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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