Will Stress Cause Chest Pain

What does stress feel like?

Stress can come in so many different forms. It can be an emotional response, eliciting feelings of anger, frustration, sadness, and even helplessness or powerlessness. It can also cause our brains to go to the “worst-case scenario” in our head and result in thoughts of “what if?” Additionally, stress can cause some pretty uncomfortable and troublesome physical symptoms.

Physical symptoms of stress

Some common physical symptoms of stress include headaches, stomachaches, blurred vision, brain fog, restlessness, trembling, and even chest pain. Oftentimes, people end up in the emergency room with shortness of breath and chest pain, convinced they have a heart attack. Doctors run an EKG to measure the person’s heartbeat and determine that stress is actually causing all of their physical symptoms. In fact, to test a person’s health level, a physician will actually perform a test called a “stress test.” They will have the person walk up an incline on a treadmill, faster every few minutes, to “stress” their heart and lungs and see how their body responds.

What is happening in our body?

When a person is under stress, their sympathetic nervous system (SNS) has often kicked in and is firing. The SNS is a survival system in our body; it gives us the ability to fight, flee or freeze when there is an attacker. This is the firing system when we are walking alone in the woods and hear a twig snap.

Immediately, our pupils dilate to see better. We begin releasing extra glucose or blood sugar so we can get away quicker and easier. Adrenalin fires and gives us extra speed and strength. We start breathing faster to send oxygen to all of our extremities. And finally, our heart starts beating faster, diverting oxygen-rich blood to our arms and legs so that we can fight and defend ourselves, run away, or freeze.

So what happens with stress?

When we are under stress, we are preparing for an unseen and sometimes even unknown threat. One of the wildest things about stress is that we sometimes do not realize how stressed out we are until we start experiencing some physiological effects, such as chest pain. The pain that we experience in our chest is like an alarm going off in our bodies, forcing us to slow down and pay attention. If there truly is a threat, we need to deal with it quickly, as our bodies were not designed to remain in the fight, flight, or freeze for very long periods of time.

If you are experiencing chest pain, there are important steps you can take to eliminate or at least reduce that discomfort in your life. Complete a self-assessment of what is causing you the most stress. See if there are ways to have healthier boundaries around that particular issue. Practice daily exercises such as walking and engaging in guided meditation which can help calm our SNS. With some simple daily practices, you should see a reduction in symptoms in a few days!