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.