Women Who Almost Always Mistake Anxiety For Intuition Usually Do 9 Things Without Even Realizing It
AlexGulko / Shutterstock Women are typically superior intuitive thinkers, so it's not surprising that society often dismisses the validity of gut instincts in favor of more analytical thinking.
As research has shown, intuition is actually more reliable than many of us realize. Not only is it more than a feeling, but it’s also often more accurate and honest than traditional judgments and decisions. At the same time, some people have a difficult time distinguishing between their gut instincts and their anxiety.
While following your instincts can be genuinely wise, women who frequently mistake anxiety for intuition tend to do several things that work against them in the long (and sometimes short) run. Becoming more in tune with which is which is crucial in order to avoid these well-intentioned but self-destructive behaviors.
Women who almost always mistake anxiety for intuition usually do 9 things without even realizing it
1. They make excuses for toxic people
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Many people who mistake their anxiety for feelings of anxiety or gut instincts often believe that “butterflies” are a sign they’re in the right place. However, more often than not, those flutters in your stomach aren’t chemistry or excitement, but anxiety, because you’re around someone who doesn’t make you feel safe.
Of course, at the beginning of a relationship, you might feel this kind of nervousness for other reasons, but if someone consistently puts your body into fight or flight mode and you can’t relax in their presence, that’s probably more of a red flag.
2. They avoid challenges and difficult situations
Anxiety often tells people to avoid the things that are causing them emotional distress. Whether that’s a hard conversation with a partner or a stressful meeting at work, the intuition they’re feeling about something that’s urging them into avoidance may actually be anxiety in disguise.
Yes, it’s important to honor your gut instincts when you get a bad feeling about something, but anxious people have a hard time telling the difference between intuition and their natural bias toward negativity. They end up avoiding responsibility and the discomfort it takes to grow because they’re too focused on immediate comfort.
3. They distract themselves from discomfort
In addition to using their misleading intuition as a reason to avoid challenges, many anxious people find themselves using distractions to avoid addressing them. Whether it’s procrastinating or avoiding a difficult conversation, they often rely on distractions to keep their brains occupied so they don’t have to address anxiety, even if they’ve been labeling it as intuition to subconsciously justify their behavior.
While coping with stress by removing yourself from it or distracting yourself can be helpful in the short-term, at the end of the day, constantly avoiding and running from anxiety only amplifies it. When people use doomscrolling to suppress their anxious thoughts, they usually only end up feeling worse.
4. They become frantic
As therapist April Kilduff explains, intuition is a deep sense of knowingness that promotes calm and peace. Anxiety, on the other hand, is frantic, pushing people to move too quickly and operate from a place of uncertainty. Intuition aligns with your values, helping you make choices that serve your needs and values, whereas anxiety works against your values, causing you to disregard them in favor of fear.
Women who mistake anxiety for intuition may be used to living in fight-or-flight mode. They’re afraid or unsettled, so of course, it’s difficult for them to know what anxiety is and what intuition is. However, the more mindfulness they can adopt and the more peace they can practice, the easier it is for that true, honest inner voice to come out.
Sometimes, the key to finding this intuition as an anxious person is to disregard the idea of instant, bodily gut feelings entirely. Instead, think about values and allow those pillars to guide decisions, rather than the mind-body connection, until you’ve figured out how to leverage what’s already important to you in daily life.
5. They operate from a place of urgency
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For someone with an underlying baseline of anxiety, everything is always urgent. When they’re working on a task or even brushing their teeth, their body and minds feel like they’re being chased, and they find it incredibly hard to slow down and be mindful.
Gut instincts and intuition operate from a different, more grounded place. They shouldn’t make people panic. They shouldn’t be demanding anything. They certainly don’t expect people to move with urgency most of the time. However, women who believe their anxiety is intuition may find that they’re struggling to slow down, and that’s a dead giveaway that they’re mistaking the balance.
6. They think about only the worst-case scenario
Intuition often stems from present-moment thinking, when someone needs clarity and grounded energy. Yes, it can often be a sudden nudge or feeling, but most of the time, it’s a secure sense of knowingness that doesn’t require much effort to unpack and understand.
However, anxiety often requires constant attention and thought, hence overthinking behaviors. It often pressures people to catastrophize and assume the worst, even when it harms their well-being. It’s just another example of someone who’s leading with fear, rather than grounded energy and self-assuredness.
7. They second-guess everything
A great sense of intuition often requires a baseline of self-trust to thrive. So, if someone is second-guessing their every thought, talking negatively about themselves, or entertaining a lot of judgment, they’re probably anxious, not deeply and intuitively connected.
While this tendency to second-guess ourselves may be hardwired, as a study published in iScience explains, we still have the power to mindfully return to a place of inner knowing by connecting with intuition in thoughtful ways.
8. They over-explain themselves
Many people often pressure intuitive women to over-explain themselves, as if their inner knowing isn't enough in our analytical world. Even if they don’t have the evidence to support intuitive thinking that they’re hard-wired to accurately leverage, people expect an explanation.
Truly trusting, intuitive women may try to leverage their gut instincts to provide content, but they never ramble on, overexplaining to someone who doesn’t respect their decisions and thoughts to begin with. They may use phrases like “I don’t have evidence, just a feeling,” but they’re not trying to convince anyone they’re right.
On the other hand, anxious people are often constantly leaning into how they’re perceived. They want people ot think they're smart or to accept their decisions, even when it’s unhealthy for their own self-esteem and well-being.
9. They hold tension in the body
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Trusting your gut has all kinds of nuanced explanations and experiences, but it actually does often come from that lower part of your body. It’s a deep, grounded sense of knowing that people often associate with their lower back, stomach, and deep inside, rather than the surface-level head, chest, and neck sensations that come with anxiety.
Especially for people with intense anxiety who may experience panic attacks, they know better than anyone that emotional tension still lives in the body, usually through tightening in the chest or unexpected headaches.
They’re likely not deliberately holding on to this tension, but if they’re experiencing it in a situation they believe is intuitive, chances are it’s actually fooling them into making space for fear.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a senior editorial strategist with a bachelor’s degree in social relations & policy and gender studies who focuses on psychology, relationships, self-help, and human interest stories.
