Anxiety therapist shares five thoughts that could be a sign of the disorder

An anxiety therapist has spoken about the five biggest signs that could indicate you're suffering from an anxiety disorder.

Joshua Fletcher - who goes by @anxietyjosh on social media - is a psychotherapist and author specialising in anxiety.

Josh regularly posts informative content about anxiety, panic and how to cope with intrusive thoughts, and in one recent clip, he shared five symptoms of anxiety disorder.

Anxiety disorder - also known as Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) - is a mental health condition in which a person feels anxious about a number of different things.

It is not the same as occasionally experiencing anxiety. With GAD, a person feels anxious most of the time and it generally impacts their day-to-day life.

A doctor may diagnose GAD if a person often worries about a wide range of things; has feelings of anxiety that affect their daily life; finds it hard to control their feelings, or if they have felt anxious a lot of the time for at least six months.

In Josh's video, he shares five thoughts that could be a sign of the disorder.

Obsessing over symptoms

Josh explains that the first sign is when a person is 'obsessing over symptoms' and experiencing heart palpitations and derealisation.

Derealisation is where the world feels 'unreal' and can cause a person to feel as though everything around them is distant or distorted.

Hyper Analysis

Josh explains that 'hyper analysis of your thoughts' can also be a sign, adding: "What do these thoughts mean? What do they mean about me? Arguing with them, disputing them and going in loops."

Reassurance seeking

Josh says that reassurance seeking can also be an indicator of GAD.

The North Suburban Center for Anxiety explains that reassurance seeking is essentially 'the act of continuously trying to gather information that has already been given to us to decrease our anxiety'.

This includes self-reassurance or seeking reassurance from others.

Believing there's something wrong

Josh says that one of the big differences between anxiety and an anxiety disorder is believing there is something wrong.

"Yes anxiety is very uncomfortable and we don't feel our usual selves but there's an ultimate belief that we're broken in some way which again, keeps us in the cycle of anxiety," he explains.

Valuing intrusive thoughts

Josh explains that believing intrusive thoughts are more important than other thoughts can also be a sign.

Intrusive thoughts are often distressing, senseless, unwanted thoughts - or images - that seem to pop into your mind.

"Yes they feel more urgent because the threat response kicks in," says Josh. "But intrusive thoughts thrive because they are the opposite of who we are.

"If you believe they are more important then you can be stuck in anxiety disorder territory."

If you are suffering from anxiety, please reach out to your doctor. Or, you can find help, support and advice at Mind.