What anxiety actually looks like in adults.

Most people with anxiety are not falling apart visibly. They are functioning — often highly — while privately managing a constant undercurrent of dread, vigilance, and exhaustion. The effort of maintaining that performance is, by itself, depleting.

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Anxiety can look like chronic worry your brain cannot turn off. It can look like perfectionism, over-preparation, difficulty delegating, or an inability to relax even when circumstances allow it. It can be irritability, physical tension, sleep problems, or a persistent sense that something is wrong even when you cannot name what.

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• A mind that jumps to worst-case scenarios before anything else

• Physical symptoms — tight chest, shallow breath, a body that never fully settles

• Avoidance of things that feel uncertain or potentially difficult

• The exhaustion of constantly anticipating what could go wrong

• Difficulty being present — always preparing for or recovering from something

• Irritability that feels disproportionate, especially when you are already overwhelmed

Anxiety, ADHD, and perimenopause often overlap.

For many adults, anxiety co-occurs with ADHD — the two are frequently mistaken for each other, and frequently exist together. Anxiety also increases significantly during perimenopause. If your anxiety is new, or has recently worsened, the cause may not be what you think. Part of the work in this practice is understanding what is actually driving your anxiety — not just managing its symptoms.