say too much, and they talk for too long.
Think about the last time you told a story. Did you ramble for ten or fifteen minutes? Did you feel guilty for wasting someone’s time? This is common among people with hidden anxiety. They get anxious in social situations, and they lose control of their mouth. They talk to fill space. They backtrack too often, and before they know it… fifteen minutes have flown by. But here’s the worst part. If you have high anxiety, this is going to sound familiar.
After you’re done talking, you spend the next chunk of time over analysing everything you said. You find yourself wishing you said something different, wishing you could turn back time. But every anxious person knows, there’s no undo button on life, no matter how badly you need one.
- Imposter Syndrome
Do you feel like a fraud? Do you worry you don’t know what you’re doing? Imposter syndrome is an increasingly common phenomenon in the world today, especially among people with regular anxiety.
If you have imposter syndrome, you may feel like an imposter in your own life. You doubt your abilities. You feel like a fraud. And despite all the things you’ve accomplished, you question your ability to achieve anything more. Imposter syndrome can take its toll on your mindset and your self-esteem. You may think your achievements are slipping through your fingers. You may worry you’re doing something wrong or making poor decisions.
But individuals with imposter syndrome frequently underestimate their abilities. You’re not a fraud. You’re not making the wrong calls. You just don’t realize how qualified you really are.
- Fearing Disappointment
Are you a people pleaser? Are you afraid of disappointing your friends, family, or co-workers? People with hidden anxiety are afraid to let others down. They want to please everyone all the time, because they’re worried everyone will turn against them. They don’t want to be hated, ignored, or disliked, so they go out of their way for everyone but themselves.
You may do things you don’t want to do. You may struggle to say no. On the surface, you seem generous and selfless, but the truth is… you’re afraid of letting people down.
- Prospective Intimidation
Life is a long journey filled with twists and turns. You’ll face new challenges. You’ll experience big changes, and you’ll fail more times than you can imagine. Did hearing that make you feel anxious or doubtful?
If you have hidden anxiety, you may worry about the road ahead. You have big goals, and you want to accomplish them, but you’re scared of trying. Why?
Because you don’t know what the future holds. What if it doesn’t work out the way you thought? What if your goals lead you down the wrong path? What if your current lifestyle is the best you’re going to get? You’re scared of the unknown, so you play it safe. You stay in your comfort zone, and you hide behind your strengths.
In other words, you don’t like to take risks. If this sounds familiar, you’re not lazy or unmotivated. You’re a very ambitious person, but chances are… you’re more anxious than you realize.
- Excess Preparation
Preparation is good. When you’re prepared, you feel confident and capable, and you’re more likely to perform at your best. But there’s a limit to how much you should prepare.
People with hidden anxiety may spend hours preparing for the smallest obstacles. They may arrive at every meeting thirty minutes early, and they overreact to the tiniest changes. In general, anxious people struggle with flexibility. You like when everything goes according to plan, because you know what to expect. You’ve thought through the options, and you’ve prepared for every possible scenario. But things rarely go the way you expect.
In life, there are always surprises. You never know what risks, twists, and opportunities are coming your way. If that makes you nervous, you may be struggling with hidden anxiety.
credit: TopThink
