Anxiety symptoms: worry, body signs, panic, and when anxiety becomes a disorder

Anxiety and worry are normal reactions that anyone has under stress. The International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) explains that, at the right level, anxiety and worry can help direct problem-solving, focus attention where it is needed and raise alertness. They become a problem when they are excessive, persistent and intense enough to cause marked distress or clearly interfere with daily life (WHO, 2024).

The World Health Organization (WHO) describes the fear and worry of people with anxiety disorders as intense and excessive, accompanied by physical tension and other behavioural and thinking symptoms, hard to control, and able to last a long time if untreated. It may be worry about many everyday things, as in generalized anxiety disorder, or fear of something specific, such as panic attacks or social situations (WHO, 2026). This guide looks at how those symptoms actually show up. A diagnosis is made in an interview with a professional.

At the heart of generalized anxiety disorder is excessive worry that bad things will happen across several areas of everyday life, such as work, money, health or family, or a general apprehensiveness not tied to any particular situation. ICD-11 looks for this to last at least several months, on more days than not (WHO, 2024). The US diagnostic criteria (DSM-5) require worry that is hard to control on most days for at least 6 months, plus at least 3 of these: restlessness, tiring easily, trouble concentrating, irritability, muscle tension and sleep problems (NIMH, 2025). The 6-month line is a convention: in a US survey, episodes lasting 1 to 5 months looked similar in impairment and course (Kessler et al., 2005).

People with generalized anxiety disorder may feel that worrying is a helpful way to head off bad outcomes. Behaviours meant to reduce apprehension or prevent bad outcomes, such as avoidance, frequently seeking reassurance and procrastination, can come with it (WHO, 2024). Ways to examine thoughts that jump to the worst outcome on little evidence are covered in the cognitive distortions guide.

Finding uncertainty hard to bear also tends to go with worry. In a meta-analysis, this tendency correlated .57 with generalized anxiety symptoms, similar to depression (.53) and somewhat more strongly than obsessive-compulsive symptoms (.50), so it is not unique to generalized anxiety (Gentes & Ruscio, 2011). Another meta-analysis of 181 studies (52,402 people) found a moderate correlation of .51 across a range of anxiety, depressive, obsessive-compulsive and eating disorder symptoms (McEvoy et al., 2019). These are correlations, so they cannot show cause.

Anxiety shows up in the body too. ICD-11 lists the symptoms that accompany generalized anxiety disorder: muscle tension or restlessness, frequent gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea or abdominal distress, heart palpitations, sweating, trembling, dry mouth, feeling “on edge”, difficulty concentrating, irritability, and sleep problems such as trouble falling or staying asleep. Some people report only a general apprehensiveness and long-lasting bodily symptoms without being able to name what they worry about (WHO, 2024). A meta-analysis of 60 studies in healthy people also found that worrying or ruminating tends to raise blood pressure, heart rate and stress hormones for a while (Ottaviani et al., 2016).

People with anxiety disorders often first see a doctor about symptoms other than clear anxiety (Penninx et al., 2021). In a classic 1993 study of 685 Canadian family-medicine patients, 76% of the 75 who had depression or an anxiety disorder came with physical complaints. Doctors recognised the problem in 77% of those who talked about psychological difficulties, but in only 22% of those who persistently described only physical symptoms (Kirmayer et al., 1993). In some cultures, bodily symptoms stand out more than worries and other thoughts (WHO, 2024).

Conversely, bodily symptoms should not all be put down to anxiety. ICD-11 notes that an overactive thyroid, the effects of substances or medicines such as caffeine, and withdrawal from alcohol or some medicines can cause similar symptoms (WHO, 2024). In a study of 441 chest-pain patients at the emergency department of a Canadian cardiac teaching hospital, about a quarter met the criteria for panic disorder, but 44% of them also had coronary artery disease (Fleet et al., 1996). New chest pain, breathlessness or fainting need medical assessment first; if they come on suddenly or severely, call emergency services.

A panic attack is a sudden wave of intense fear in which several symptoms arrive at once: palpitations, sweating, trembling, feeling short of breath or choking, chest pain, nausea, dizziness, tingling, feeling detached from yourself or your surroundings, and fear of losing control or dying (WHO, 2024). It can last from a few minutes to an hour or sometimes longer, but panic attacks themselves are not life-threatening, and an isolated panic attack is not a mental disorder (NIMH, 2025).

Not everyone who has a panic attack develops panic disorder. In the World Mental Health Surveys of 142,949 adults in 25 countries, 13.2% had had a panic attack at some point, but only 12.8% of them met the criteria for panic disorder, or 1.7% of everyone (de Jonge et al., 2016). Panic disorder means unexpected attacks that keep coming back, followed by ongoing worry about another one or changes in daily life to avoid them (WHO, 2024).

Anxiety disorders are also told apart by what the anxiety is about. Generalized anxiety disorder is long-lasting worry about many everyday things; social anxiety disorder centres on fear of being judged negatively by others; specific phobia centres on fear of a particular object or situation. Worry tied to one identifiable stressful event is not generalized anxiety disorder; when the reaction is out of proportion and disrupts life, it may be adjustment disorder, which usually settles within 6 months (WHO, 2024).

ICD-11 notes that the lifetime prevalence of generalized anxiety disorder is about twice as high in women, and that the symptoms themselves look the same in men and women (WHO, 2024). In Korea’s 2021 National Mental Health Survey, the 12-month prevalence of anxiety disorders (mostly specific phobia) was 4.7% in women and 1.6% in men. For generalized anxiety disorder alone, the lifetime prevalence was 2.1% in women and 1.2% in men; the 12-month prevalence was 0.4% in both, but with few cases the margin of error is large (Rim et al., 2023).

