Most Common Anxiety Symptoms in Women: Ages 30 to 50

Anxiety is not a respecter of persons. It affects both women and men, adults and children, but it tends to have different faces according to the ages and genders of the individuals it afflicts.

Research reveals that young adolescents and children typically experience anxiety symptoms like excessive worrying and phobias, while PTSD generally peaks within young adulthood, and generalized anxiety and panic attacks have a tendency to rear their heads during late adulthood.

Anxiety is more prevalent in women than it is in men. In fact, twice as many women have the condition, although men do experience anxiety. Sadly, men are often overlooked when it comes to treating and validating their symptoms of anxiety. Generalized Anxiety, PTSD, Panic Disorder, and Social Anxiety are all more common in women than they are in men.

What does anxiety look like in women who are age 30-50? Is it possible that you are overlooking, or even ignoring, some of the symptoms? It’s imperative to take a good look at the facts so you can get relief if you do have anxiety.

Prevalent Anxiety Symptoms in Women Between Ages 30-50

It is not unusual for women in their midlife years to become vulnerable to disorders of anxiety, specifically generalized anxiety, PTSD, and panic attacks. There are a few possible reasons behind this. There are some experts that feel it is due to changes in hormones that result from pre-menopause, menopause, and motherhood.

Between ages 30-50, women go through a unique time span when familial and social demands and pressures peak to the highest level. Often times, women give in to the “do it all” expectations they encounter in regard to maintaining their homes, managing their careers, raising their children, and upholding a social life. The expectations laid on them can easily lead to thought patterns that are negative in nature and are also commonly experienced with anxiety.

Women can be very hard on themselves. For example, they may think such thoughts as, “That other woman seems to have herself all together and I should too.” Comparisons with others are quite common but can be very destructive. Women also tend to have trauma in their backgrounds like physical or sexual abuse that can end up turning into PTSD symptoms or latent anxiety.

Listed below are common symptoms for conditions of PTSD, Generalized Anxiety, and Panic Disorder. There are symptoms that are highlighted which you may want to take a closer look at because they are ones you may not even realize are associated with these anxiety-based diagnoses and therefore may be totally missing them without realizing it.

General Symptoms of Anxiety Disorders

• Extensive worry and anxiety concerning various activities, events, and topics.
• Worry that is very challenging to get under control.
• Worry and anxiety that are typically associated with three or more of these cognitive or physical symptoms: feeling edgy, restlessness or keyed up, becoming tired very easily and often, muscle tension, disturbance in sleep (having trouble staying or falling asleep, unsatisfying sleep, restless sleep), thoughts going blank or problems concentrating.

If you find that you are experiencing three or more of the symptoms above on many days for six months or more, you may very well have a Generalized Anxiety disorder.

Symptoms Commonly Missed: 

Difficulty Concentrating

While a good number of clients realize that excessively worrying about a lot of things is something that would set them up as a likely anxiety candidate, there are other cognitive and physical and cognitive symptoms that go overlooked or get missed and may even be mistakenly interpreted as being “normal.”

Often times clients report they have difficulty focusing on what is going on. When they start a task, a few minutes afterward they may realize that they’ve been thinking about a different subject entirely. The frustrating thing is that such behavior can make it very challenging to complete tasks and to get things accomplished.

Wandering minds can put a real strain on productivity which can lead to other issues like feelings of inadequacy and guilt. Furthermore, the tasks at hand may be very important ones so when they are not followed through on, problems result. For example, if you are not producing at your job place, you risk being fired. Or, if you are trying to tend to your young child, your distraction may be denying your little one the attention he or she needs and deserves.

One of the distractions you may be experiencing is the reoccurrence of worrisome thoughts. Or, you may just find yourself unable to focus on completing tasks. Either or both of these scenarios are signs you may be experiencing anxiety.

Sleep Disturbances

Sleep is a common issue where mothers and women, in general, are concerned. Their endless to-do list often trumps the “luxury” of getting a good night’s sleep. When sleep is neglected over an extended length of time, they tend to get used to having little sleep which is a problem in itself.

Lack of sleep can cause a decrease in immunities, promote stress and anxiety, leave you vulnerable to catching a cold or the flu and can even leave you open to more serious medical issues or diseases.

Taking a look at some factors regarding your sleep habits can help you to determine if you may have potential anxiety-rooted issues. Is your sleep interrupted by nightmares or racing thoughts?

Do you find it difficult to fall asleep at night over the inability to put your thoughts to rest? Do you feel physically tired but your thoughts are running rampant? If the answer to any or all of the questions above is “yes”, you might be experiencing anxiety.

