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Being anxious is something that pops up for no reason sometimes. I will even wake up anxious before the day has begun. I don't know why this is happening and I'm not sure how to control this feeling?

18 Answers
Last Updated: 08/04/2020 at 4:45pm
1 Tip to Feel Better
United States
Moderated by

Jennifer Fritz, LMSW, PhD

Clinical Social Work/Therapist

Day to day life can be stressful and overwhelming and my strength is assisting my clients in a supportive, empowering and practical manner.

Top Rated Answers
Anonymous
April 7th, 2015 9:17pm
It sounds like you are having a difficult time with your anxiety and there seems to be a few things going on here. I notice you saying "It pops up for no reason sometimes" which sounds like it could be very confusing. I'm reading that you are suffering with these anxious feelings often, even waking up with them before your day has begun. You are unsure why this is happening and it sounds like you would like some control over these feelings to make them stop. I'd like to know more about specific instances where you have experienced anxiety and look at what happened? How you felt, behaved and thought. Identifying the type of anxiety and its potential causes may assist in helping you have more control over these feelings.
Micahmell6403
January 14th, 2019 2:53pm
Try the 5-4-3-2-1 method. 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste. this grounds you and brings you back to reality so that you can properly assess the situation you're in. Another technique I use often is asking myself, "Is this thing that is scaring me a real danger?" or "What's the worst that could happen?" Asking questions helps you to assess the validity of your current situation. Hope this helps, remember to shine bright and stay positive! Lots of love and good luck! ~Micah
JessInTechnicolour
March 24th, 2015 11:46pm
Unfortunately anxiety isn't always caused by a specific event or situation in our lives. Anxiety is a clinical condition and can be triggered by natural phenomena in our bodies. If you are feeling this way, please know that you are OK and you can seek help from a medical professional. There are many treatments and tools you can use to manage anxiety. You've taken the first step by asking about it, so congrats to you! Keep your spirits up and don't be afraid to keep exploring your options.
Anonymous
April 22nd, 2015 12:01pm
Sometimes, upon reflection, we see something in the past, even long ago, that has triggered in a dream or whatever, or it can be a recent past or future event. If we do become aware of it in our thoughts, sometimes we go "Oh, that's insignificant, that can't be it." My advice is to not ever trivialize any feeling. Process it, breathe, and attempt to work through the feeling. If there is truly no reason you can find, then maybe a short chat out here may help. In any case, I learned a long time ago that regardless of how hurried you feel, you always are authorized to take 5 to 10 minutes for yourself. Take care!
Anonymous
June 2nd, 2015 8:36pm
This is happening because you are afraid of something which has happened in the past. You can control this by focusing on what is happening now.
BeSerene
June 22nd, 2015 4:22am
I can certainly co-relate to what you are experiencing..it happens on it own accord you never know when it comes and when it goes but leaves with queations to ponder whil you struggle hard to comprehend what could be the reason and it frustrates you even more for not being able to understand and cope up with stress.
Anonymous
August 25th, 2015 10:29pm
In my experience, I've realised that it happens to me because I'm worried about being worried about something possibly going wrong during the day, ie. I'm anxious about being anxious. When that happens, I usually just think about why I'm anxious, and if there's any evidence for it, but if the anxiety's still there, I do the mindfulness thing where I just accept that I'm feeling anxious, let it pass and try not to fight it. Also, the psychologist in me says that it's because I'm misattributing the normal jump in cortisol in the morning (that happens to help wake you up) as anxiety, so I get anxious about it :P
corndogvibes
August 4th, 2020 4:45pm
