Anxiety
What Does Anxiety Feel Like?
​Anxiety can show up as racing thoughts, restlessness, irritability, trouble sleeping, or persistent worry. It may also involve physical symptoms like muscle tension, stomach discomfort, or a quickened heartbeat.
How Anxiety Can Look With Perfectionism
Anxiety often overlaps with perfectionistic tendencies. Common patterns include:
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Constant fear of making mistakes
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Feeling like nothing is ever “good enough”
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Overthinking decisions, even small ones
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Procrastination or avoidance due to pressure to be perfect
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Difficulty starting or finishing tasks
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Rechecking or redoing work repeatedly
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Intense self-criticism
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Worrying about how others perceive you
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All-or-nothing thinking
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Feeling overwhelmed or burned out from high expectations
Who Experiences Anxiety?
Anxiety affects people of all ages and life stages. For children and teens, it may appear as school-related stress, social worries, difficulty concentrating, or frequent physical complaints like stomachaches or headaches. For adults, anxiety can show up as persistent worry about work, relationships, finances, or health. It can even manifest as frustration, irritability, or anger, especially when worry or tension feels unmanageable.
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Anxiety also often shows up in high-achieving, perfectionistic, or people-pleasing individuals, where fear of mistakes, self-criticism, and overthinking amplify anxious feelings.
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No matter age or background, anxiety can feel overwhelming, interfere with daily functioning, and create a sense of being “stuck” or out of control. Therapy provides a space to understand these patterns, regain perspective, and develop tools for managing worry and stress.
​How Therapy Can Help
Therapy provides a safe, supportive space to understand your anxiety and develop tools to regulate the nervous system, manage stress, and build resilience. At Reframe Therapy, we use evidence-based approaches to help clients in Provo, Utah and across the state of Utah with secure telehealth services, to manage anxiety and improve overall functioning.
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​Sources:​
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association.
American Academy of Family Physicians. (2022). Anxiety disorders in children and adolescents. Retrieved from https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2022/1200/anxiety-disorders-children-adolescents.html
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Health.com. (2024). Why perfectionism could be harming your mental health. Retrieved from https://www.health.com/condition/depression/why-perfectionism-could-be-killing-you
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ADA. (2024). Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) symptoms. Retrieved from https://ada.com/conditions/generalized-anxiety-disorder/
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Healthline. (2024). Signs and symptoms of anxiety disorders. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety-disorder-symptoms