Symptoms of Panic Disorder

• Repeatedly occurring panic attacks which include at least four (or more) of these symptoms: pounding heart, palpitations, ,sweating, accelerated heart rate, shaking or trembling smothering sensations, feeling short of breath choking feelings, chest discomfort or discomfort, feeling dizzy, nausea, abdominal distress, unsteadiness, feeling faint, sensations of lightheadedness, heat or chills, tingling or numbness, feelings of things not seeming real, depersonalization, feelings and fear of insanity, feelings of detachment, and fear of dying.
• One panic attack, at least, precedes one month or longer of: constant worry or fear of having another panic attack and exhibiting persistent changes in behavior that are related to the attempt avoiding another attack, entailing avoiding the exact situation that was the cause of the attack or any similar situations which could have the potential to mimic or make the attack happen again.

Panic attacks are characterized by their tendency to show up abruptly and by the manner in which they intensify into a full-blown peak in a matter of just minutes. A panic attack is diagnosed when a minimum of four of the symptoms above are present, but can often be missed due to the presence of other symptoms of health issues like heart disorders and respiratory conditions.

Symptoms Commonly Missed

Accurately Identifying the Symptoms of Anxiety

When an individual is in the midst of an attack of panic, it’s difficult to overlook or miss. The agitating physical symptoms are obvious and frightening. You may experience pain in your chest muscles and chest tension for a matter of days and may even think you have a heart condition.

So, while the symptoms do not likely go undetected, they very well may be misinterpreted because you may wonder about your heart health but not think about the possibility of anxiety being the root at all.

Fear of Having Panic Attacks that Reoccur

Another symptom that is easily and often missed is that once a panic attack takes place, you typically fear experiencing another and yet another one. Many times, clients mention that they find themselves being afraid of having another attack and worry they will have the heart-stopping, jaw-dropping horrible and helpless feelings of being out of control that are associated with the attacks.

Just the thought of it terrifies them which is very normal and is actually an unfortunate part of the panic disorder experience.

Symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

• Exposure to injury, violence, or death in a manner such as: seeing trauma firsthand, direct exposure, learning that a close friend or relative was involved in a traumatic event, indirect exposure where details of the trauma are explicit such as in the case of medics and first responders.
• Repeating the experience of the event in ways like flashbacks, physical actions due to the traumatic exposure, intrusive thoughts, nightmares. emotional distress following the exposure when reminded of it
• Attempts to avoid feelings, reminders, or thoughts which trigger the traumatic memory
• Negative or destructive feelings or thoughts which started or got worse after the traumatic event such as: the inability to remember main points about the trauma, assumptions and thoughts that are overly negative about the world or oneself, extreme self-blame or of others for being the trauma’s cause, emotions that are negative, loss of interest in almost all activities, feelings of isolation, finding it difficult to experiencing emotions that are positive

Please note that all of the symptoms that are listed do not have to be present for there to be a PTSD diagnosis but the symptoms that are present must have gone on for a month or longer.

Symptoms Commonly Missed 

Self-Blame

It is very common for women to tend to heap on a lot more responsibility and to take on more projects than they can healthily or realistically handle. Often times, it is in doing so that they set off the spiral of symptoms anxiety brings. This actually puts them at risk for having PTSD if they have been or become exposed to an event that is traumatic in nature.

They may feel overly responsible and also may tend to minimize the pain they feel or other symptoms that accompany the issue. In doing so, they can easily miss the fact that they are actually experiencing PTSD. Overlooking or missing such a thing doesn’t make the PTSD any less real though. It just makes it less probable that treatment will take place which is very disheartening and sad.

If you feel you’re to blame for something traumatic, a skilled counselor can walk through it all with you so you can stop feeling responsible and can experience true freedom from the bondage you are in.

Reaching Out for Help

If you’re a woman who’s in your thirties through fifties and are finding yourself struggling with one or more of these common, often missed symptoms, please know that help is available for you. You don’t have to go through it alone.

Deciding to seek counseling can be very daunting since you may also be battling the pressures and expectations to tough it out and to have everything all together. Many clients express that it was very difficult for them to come to the conclusion that counseling was the right thing for them. Most have later reflected that committing to therapy was very helpful on a number of levels and that their lives have become more positive because they made the decision to go.

It may be that the very things that are the reasons you need help with anxiety are the same things that are holding you back from seeking help. If you think that you don’t have time for counseling, the thoughts behind the reasoning may stem from the high and unrealistic demands you place on yourself.

Or, you may be leery of reaching out for counseling because you feel like you should be able to handle your problems on your own. So, if you are leaning away from getting treatment, it is wise to examine your reasons.

It’s important to know that anxiety is very treatable. A counselor with experience in the field of anxiety can help you identify symptoms and figure out the symptoms that are a priority to focus on in order to better equip you with priceless tools that can assist you to build a new life without anxiety.