Anxiety and PTSD can feel very similar in the body. Both can cause racing thoughts, shortness of breath, a pounding heart, nausea, and a constant sense of unease.
However, there is an important difference: Anxiety is often about what might happen. PTSD-related anxiety is your nervous system responding to what already happened.
But, how do you know if your anxiety is caused by PTSD? And is there anything you can do about it?
In this article, we will explore:
Anxiety is part of your body’s built-in protective system. It is a warning sensor telling you that perceived danger or threats are possible. Its job is to help you stay safe.
In genuinely dangerous situations—such as nearly being in a car accident, jumping out of a plane, or encountering a threatening animal—anxiety is both normal and helpful. Your body releases stress hormones that prepare you to react quickly.
However, something happens when our brain interprets anxiety, which then dictates our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. If your brain decodes something as a threat or danger, you may have strong physical symptoms.
When anxiety is activated, you may notice:
Anxiety itself is not a problem. It becomes distressing when your nervous system responds as if danger is present even when you are objectively safe.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a cluster of symptoms related to a past traumatic event(s) that your brain is hardwired to protect you from in the future. Trauma can include accidents, abuse, medical trauma, loss, or prolonged situations where your safety felt threatened.
PTSD occurs when you have prolonged symptoms of hypervigilance. The brain and nervous system remain stuck in a survival response.
Common symptoms of PTSD include:
Trauma-related anxiety is not a conscious choice. It is the nervous system trying to prevent the trauma from happening again.
You might be wondering how to tell if your anxiety is general anxiety or developed as a result of PTSD. A helpful way to distinguish between anxiety and PTSD is to look at what activates the response.
General anxiety is a concern or worry about something (an event, experience, etc.) that may or may not happen in the future. It could also be a rumination about something from the past that you have an emotional and physical response to in the present moment. It may come and go, depending on stress levels.
PTSD anxiety might look very similar symptomatically to general anxiety, but it is directly linked to an event or events that have already occurred that were traumatic. It is also often tied to a deep negative belief about yourself and how you operate in the world around you. PTSD anxiety is triggered by reminders that feel unrelated or confusing. It feels sudden, intense, and disproportionate to the present moment.
Trauma is stored differently in the brain than everyday stress. Because of this, talking yourself out of trauma-related anxiety often doesn’t work. Both types of anxiety can be debilitating. But there’s hope!
Yes. Trauma therapy is designed to work with how trauma lives in both the brain and the body.
For many people, traditional talk therapy alone is not enough to fully resolve trauma-related anxiety. Approaches such as EMDR therapy and Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy are commonly used in trauma therapy because they help the nervous system process past experiences rather than repeatedly relive them.
Anxiety is not a flaw or weakness—it is an important part of our protective system that has become overactive. When anxiety operates in this extreme way, we are incapacitated to be able to exist in the world how we desire to show up.
With the right support, your nervous system can learn that the danger has passed. You can work through physical, mental, and emotional aspects of your experience. Therapy can help you change your thoughts and beliefs and emotions associated with them. In turn your behaviors and actions can change.
You don’t have to do this alone! If you are seeking trauma therapy in Flower Mound or Argyle, Texas, working with a therapist trained in trauma-specific approaches is important.
As a trained IFS Level 1 and EMDR therapist, I offer trauma-informed therapy for individuals experiencing anxiety, PTSD, and trauma-related symptoms. Treatment is tailored to your unique history, nervous system, and goals for healing.
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