Anxiety can show up in many different ways, and not all anxiety is the same. In general anxiety shows up as feeling on-edge, overly worried, future-focused as in “what if ____ happens?” Anxiety can also show up physically in the body in the form of racing heart, rapid breathing, sweating, trembling, muscle tension, and dizziness.

Sometimes anxiety is focused on a topic such as a social events, phobia, or health concern. Other times anxiety can feel more generalized where someone may feel worried about various aspects of their life. An important characteristic of anxiety is that the worry outweighs the actual risk.