How do I know when it's my anxiety talking any not my rational thinking?

Your anxiety lacks reason. If you can explain to your self what is happening and what you are feeling, it's rational. if you can't it's anxiety.

To me, anxiety is a monster and its favourite thing to do is to put things under a magnifying glass so they seem big. One of the ways it does this is by using all-or-nothing language. When thoughts are racing through my head, I take a step back (sometimes physically by going for a walk) and take a look at the language of my thoughts. If I catch "everyone" "nobody" "always" "never" "everything" "nothing", I red flag it for anxiety and act accordingly.

If it seems rushed and urgent, it's probably anxiety talking. If it feels like you can't sleep on it, and you need to make a decision RIGHT NOW, it's probably your anxiety. In reality, most things can wait til tomorrow. There's an idea that you don't gain any additional insight or information after you've worried about something for longer than 10 minutes. So if you've thought about it for longer than 10 minutes, you're probably just worrying and ruminating in a way that isn't actually helping you fix the problem. When that happens, try to put the topic on hold til after dinner, or til tomorrow, or til Monday. :)

When you're not being your normal self. Notice from specific signs in your behaviour - trembling hands or something like that. Also, do you feel like yourself? Or is there a sense of nervousness down the stomach making you panic? Well, signs like those as well.

You catch yourself in a loop of questions instead of answering any of them. Creating doubt where reality has already answered.

Anxiety is when you allow your paniced thoughts to take over and you start to worry too much about your problem. Rational thinking is when you can take your time and think of a solution. If you feel that your rushing thoughts instead of calmly thinking, then that's when you can tell your anxiety is doing the thinking. In short, when you can't think straight, it's hard to think rationally.

Usually when your anxiety is talking you will think irrational things. You might become annoyed or upset over a situation due to the stress level you may feel you are under.

Sometimes when our anxiety is talking it's usually all negative things. Irrational things that sometimes might not even make sense, Sometimes we just need to take a step back and take a deep breath and remember where we are and what we're doing. :)

Usually, I think you can tell when you're refusing any questions, any advice. Or when you say things without thinking them over, even a little bit When you don't realize what you're saying until after.

Rational thinking can be pretty objective, outweigh one choice over the others by reasoning. With anxiety however it is purely focussing on where your current state of mind is pushing you to.

Your rational tends to be thought out before saying it, Your thoughts are processed for a few seconds, hence you are thinking rationally. On the other hand, anxiety is when its a bunch of jumbled thoughts in your mind and you are unable to organize and process those thoughts.

Anxiety is caused by nervousness, fear , apprehension, and being worrysome . For some they seem vulnerable in a sense. If at a disproportionate level , it can lead to a medical disorder. Rational thinking is the ability to consider the relevant variables of a situation and to access, organize , and analyze relevant information (e.g., facts, opinions , judgments, and data) to arrive at a sound conclusion. Rationality is a state of being agreeable to reason and implies the conformity of one's beliefs with one's reasons to believe , and of one's actions with one's reasons for action.

Write down the anxious thought without judgement. Then try to challenge the thought by finding proof from your life that the thought is irrational and untrue. eg: I’m going to mess up my interview.” Challenge: “I’ve been through interviews before and always get through. I am prepared and know what I want to discuss. If I get nervous I will ask a question I have prepared.” Etc. Challenge the thought until you feel you believe the new, helpful thought and agree that the anxious thought is untrue and not helpful to you. Doing this in writing is more effective than just thinking it through. It has worked well for me and I hope it can help you too!