What to Say When You Call a Doctor With Anxiety Symptoms

Whether you are calling your general physician, a psychiatrist or a therapist about anxiety symptoms, it is important to be clear and thorough so a proper diagnosis can be made. A bit of knowledge about anxiety symptoms can help you be as clear as possible in your explanation.

Explain Your Circumstances

• The first goal is to convey to the doctor that you are seeking treatment for your anxiety and that you believe the symptoms you are having are related to anxiety.
  Mention if there are any circumstances in your life that would cause anxiety. Changes such as divorce, death, remarriage, a move, a promotion or a firing, a loss of any type, or even a new baby in the family or extended family should be reported. Both negative and positive changes can cause anxiety.

Describe Emotional, Physical and Mental Symptoms

• Anxiety symptoms can be emotional, physical, mental or behavioral. It might be useful to tell your doctor about your emotional anxiety symptoms first. This will give the doctor a clear understanding that you are indeed suffering from worry and upset, not just from physical symptoms. Emotional symptoms include chronic worrying, unhappiness over the worrying, tearfulness, irritability and lack of ability to concentrate on other things due to worry.

  It is very important to discuss the physical anxiety symptoms with the doctor so any medical problem can be ruled out. Anxiety can cause a host of physical symptoms, such as difficulty breathing, heart palpitations, chest pain, shakiness, feeling faint, choking sensations, sweating, dizziness and others. Report all physical symptoms to the doctor, even if some of them seem unrelated. The doctor may wish to perform tests to rule out medical problems. For example, thyroid disease can cause anxiety-like symptoms that resolve when the medical problem is corrected, so it is worth following up with medical tests.

  Anxiety symptoms also can be mental. Feeling as though you are going to "lose it" and having thoughts that you might be crazy are often symptoms of extreme anxiety. Sometimes recurrent or bizarre thoughts may occur. For those who have been exposed to trauma, flashbacks often set in. Feeling as though you are in a dream or feeling detached from your body, known as derealization and depersonalization, also can be symptoms of anxiety.

  Sometimes it is difficult for people to confess these thoughts. They are afraid that they really are crazy or that they will be judged or "put away." Most doctors understand that these are symptoms of anxiety. It is important to seek a doctor or therapist whom you can trust enough that you can reveal your symptoms.

  Behavioral symptoms of anxiety include excessive hand-washing, avoidance of places and situations, checking three or four times to make sure you have turned off the oven and other behaviors designed to quell anxiety.

  If you follow all of these steps, your doctor should have a pretty complete picture of your situation. She may recommend medical tests, offer prescription medication or refer you to a therapist or support group.