Can You Have Just One Anxiety Symptom?

Video Transcript

Can you have just one anxiety symptom without getting any others?

Anxious behavior, such as worry, activates the stress response, which causes many body-wide changes that prepare the body for immediate emergency action.

This survival reaction is often referred to as the fight or flight response. You can visit our Stress Response article for more information about the many changes it causes. The link is in the description.

Since these changes push the body beyond its internal balance (equilibrium), stress responses stress the body.

As such, anxiety stresses the body.

Consequently, anxiety symptoms, including anxiety attack symptoms, are symptoms of stress. They are called anxiety symptoms because anxious behavior is the main source of stress that stresses the body, and a body under stress can exhibit symptoms of stress.

Now, to answer your question, yes, you can have just one anxiety symptom.

Since each body is somewhat biologically unique and will uniquely respond to stress, each person can have a unique symptom experience.

For example, one person might have many anxiety symptoms, whereas another person might have only one. Again, it comes down to how each body reacts to stress.

Many people get only one anxiety symptom. And many people also get many anxiety symptoms. Again, it depends on how each body reacts to stress.

Some people also get one or a few symptoms for a period that are later replaced by a different symptom or many symptoms. So again, each person can have a unique symptom experience.

The degree and duration of stress can also play a role. For instance, as the degree of stress increases, so can the number of symptoms. And the number of symptoms can increase the longer the body is stressed. So, there are many variables to consider.

Even so, some people get only one or a few symptoms, no matter the degree or duration of stress. All kinds of symptom combinations and variations are common.