What anxiety does to the body?

Although anxiety is considered a mental health disorder, it also has many physical responses/symptoms.  The central and most important of the mental/emotional symptoms of anxiety is excessive worry.  This excessive worry can sometimes be so powerful that people often experience physical symptoms.  Examples of people experiencing the physical manifestation of anxiety are anxiety attacks and panic attacks. 

People who suffer from anxiety symptoms or anxiety disorders are more prone to panic or anxiety attacks. These conditions are different, although they are often used interchangeably. An anxiety attack “builds” within a person. Maybe it starts with a fleeting, anxious thought and then, throughout the course of the day, grows and grows until they are experiencing what could be described as a “full-blown” anxiety attack. Panic attacks are more sudden and seem to “come out of nowhere.” Now, although these two conditions are different, both have very similar physical features.  One might experience the following symptoms during a panic attack or an anxiety attack: racing heart, chest pains, trouble breathing, sweating, numbness or tingling in hands or feet, and many others.  An example of what happens when someone experiences an anxiety attack or a panic attack is more intense. It is important to note that anxiety, as a feeling in general, also elicits physical responses.

When someone experiences anxiety, even if it is not associated with an anxiety disorder, hormones are released into the body.  This process can cause nausea, muscle tension, headaches, fatigue, increased blood pressure, and body pains.  In turn, the symptoms/physical responses can lead to even more problems!  For example, if someone’s anxiety causes nausea, this could lead to skipping meals and not getting adequate nutrition.  Or, if someone continuously experiences fatigue brought on by anxiety, they might become less active.  In the end, when talking about coping with anxiety, one cannot rule out the treatment of physical symptoms and responses. 

For this reason, it is very important for people who find themselves experiencing an excess of anxiety, regardless of if they have been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, to learn techniques that calm the mind and address the body.