Gut Feeling vs Anxiety

Have you ever had a really strong, really terrible feeling of foreboding?

‘Cos, same.

In fact, I’ve had them repeatedly my whole life.

I have a strong memory of being a little kid, watching cartoons with my siblings and mum saying she was going down the road (legit - 15 min round trip on foot) to get milk.

I remember being flooded with fear that something would happen to her while she was out, and knowing at the same time it wasn’t normal that I felt that way.

I’d get that feeling *all the time* as a kid. I was sure every time I was separated from my mum that something terrible would happen to her.

I experienced that feeling so viscerally that in my young mind, I was convinced it meant that I had some inner knowledge. If I’d had the words for it at the time I would have called it a ‘gut feeling’ - something I couldn’t explain but just knew.

Now that I’m a much bigger kid, I understand that of course that wasn’t a gut feeling at all - I was just so incredibly anxious that I’d convinced myself of it.

Actually, I still get that feeling a lot but unlike my kid self, I know that excessive worrying about anything/everything is a *classic* sign of anxiety.

I also know that the struggle to know the difference between a genuine gut feeling and plain old anxiety is real.

If you’re nodding your head emphatically in agreement right now, ask yourself the following questions next time you need a bit of help deciding if it’s your gut or just your anxiety speaking.

1. How do I feel?

Hot skin, pounding heart, twitching muscles, sick feeling = anxiety. Intuition is more subtle - it takes its cues from ‘vibes’ and a feeling you can’t explain, but it’s not usually accompanied by the intense physical hijacking that goes along with anxiety.

2. What’s my thought process?

Rumination, negative and repetitive thoughts are all *classic* signs of anxiety, whereas intuition comes from a more neutral, spontaneous place. If only my young self had known this ‘cos for me, this is an especially key component. The fact that my worries were SO repetitive, SO ruminative, SO scary qualified them immediately for anxiety.

3. What’s the timeline?

Excessive future worries about anything and everything? Oh heyyy, anxiety - I see you. Intuition lives more in the current moment, and is usually concerned with things happening in the here and now.

4. What do I wanna do next?

Run for the mthfkn hills? That’s anxiety. It’s linked to our flight response so often its first urge is to make like Forrest Gump and RUUUUUN. Gut feeling is usually more ‘have you considered this?’ - kinda like a neutral observer making helpful suggestions.

For me personally, 9 times outta 10 it’s anxiety (surprise, surprise) BUT I’d love to know how you go with this ‘cos it’s equally important to listen to your gut AND to know when it’s just anxiety popping its head out again.

And if it is anxiety, I’ve got you covered. If you’d like to know more about how you can manage your anxiety holistically, hit me up here for a quick (free!) chat!