Can Stress Cause Chest Pain?

Once upon a time, our ancient ancestors constantly faced predatory danger and other threats to their very existence. We have learned through science that when this happens, our physical bodies instantly kick into action. To prepare us to deal with the threat and protect ourselves, our hormones flood, heart rate jumps, blood pressure increases, and energy pumps.

Although most of us no longer fear being eaten by a sabretooth tiger, we pay bills, deal with screaming children, have multiple deadlines to meet, and, as of last year, need to survive a global pandemic and come out the other side. Then, it is no surprise that our body's natural reaction, something we have come to refer to as “the fight or flight response,” may actually be on constantly rather than only in times of intense or extreme danger. In other words, we may be idling on a relatively high gear that is always on. This constant on can absolutely create some very serious consequences to our health.

We have found that something we have come to refer to as ‘minor’ stress can negatively impact our overall well-being, while major or more acute levels of stress can have more serious impacts. We also know that the longer we endure stress, the worse it is for our minds and bodies.

According to Medical News Today, twenty-five percent of people who seek treatment for pain in their chest does not have any physiological basis for their discomfort but rather are experiencing stress as a reaction from anxiety or panic disorder.

Anxiety chest pain often causes a sudden sharp, stabbing feeling in the chest even when the person may be relatively motionless or lying down at the time. It is not unlikely that this sudden pain adds to the anxiety, which can then cyclically increase the pain and also cause heart palpitations that can feel like pain. If chest pain results from stress or panic, it usually is not slow and steady stress that causes it, but rather a quick or sudden increase in the stress level that a person experiences.