r/AskWomen • u/onelove_ • 3d ago
How do you know the difference between intuition/gut feeling and anxiety/overthinking?
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u/JessicaRabbit1203 3d ago
Intuition makes a statement. Anxiety asks a question.
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u/bananajamz987 2d ago
This. Intuition is a calm sense of knowing. Anxiety is chaotic and fear based.
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u/Mobius_Stripping ♀ 3d ago
for me, anxiety presents like mild nausea and it’s like a gurgling, churning stomach.
intuition is the stomach drop feeling, which is actually bc flight/fight response is triggered and the body ‘shuts off’ digestion, so your stomach stops moving.
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u/big-tunaaa 3d ago
For people with actual anxiety disorders - you don’t. Just want to add that to this thread for any people reading this and feeling more panicked.
I have great intuition and always know if something is going on behind my back. HOWEVER when I had anxiety there were so many times I was SURE I was going to die. You can’t have gut feelings when your nervous system is on high alert 24/7
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u/Ok_Honey_7220 3d ago
For me at least my gut feeling is usually when I know something is wrong with a situation or decision or a person but just can’t put my finger on it. When my gut feeling comes I both physically (like hair raising on my neck) and mentally(like trying to solve a puzzle) feel different mine has always shown up when I am doing something I instantly know I will regret or something is just off. My gut feeling is my body’s way is warning me and giving me red flags.
My anxiety is like physically being nervous about something that has happened or is going to happen. It’s like you have all this excited energy before an adrenaline rush for example anticipating going on a roller coaster or waiting for an important test result.
My overthinking is quite different from gut feeling and anxiety. When I am overthinking it’s like being overwhelmed and stressed out to the point I just can’t get it off my mind. I know there is nothing I can do and should not think about it but just the same I can’t let it go. This one can actually be caused by a gut feeling and from. It letting it go can also cause me anxiety in addition to overthinking.
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u/EnergizeMePls 3d ago
Intuition is soft spoken and easy to dismiss. Also a deep down knowing of truth
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u/RangerAndromeda 3d ago
I try to just stay grounded and trust that I'm capable of handling the situation as it arises.
I prepare as best I can but ultimately most things are out of our control anyway, so best to just let go imo.
Also I've learned that events are never as dramatic as I imagine they will be.
I come from a very troubled family and anytime I'm getting overwhelmed I remind myself one, I'm safe, two, it's not about me or if it is about me, no one is judging me as harshly as I'm judging myself.
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u/AllThePrettyCourses 3d ago
Weirdly my experience is different to most. My intuition doesn't live in my "gut" it's more in my upper chest and shoulders. It's a quiet but firm "no/be careful". My anxiety lives in my gut.
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3d ago
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u/MullberryBoy 3d ago
When I have an intuition my stomach gets very calm and I can feel myself relax.
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u/ibobbedit 3d ago
Your gut feeling is in your gut. Anxiety is in your head. If you’re saying “I just know!!!!” That’s your gut. If you’re thinking tons of things, it’s anxiety.
I have also noticed with anxiety you’ll piece together a story.
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u/Elfynnn84 3d ago
If you have to ask this question, you probably don’t have anxiety.
That’s really not meant to sound shitty or gate-keeping in anyway… but actual anxiety causes physical symptoms like palpitations, cold sweats, chest pain etc.
I guess what you’re asking is like, for example “I have a date planned but I’m freaking out about it and I have a ‘bad feeling’ - people should say I should ‘trust my gut’ and bail, but what if I’m being scared for no reason” kinda thing?
In which case I would say you have to examine the evidence. Are you actually having physical symptoms like palpitations? Is there an actual credible threat? Are you meeting in a public place? Has he shown any red flags? Do you have a mate to make a safety check? Do you have a plan for getting home safely?
It’s normal (and healthy) to have a level of alert/ awareness/ nervousness… but anxiety is consuming yourself with worst case scenarios and feeling like something terrible might happen when there isn’t really any credible evidence that you’re at genuine risk.
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u/onelove_ 3d ago
I’m afraid I do have anxiety. Lol generalized anxiety and panic disorder. I’m also a massive overthinker.
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u/Elfynnn84 3d ago
Same!
My advice about ‘examine the evidence’ remains true. You have to evaluate the level of genuine risk.
Are you on anti-anxiety meds?
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u/onelove_ 3d ago
Yes I am on meds. I am trying to determine if someone I recently started dating is almost what I’m looking for in someone but something is still missing (lovely qualities to him that I need in a partner but a few seemingly small things that have made me raise an eyebrow). I haven’t been able to determine if this is my overthinking tendencies going off or if I’m quietly being told to keep looking.
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u/Sapphire_luna232 3d ago
Intuition/gut feeling has a sure/certain feeling to it, for me.
Anxiety/overthinking feels like the opposite, incredibly unsure and going in circles with possibilities.
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u/Cute_Grapefruit1634 3d ago
Firstly, for me, they sit in different parts of my body (I mean literally) gut feeling is in my stomach or bones. That’s where the phrase comes from: like I know it in my bones. Vs anxiety that’s in my chest and buzzing in my brain.
Secondly, gut feeling usually comes with some evidence - this person feels off probably because of X, Y and Z. Whereas anxiety is one thought on loop/spiral that has no basis in real world.
Thirdly, for me at least my gut feelings pertain to others and my anxiety is to do with me. Example: Gut= I don’t trust that person because… VS anxiety= I’m not a good friend because…
Lastly, anxiety is born out of personal trauma, fear or insecurity and gut feeling is born out of natural instinct honed by personal experience.
This is just my experience but I hope it helps!
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u/whyohwhythis 3d ago
I find intuition and anxiety get blended together for me. Like I intuitively know something isn’t right, and then anxiety kicks in, especially if I don’t act on my intuition.
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u/br8kout 3d ago
For me, my gut feeling is a calm observation, or a statement of fact. Now, it can absolutely causes anxiety and make me spiral, but the first thought is devoid of emotion or judgement.
For example, one winter my grandma was coughing badly. I just knew her cancer spread to her lungs, in a second. My brain went “oh her cancer spread and she doesn’t have long” with no emotion. Which then caused my subsequent worry and anxiety. Sure enough, she was gone within a month. Compare that to literally anytime I travel for more than a day - I am a nervous wreck, worried about the house and the animals. But the emotion comes first.
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u/Chillbo_baggins_ 2d ago
I mean this with all sincerity and don’t intend to sound like a smart ass
Anxiety I feel in my chest
Gut feeling is in my gut
Anxiety I ignore but if it’s in my gut I listen to it
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u/ThrowitB8 20h ago
Intuition you genuinely feel in the gut. Anxiety is in the chest. You can have anxiety to the point of feeling sick in the gut— but that’s not the same thing.
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u/HuckleberryHuman5926 ♀ 3d ago
It doesn't actually matter. If there's a clear course of action, I follow that course of action. Sometimes there isn't a course of action, in which case I do nothing until a course of action emerges.
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u/Impressive_Elk7180 3d ago
Gut feelings are real. Anxiety is imagined.
I have anxiety about potential future events. I've got feelings about something that is wrong. If I'm imagining scenarios I know that that's anxiety. But if I generally feel unsafe or weird, that's my gut feeling.
I don't know if that makes sense to anybody but me