Generalized anxiety disorder usually begins in adulthood. In the World Mental Health Surveys of 147,261 adults in 26 countries, only 5% of cases had started by age 13, and half had started by age 39 (Ruscio et al., 2017). Children and adolescents tend to worry about school or sports performance, adults more about their own well-being or their family’s (WHO, 2024). Nerves that come back with every exam are covered in test anxiety.

Anxiety and depression often come together. In the same surveys, 81.9% of people with generalized anxiety disorder also had another mental disorder at some point in life, and 63.0% had a mood disorder (Ruscio et al., 2017). In a study of 74,045 people in 24 countries, 45.7% of those with major depression also had an anxiety disorder, and in 68% of them the anxiety disorder had started first (Kessler et al., 2015). If your mood has been low for a long time, look at depression symptoms as well.

Korea’s 2021 National Mental Health Survey interviewed 5,511 adults aged 18 to 79 face to face with a diagnostic interview. The lifetime prevalence of anxiety disorders, here including obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, was 9.3%, and the 12-month prevalence 3.1%. Over 12 months, specific phobia made up most of it at 2.1%; generalized anxiety disorder had a lifetime prevalence of 1.7% and panic disorder 0.4% (Rim et al., 2023). How scores on the questionnaire are distributed is covered in our guide average GAD-7 score.

Most do not get help. In the same survey, among people who had an anxiety disorder in the past year, 9.1% had used mental health services that year. This figure comes from a survey during the COVID-19 pandemic and a small number of people, and most of them had specific phobia, so it says little about treatment for generalized anxiety or panic (Ministry of Health and Welfare, 2021; Rim et al., 2023). Across surveys in 21 countries, 27.6% of people with an anxiety disorder in the past year received any treatment, and 36.3% in high-income countries; the surveys differ in timing and methods, so they cannot be compared directly with the Korean figure (Alonso et al., 2018).

Treatment works. A meta-analysis of 41 randomised trials (2,843 people) comparing cognitive behavioural therapy with a pill or psychological placebo (most often supportive counselling) in adults with anxiety-related disorders found a moderate effect (g = 0.56) (Carpenter et al., 2018). Against control conditions such as waiting lists, cognitive behavioural therapy for generalized anxiety disorder had an effect of g = 0.80, which shrank to 0.59 after adjusting for publication bias; the few studies that used usual care or pill placebo instead of a waiting list found much smaller effects, and only 17.4% of the included trials were high quality (Cuijpers et al., 2016). Some antidepressants (SSRIs and SNRIs) are also first-line treatments, with small to moderate effects (Penninx et al., 2021), and WHO generally does not recommend benzodiazepines because of the risk of dependence and their limited long-term effectiveness (WHO, 2026). If you already take one, do not stop suddenly; plan any change with your prescriber.

The mind.io anxiety check-in (GAD-7) asks how often, over the last two weeks, you have had 7 symptoms of anxiety such as worry and tension, each rated from 0 to 3, for a total from 0 to 21. A total of 0 to 4 reads as “Minimal anxiety symptoms”, 5 to 9 as “Mild anxiety symptoms”, 10 to 14 as “Moderate anxiety symptoms” and 15 to 21 as “Severe anxiety symptoms”.

When it was developed at 15 US primary care clinics, among 965 people who also had a professional interview, a score of 10 or more picked out 89% of those with generalized anxiety disorder and correctly ruled out 82% of those without it (Spitzer et al., 2006). The GAD-7 was also useful for picking out panic disorder, social anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (Kroenke et al., 2007). That is why mind.io suggests talking with a professional at a score of 10 or more. The GAD-7 has no question about self-harm: whatever your score, if you have thoughts of harming yourself, do not carry them alone. Call or text 988 now in the US or Canada, call Samaritans on 116 123 in the UK or Ireland, or find a line at findahelpline.com elsewhere. A self-check is not a diagnosis: even with a low score, if anxiety makes daily life hard, talk to a professional.

Q. What does anxiety do to the body? A. Muscle tension, palpitations, sweating, trembling, nausea or stomach discomfort, dry mouth and trouble falling asleep are common (WHO, 2024). Other causes, such as an overactive thyroid or caffeine, are possible, though, so get new chest pain or breathlessness checked first.

Q. Is a panic attack dangerous? A. Panic attacks themselves are not life-threatening. They can last from a few minutes to an hour or sometimes longer, but the physical symptoms usually pass with time (NIMH, 2025). Having one does not mean you have panic disorder (de Jonge et al., 2016). But if it is the first time you have chest pain or faint, seek emergency care so heart problems can be ruled out first.

Q. Isn’t worrying a lot just my personality? A. Everyone worries, and worry can sometimes help. But if worry about many things has gone on most days for months, is hard to control and gets in the way of daily life, it is worth looking into (WHO, 2024).

Q. Can anxiety disorders be treated? A. Yes, there are treatments with proven benefits. Cognitive behavioural therapy has shown effects even against placebo (Carpenter et al., 2018), and some antidepressants are also first-line treatments (Penninx et al., 2021). Decide which suits you with a professional. Finding the right treatment can take some trial and error, and treatment can take time to work (NIMH, 2025).

Q. It’s so hard I’m having thoughts of harming myself. A. Please do not carry them alone. Reach out to a crisis line right away: call or text 988 in the US and Canada, call Samaritans on 116 123 in the UK and Ireland, or find a line at findahelpline.com elsewhere. If you are in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services.

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