Can worry cause diarrhea?

Worry is also known as anxiety and/or panic.  When a person experiences any type of emotion, chemicals and/or hormones are released from the brain into the body.  For example, when dopamine is released a person experiences not only pleasure but motivation as well.  When serotonin is released a person experiences well-being and happiness.  When oxytocin is released, a person experiences bonding, love, and trust.  Oxytocin is released during breastfeeding and when a person orgasm.

Just when a person experiences a more comfortable emotion and hormones or chemicals are released, the same happens when a person experiences an uncomfortable emotion.  When a person is anxious, worried, or stressed, cortisol and adrenaline are released.  Like the hormones mentioned above, any hormone is released into the bloodstream and is carried throughout the body.

Cortisol, which is released during chronic stress or anxiety, can impact the body in several unhealthy ways when it is released in excess into the body.  Cortisol can increase a person’s blood pressure, their glucose or sugar levels, and can also regulate or dis-regulate a person’s metabolism, increase inflammation, and impact a person’s memory.  When adrenaline is released into the body in excess it can damage blood vessels, increase blood pressure, as well as elevate a person’s risk of heart attack and/or stroke.  Excess adrenaline can also cause weight gain, headaches, and insomnia.

When these chemicals and/or hormones are released into the bloodstream, they also enter the digestive tract and cause disruption to what is called the gut flora.  The flora assists and helps with digestion because it digests and absorbs the food we eat.  When those enzymes are disrupted, there is a chemical imbalance that leads to diarrhea.

Researchers have found that people with increased levels of anxiety or worry produce or release a specific chemical.  This chemical changes the intestine’s barrier that protects the intestine and in turn, the intestine is no longer able to absorb water and sodium the way it is supposed to typically function.  When this occurs, it results in diarrhea.

Researchers also believe that anxiety or worry impacts the brain and how it processes information.  The idea is that the anxiety or worry causes the brain to process messages from the stomach as pain or that digestion needs to be moved forward at an increased speed.  This imbalance can also result or cause diarrhea.