Hey, mama. If you’ve ever struggled with anxiety you know that it is no joke. It has a way of consuming your life. But how can you know the difference between normal mom concerns and anxiety? What are the signs of anxiety? If you want to know how anxiety feels and what mom anxiety feels like, keep reading.
How Anxiety Feels: What Are the Signs?
Let’s take a look at some of the most common signs of anxiety and chat about how each of these signs can play out in your everyday life. And, of course, I’ll give you some natural remedies that you can use to quiet your anxiety symptoms.
What Mom Anxiety Feels Like
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You Worry About Everything and Irrational Thoughts Consume You
Moms with anxiety worry about everything. I know that I did. You worry that your baby will stop breathing during the night, that your toddler’s not eating enough, that your child will never make friends at school, or that you and your husband will die early and leave your child as an orphan. I struggled with these kinds of thoughts for a long time, and it’s no picnic.
Natural Remedy: Write down everything that you’re worried about and then write down at least three reasons that your concerns aren’t likely to happen. When the worry creeps back up remind yourself of the reasons that it isn’t valid.
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You Feel Irritable or “On Edge” Most of the Time
No matter how hard you try, you just can’t keep from feeling like you want to snap at everyone around you. Or maybe you always feel “on edge.” Either way, anxiety has a way of making you feel all kinds of touchy. As mamas, feeling irritable due to anxiety can look like us being short-tempered with our kids on a regular basis.
Natural Remedy: Avoid sugar at all costs. The sweet stuff can cause your blood sugar levels to rise and fall like a rickety roller coaster at the county fair. Focus on eating real food that comes from the earth.
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You Are Always Exhausted
Anxiety can drain the energy right out of a mama. I mean, this is no surprise, right? Constantly worrying and being consumed with irrational thoughts and “what ifs” is mentally and emotionally exhausting. And mental and emotional exhaustion will eventually manifest itself as physical exhaustion. Ain’t no mama got time to be exhausted!
Natural Remedy: Along with getting a handle on your irrational thoughts, make rest a priority. I know that it can be really hard to get proper sleep and rest when you’ve got little kiddos, but do your best. Strive to go to bed at a decent hour and sneak in a nap when you can. Little bits of rest add up.
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You Can’t Focus or Concentrate
Ahh, “mom brain fog.” You know the feeling, right? Your brain won’t fire when you need it to, you find the almond milk in the pantry, you space without warning, and you can’t remember how old you are. I’ve been there. Mommy brain is actually a thing. There have been studies done on the topic, and they’re quite interesting. And, I don’t know about you, but it makes me feel a little better when science can prove I’m not just crazy.
Natural Remedy: Use essential oils to combat “mom brain fog.” Lavender, frankincense, lemon, and peppermint are great for promoting relaxation and focus.
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Your Muscles Are Tense
Mom anxiety can cause ongoing muscle tension. This makes sense because, like we previously discussed, mental and emotional exhaustion will eventually show up in your physical body. Muscle tension is one of those ways. You feel achy and you walk around with your shoulders up to your ears, even when you don’t notice it.
Natural Remedy: Put the kids to sleep for the night and go soak yourself in a warm bath with about 1 cup of Epsom salts and a few drops of lavender essential oil.
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You Can’t Go to Sleep or Stay Asleep
When you’re a mama of little, sleep is like gold. Very elusive gold. Sleepless nights make you feel as though you need to prop your eyelids open with toothpicks the following day. You ain’t cute, sleep deprivation.
Natural Remedy: Place a couple of drops of lavender essential oil on the bottoms of your feet before bed for better quality sleep.
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You Experience Feelings of Panic
Panic attacks are just plain awful. They tormented me for years to the point where I avoided social situations like the plague. I know what it’s like to live in constant fear that you’ll embarrass yourself by having a panic attack in public. And struggling with panic attacks as a mama adds a whole different layer of anxiety to the problem
Natural Remedy: <insert shameless plug here> Get my free ebook for overcoming panic and anxiety when it attacks by clicking HERE.
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Simple Tasks Overwhelm You
At the peak of my postpartum anxiety, the simplest of tasks completely overwhelmed me. Simple errands, like returning phone calls and shopping for groceries, seemed like more than I could bear. It sounds silly to me now, but when I was in the thick of mom anxiety the struggle was real.
Natural Remedy: Ask for help. The people in your life who love and care for you will be more than willing to help you out with the little things that you just can’t handle right now.
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You Avoid Social Situations
Social situations can be the worst when you’re living with anxiety. I remember many occasions on which social events would trigger intense anxiety and sometimes panic attacks. In order to avoid embarrassment and the mental exhaustion that comes with dealing with anxiety in public, you just don’t go out. You hole up in your house with your yoga pants and Netflix. I’m not saying that staying home is never a good idea. What I am saying is that we need to get out and have fun with friends because it’s good for our health. But that can be difficult when you’re trying to keep your anxiety under control.
Natural Remedy: Do social situations in controlled environments until you get your anxiety under control. Invite some friends over to your house for dinner. Having a small group of people over at your house is less overwhelming. The situation is less “peoplely” and you’re in your own familiar surroundings
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You Have Headaches Regularly
Mamas who struggle with anxiety often also suffer from frequent headaches. Once again, headaches are just one of the many physical manifestations of mental and emotional exhaustion. And mamas don’t have time to be dealing with headaches.
Natural Remedy: Place one drop of peppermint essential oil on your temples, being careful not to get it near your eyes. I’m serious. Peppermint oil will set your eyes on fire. Fair warning. If you do happen to get some in your eyes dilute it with coconut oil, not water.
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Your Emotions Are All Over the Place
I believe that God gave us emotions for a reason. We need to acknowledge our emotions, but we don’t need to be ruled by them. Anxiety can make us feel all kinds of emotions for no apparent reason.
Natural Remedy: Practice some deep breathing when your emotions are getting the best of you. Breathe in for five seconds and breathe out for five seconds. Rinse and repeat until you feel calmer and more in control of your feelings.
How Anxiety Feels: Wrapping It All Up
There you have it, mamas. We just talked about what mom anxiety feels like and the common signs of anxiety. I hope you’ll implement the tips and natural remedies for anxiety that I discussed so that you can start feeling better in no time.
Are you sick and tired of anxiety ruining your life? Me too.
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