Do You Have These Symptoms?
Physiological Symptoms
Do you feel:
• weak all over?
• heart palpitations?
• tightness around your chest?
• hyperventilation (a feeling that you can't get enough air)?
• periodic dizziness and sweating?
• muscle tension, aches, or tremors?
• chronic fatigue?
Cognitive Symptoms
Do you have these thoughts:
• I can't carry on. I've got to get out of here.
• What if I make a fool of myself?
• People are looking at me all the time.
• I'm having a heart attack.
• I'm going to faint.
• I'm going crazy.
• I can't go on alone; no one will help.
• I can't go out; I'll lose control.
• I feel confused and can't remember things.
Emotional Symptoms
Do you think:
• I'm full of fears I can't get out of my mind.
• I feel as if something terrible is going to happen.
• I worry excessively.
• I feel uneasy and alone a lot of the time.
• I often feel isolated, lonely, and depressed.
• I feel I have no control over what happens to me.
• I feel embarrassed, rejected, and criticized.
• I often feel like screaming with anger.
SCORING
This checklist isn't designed to be a diagnostic tool; rather, it's intended to communicate the variety of symptoms people with anxiety disorder experience.
However, if you're experiencing at least three symptoms in each category, your anxiety level is starting to be a problem, espe-cially if you experience the symptoms often.
If you're experiencing more than three symptoms in each category and aren't in treatment for an anxiety-related problem, consult a professional immediately. It's better to be safe than regret your failure to take action at a later point.
—From The Anxiety Cure, by Dr. Archibald D. Hart. © 1999 Used by permission of Word Publishing.
Copyright © 2001 by the author or Christianity Today/Today's Christian Woman magazine.
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Read more articles that highlight writing by Christian women at ChristianityToday.com/Women
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