Anxiety usually has a trigger—an event or thought that provokes an anxious response. However, most people aren’t aware of their triggers, and believe they have become anxious for no reason. As human beings evolved, our species developed an instinctual response to danger, known as “fight, flight, or freeze”. The sympathetic nervous system makes our bodies and minds react quickly when we are in danger, and we may choose to stand and fight, run away, or stay totally still as if playing dead, known as the “freeze” response. Our anxiety, or fear, evolved as an alarm bell to move us into life-saving action. In our modern world, we encounter conflicts that aren’t actually life-threatening. But our nervous system doesn’t know this, and so we can react to a variety of stimuli with the fight, flight, or freeze response, even when it is inappropriate. Add this to the fact that anxiety can also cause confusion or disassociation, and you can see why the exact causes of your anxiety are often so hard to pin down.
Anonymous
December 24th, 2019 8:53pm
I often take a shower, brush my teeth and try to do something creative to take my mind of things and express my feelings. For example, I like to paint, write, sing or do something that is similar. Many times it works really well. Otherwise, listening to music or calling someone that makes me happy can be really helpful. I like to write down when I feel the most anxious. That way I can figure out if something I do causes my anxiety to be triggered - even if I hadn't noticed before. Daylio is a good app for tracking your feelings. Try different things and see if anything can help ease the feeling of anxiety.
Anonymous
July 17th, 2018 6:57pm
Maybe try writing down when you feel anxious to see why it happens. Take deep breaths, meditate, and listen to calming music to calm your anxiety down.
joyfulSnow60
May 21st, 2018 1:13am
Anxiety is a very scary and very powerful thing. Many people struggle with this every single day so know that you are not alone. Try bresthing treatments. Music helps some people. Above all seek professional help. Doctors know what they sre doing it can be scary but you wolnt regret it
kindHand56
April 17th, 2018 11:51am
Try doing some yoga, that may help, or some meditation to start your day maybe? Have you gone to the doctors about this? What kind of thoughts pop up? Remember, you are in control of this feeling, even though it rises you have to take full responsibility to not bring yourself down because of it, don't give it the power to stop you from being happy today.
Anonymous
February 27th, 2018 7:45am
It's always good to focus on the present moment when feeling anxious and simply just allowing yourself to breathe. Often focusing on breathing can allow us to be distracted from overwhelming thoughts that can lead anxiety to become even more of a struggle to deal with. It also may be difficult but try to remind yourself you won't feel like this forever. It will pass. There is always hope.
Anonymous
December 28th, 2015 2:53pm
Then, you have to go to the doctor and the doctor will surely help you get through this continous anxiety
bountifulPainting15
November 9th, 2015 9:47pm
Stress could possibly cause anxiety. Feeling anxious is normal in some situations, but excessive anxiety may link to stress or something of past traumatic experiences. Calmly breath and try to stay calm at the best of your ability. Maybe talk to a professional or someone in your life to help. :)
WhisperingPiano
November 9th, 2015 9:10pm
I can completely relate to this. It happens and I know how emotionally exhausting it can be. Because each person is so different, the ability to "control" it will vary. Finding a cause or a trigger can help. I know that some people know why they feel that way and others don't. Anxiety doesn't have a time line...this is something I have learned. Something that could have happened hours ago could make you feel anxious, or even days, weeks, years. I had/have to struggle with this. I don't have immediate triggers. I have unexpected, out of the blue anxiety. I am still trying to figure out where it comes from. But I do think it is possible that it is many things in my life that culminate at once. It is random, which is not fair but knowing that it is an array of things is a little helpful. I learnt recently that it is OK to acknowledge it. It is ok to tell yourself: "I am feeling this way. It is ok that I feel this way. It does not define me but I can feel this in this moment." The positive self-talk sometimes really helps.
ChasingLife
November 2nd, 2015 6:40am
That is because our mind is always worried. At times, for no reason at all. It keeps worrying about the future or the past. We need to start living in the present and we must learn to enjoy the moment. Meditating in the morning helps a lot and believing in yourself is the key to end anxiousness and other related issues.
RunningRiver
June 4th, 2015 11:54pm
Anxiety is a fairly normal thing to feel. That doesn't mean it doesn't suck when it happens to you, but that does mean that you aren't alone. I'd recommend talking about it with someone. That usually helps me.