What Does Anxiety Look Like in Men?
Anxiety is not limited to a particular sex. Men and women both experience anxiety. It’s true that mild anxiety is just a normal part of life. Everyone feels anxious and worried from time to time. But when anxiety symptoms become persistent and debilitating, it can become a clinical anxiety disorder. However, men are often taught to suppress these symptoms and simply “toughen up.” Rather than expressing their anxiety outwardly, they try to ignore these feelings.
Society teaches men that experiencing mental health struggles or talking about issues like anxiety is a sign of weakness. Here are a few ways that anxiety symptoms can manifest differently in men because of these expectations.
Intense Worries or Fears
Anxiety disorders are characterized by intense, unrelenting worries and fears. This is true for both men and women. Just as women might feel anxious and stressed because of the pressure to meet certain gendered expectations, men experience similar feelings about living up to a different set of standards. Men can also develop anxiety because of genetic predispositions, struggles in their personal lives, or lifestyle habits. Often, anxiety arises because of a wide variety of compounding factors.
Being Guarded
Men with anxiety can come across as very guarded. They may want to hide their anxiety from everyone and worry about what people will think of them if they’re “found out.” Men who are dealing with anxiety might withdraw from their friends and family. When their loved ones ask what’s wrong, they may resist opening up.
Instead, they might brush away their loved ones’ concerns with excuses about being busy at work or simply feeling tired. They may also resist new relationships, like turning down invitations to social gatherings from potential new friends or choosing not to go out on dates.
Anger
Those unexpressed emotions don’t just disappear. Men with anxiety won’t necessarily feel calmer in the long run as a result of suppressing those feelings. Instead, they might struggle with anger and end up taking it out on the people around them. They may come across as harsh in the workplace and they might snap at their loved ones at home.
Chronic stress and high levels of anxiety can make people feel easily irritated at even minor inconveniences. Men might regret what they say in the heat of the moment, yet as long as they try to hide their anxiety, they can’t stop this repressed anger from bubbling up.
Substance Abuse Issues
Some people with anxiety turn to substance abuse to cope with their feelings. Men are particularly susceptible to this. Unfortunately, lots of men don’t have healthy coping mechanisms for processing anxious feelings. If they feel like they can’t tell their loved ones what they’re dealing with, they may look for different ways to soothe these emotions. Using substances can provide a temporary reprieve from their symptoms. But in the long run, substance abuse is not a solution to anything. It can make anxiety dramatically worse.
Physical Symptoms
Since men with anxiety often try to bury their feelings inside, they might struggle with intense physical symptoms that mimic medical issues. These can include pounding headaches, insomnia, changes in appetite, nausea and digestive issues, muscle aches and pains, and even more frequent colds and minor illnesses. The mind and body are intrinsically connected, and mental health struggles can have a significant impact on your physical wellbeing. Therefore, trying to ignore anxiety symptoms can lead to detrimental results for your physical health.
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