Click play to hear Barry explain this anxiety sensation.

Sometimes people who are making good progress with their anxieties experience a setback when they come down with either a head cold or the flu. The reason for this is because, as the body wards off the cold or flu, it makes the people feel drained and vulnerable.

To people with anxiety, this can feel unnerving because it may remind them of how they felt during an intense spell of anxiety. Colds and flu also come with an almost claustrophobia-like sensation of being congested up in your head.

Try to remember that if you do experience additional anxiety when dealing with either a cold of flu, trust that the renewed anxiety will lift as soon as your body recovers.

Click play to hear Barry explain this anxiety sensation.

There are a number of different phobias related to the toilet, but here I’m going to discuss one of the most common: the fear of not getting to the toilet on time. No one should feel ashamed of this problem; it’s common and can be overcome. This fear is almost always connected to social embarrassment, and it rarely happens in situations where other people are not around.

Anxiety can give people the impression that they have a weak bladder. When anxious, they may need to use the toilet several times. In most cases, there’s no physical problem, and the frequency of needing a toilet is purely psychological.

Toilet phobia is strongly connected to panic attacks because it’s the thought “How do I escape this if I need a toilet?” that really triggers the anxiety. People often run scenarios through their minds of not being able to reach a toilet on time and the social embarrassment this would cause. If you experience this fear when you leave home, I’ll outline steps you can take to minimize the anxiety.

The solution lies in rebuilding confidence in your own body and putting less focus on the fear of embarrassment or ridicule. Start by putting yourself in situations where you know there are toilets, but position yourself far enough away so that it causes your anxiety be activated.

Let’s take a shopping mall as an example. As you enter and the fear escalates, find a place to sit down. As the fearful thoughts surface, don’t try to suppress them. Simply say to the thoughts that you’re not worried by that scenario because you know you have full confidence in controlling your body. You work through the anxiety while seated. When the anxiety lessens, you stand up, then walk slowly and calmly to the toilet. By the time you reach it, you might even find that you no longer need to go.

The important point is to move toward the toilet only when you feel that you—not the anxiety—decides when to go. If you keep running to the toilet every time you feel the urge, you reinforce the idea that you have no control over the situation. By working through the anxiety and going only when you’re ready, your confidence in the ability to control your body increases tenfold.

You might want to begin by setting up these opportunities when you’re alone. When you’re with friends, fear of embarrassment can make it more difficult. As you practice this, you’ll reach a point where you feel more confident in controlling your body’s need to use the toilet. This takes practice and time, but soon you’ll be able to go anywhere without this worry dominating your thoughts. Practice is key here. To learn more about toilet phobia, visit

Toilet Phobic Society

Click play to hear Barry explain this anxiety sensation.

When panic attacks begin, people often feel a tingling sensation in their body. The medical term for this is paresthesia.

More generally known as the feeling of pins and needles, it’s a sensation of tingling, pricking, or numbness of the skin, and it has no apparent long-term physical effect. Paresthesia is most commonly felt in the hands, arms, mouth, and feet.

Don’t be alarmed; this is perfectly natural to experience in connection with high anxiety.

Click play to hear Barry explain this anxiety sensation.

Anxiety creates the sensation of weak or “jelly” legs. When anxious, adrenaline is released into your body. The adrenaline can make sensitive people feel very weak in their muscles—especially the leg muscles, because they’re supporting the body. You often hear people say that when they have to stand up and speak, they go weak at the knees and fear they might topple over. It’s important to note, however, that the jittery sensation you may feel in your legs is not a signal that your legs are any weaker—they’re not. In fact, your legs are being primed for movement, so don’t fear that they’ll go out from under you.

If you’re out walking, then continue to walk; if you’re standing in a line, then continue to stand. There’s no need to find a place to sit, and doing so often reinforces your anxiety about weak legs. If you train yourself to continue to do what you were doing, you’ll quickly learn that the sensation of weak legs is an illusion and your legs are strong and well capable of supporting your body. The more you challenge anxious sensations in this manner, the faster the sensation will disappear. Many of the anxiety symptoms are worsened by anxious thoughts about the sensation. For example, if you feel your legs go weak, you may jump to extreme conclusions:

Weak legs mean I’ll fall over—and that means I must be about to faint!

When you think like this, the anxiety can then trick you into feeling dizzy, thereby creating an even greater cycle of anxiety. The answer, as you’re now well aware, lies in accepting the sensation and moving on. Don’t try to wish the sensation away or pretend that it doesn’t exist. Simply say this to your body:

Okay, legs, I understand you’re feeling a bit weak. But I really don’t feel it’s something serious, so I’m going to finish my walk regardless.

By not retreating, you build up your confidence to the point where you’re not bothered by the sensation—which, in turn, creates less anxiety, resulting in fewer occurrences of weak legs.

Click play to hear Barry explain this anxiety sensation.

When frightened or anxious, the pupils in the eye dilate quickly, and this can sometimes cause blurred vision. Blurred vision can also occur when looking quickly between near and far objects, because the pupils change dimension.

Blurred vision is also often caused by fatigue or when the eye muscles start to lose elasticity with age. Even though anxiety can frequently cause instances of blurred vision, it’s important to visit your doctor for an eye checkup. For example, if the blurred vision occurs with a discharge, it may be conjunctivitis and need treatment. If something needs treatment, early detection can often result in correcting the problem.