Skip to main content Skip to bottom nav

Why do I sometimes feel anxious without knowing why?

14 Answers
Last Updated: 06/29/2020 at 10:24pm
1 Tip to Feel Better
United Kingdom
Moderated by

Graham Barrone, ICHP, MCBT

Counselor

Believing in and supporting you wholeheartedly, we cultivate gentle awareness for responsibility in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Together, we foster growth, improve your

Top Rated Answers
nicolehere
March 3rd, 2015 3:11am
Anxiety manifests itself many ways in our lives. Sometimes in may be obvious why you are anxious. For example, you have a test that day or you are in an uncomfortable situation. But other times, you are anxious for seemingly no reason. There are many possible reasons for this but I am going to share two. One is that anxiety is sometimes an illness. Generalized anxiety disorder or any other anxiety disorder often make people anxious for different reasons, reasons you don't really understand. Another reason why you may not understand why you feel anxious is that sometimes something stresses you out without you realizing it. When you have a lot going on it is easy to overlook the stuff that is weighing you down. Chances are, if you go through everything you are dealing with at that moment you will have a better idea about why you are anxious.
WolfKeep
April 7th, 2015 5:00pm
Anxiety is a really a chemical reaction inside your body and because of this there really doesn't need to be an outside or "known" reason for it to occur. People can have "triggers" which are situations or physical occurrences that bring on anxiety because that person is anticipating very negative results by being involved. But there can be times when the chemicals are released for no apparent reason to the people experiencing anxiety. That's why it's important to teach yourself techniques for managing anxiety, so if you ever have the random attacks you will be better equipped to manage the force of it. Doing some research about the chemistry of anxiety is also a great means of combating it. Education can take the "mystery" out of the disorder and help you understand what's going on inside your body. It's a futile battle to try to rationalize anxiety or why anxiety occurs because it can't be pin pointed. All we can do is accept that it's a condition we have and teach ourselves how to handle it.
KaylaCind
May 6th, 2015 4:38am
This is a tough question! When we feel anxious (which is a good and necessary feeling for survival) our body goes into what is called the 'fight or flight response'. During this, our body reaches a high level of arousal as a way to either fight off a perceived threat, or flee from it. After the threat is no longer present, we tend to return back to our 'baseline' level of arousal. Whilst this is perfectly normal and healthy, it becomes an issue when it is occurring too often, and in situations that should not typically be anxiety inducing. I have personally experienced anxiety, and could not understand why it would happen at random times for seemingly no reason at all. I was in a bad relationship at the time, but because we had become fairly distant I didn't realise how much it was impacting me. Over the years, my 'baseline' arousal rate had seemingly shifted to a high level as I was often anticipating the issues that may or may not arise with my partner in the future. I sometimes described the anxiety as 'background noise' because I could feel it no matter what I was doing - even if I was having fun and not thinking about my partner. I guess what I am getting at is that there may be something causing it that has built up over a number of years without you noticing. With that said though, every person is different and there could be a million things making you feel anxious without knowing why. Are there any times, places, or scenarios that in which you tend to feel anxious? Furthermore, have you tried any exercises to help combat your anxiety? I highly recommend square breathing (which you can google) and mindfulness exercises (which you can youtube). Sending love your way and I truly hope you are doing ok!!
Anonymous
April 12th, 2015 7:09am
Our sub conscious brain is more curious about all the useless stuff which we delete from our thoughts which inturn results in anxiety.
Popsicle1990
May 15th, 2015 4:06pm
Generalised Anxiety Disorder is a tricksome beast. If you cant find the cause how you suppose to treat it? Try just tackling the symptoms you are having at the time and think back later on the why. shaky hands, try and put them in your pockets or keep them busy. Shortness of breath, just excuse yourself take a moment and even have your panic attack or breath it out. It is easy to think your one of few that feel this way but a huge population are doing the same as you.
ClaraJaneM
August 17th, 2015 8:23am
Usually, the mind thinks of situations that may never happen. The subconscious also does this. That part of your mind is the quieter side that doesn't appear as much consciously as it does when you're unconscious. Anxiety effects people in different ways, and this is one of them. When you get moments like these, take ten to thirty seconds to yourself to breathe deeply and relax, reminding yourself that you're safe where you are.
Anonymous
December 28th, 2015 12:16pm
Stress is the main cause because you stress a lot about some things so this causes anxiety more than anything else
Anonymous
January 4th, 2016 7:25pm
It can be your environment or someone you are with. It can also be your stress levels are very high and you deal with them by being anxious
DavidNJohn
August 29th, 2016 4:09am
Sometimes it feels as though you're anxious for no reason, but you just are unsure of what is really making you feel that way
ElisabethS
February 13th, 2017 12:47am
This happens to me sometimes either its because i didn't know its stressful because its not somethings that happens a lot or i didn't want to deal with it and just pushed it away but the feeling is still there. it helps to get everything in the open if that means writing it down or just trying to fix it,
Anonymous
May 30th, 2017 12:57pm
Sometimes, we experience anxiety because of something called an anxiety trigger. People can be diagnosed with many different types of anxiety disorders. Each with specific symptoms and causes. In addition, people can experience situational anxiety where something in particular causes anxiety symptoms to flare. A student might experience test anxiety severe enough to negatively impact performance or a parent’s anxiety might become heightened and nearly debilitating when he/she thinks about various harm that could come to the child. Anxiety that is triggered by something can be painful, limiting, and downright awful, especially when one can’t avoid anxiety triggers. Equally painful, limiting, and downright awful is when anxiety strikes without a cause whatsoever.
endearingLion70
March 13th, 2018 11:33pm
Because of the nature of anxiety that is of reaction the does not depends on external triggers but mostly inner ones
CherryBlossom6114
October 7th, 2019 10:18pm
There is a lot of thoughts cumulated in your head. You feel pressed and don't know how to relax properly. Unconsciously you are still in a defence mode, treating the world around you as a foe. This is often connected to social anxiety, depression, traumatic experiences and others. We don't know what we can expect from the situation or people around us. What is important is not to let the anxiety take over you. Controlled breathing, meditation, touching something soft, listening to music, talking to someone we trust - these are some things that can help us get calm.
Youhavehope123
June 29th, 2020 10:24pm
A lot of times we may feel anxious and not know why, but there is almost always a reason behind how we feel. There can be some things that we may not notice that cause your anxiousness. These are called triggers. Some common triggers are blood, needles, certain words, certain stresses, and more. It’s important to find out what your triggers are you you can learn how to call yourself when they appear, or to avoid your triggers. When you start to feel anxious, try writing down what was happening before you felt this way. Write what you am were thinking, feeling, and what was going on before you felt anxious. Best of luck!