The primary feeling that anxious people feel is sadness. When you say “I feel anxious”, it is because there is an unexplained (or sometimes explained) sadness that you are feeling and that is making you feel lost and alone. You will wake up feeling sad or start feeling sad when it gets darker. Sometimes you will feel sad all day long and wish you could stay in your bed or not talk to anyone because of your feeling.

Worry is another feeling that you could feel the longer you have been struggling with anxiety. Anxious people worry about the smallest thing. It could be a university project that, deep down, you know you will do well, but you can’t worry. It could be your dog barking at a passenger and scaring them, or even your mom asking you to do 5 things within the upcoming 10 minutes.

Fear is one of the worst things to feel ever, especially if it is due to anxiety. Fear can be caused by overthinking, or by past experiences. Some thoughts can make you fearful such as thinking about your future or failing something. Other things such as being home or in any other place alone, can make you scared. You could start hearing some noises that are not there or could feel very scared because of the smallest things.

Guilt is another common feeling for anxious people. You will feel guilty for not finishing your tasks for the day, or for not spending enough time with your dog. A therapist would recommend you to take note of your guilt feelings every time and try to differentiate between the event that made you feel guilty and your interpretation of the event. For example, if you broke something precious for your mother, you could hear her say “I loved this piece so much, it belonged to my grandmother”. A slight feeling of guilt is accepted but if you feel guilty every time the topic of the broken piece is brought up you must ask yourself why you are feeling guilty. Your interpretation of the story could be that you think that your mom is blaming you for the incident. However ask yourself; did she explicitly say “you broke my vase! You destroyed my favorite piece”?

Feeling insufficient means that you are always criticizing yourself or comparing yourself to others and thinking that you do not have what it takes to do what you want to do. This feeling is a symptom of anxiety.