How Anxiety Affects Your Body
“What does anxiety feel like?”
“How do I know that what I am experiencing is anxiety or something else?”
As psychologists, these are questions that we often hear.
Anxiety shows up in many ways.
It can show up in your thoughts as consistent and persistent worrying, unwanted automatic thoughts or spiralling/racing or intrusive thoughts, difficulty concentrating, and forgetfulness.
It can show up in your emotions as fear, disgust, panic, terror, dread, and anger.
It can show up in your behaviour as avoidance, checking, busyness, restlessness, and safety behaviours.
And most commonly it can show up in your body physically through racing heart, palpitations, breathlessness, muscle tension, shaking, trembling, twitching, sweating, flushing, pain (chronic or acute), tingling, tightness, stiffness, light-headedness, stomach ache (nausea, diarrhoea or constipation), weight loss or gain, frequent illness (colds/flus), insomnia and fatigue.
The physical effects of anxiety can be felt daily, and sometimes they can escalate into what is called a panic attack. A panic attack is a sudden, brief but intense onset of any of the above physical symptoms together with a feeling of impending doom, or feeling like you are about to die. These feelings can be scary, but don’t cause any harm.
Anxiety is a normal and necessary part of human functioning. As humans, we are wired to experience anxiety. It is the alarm system in our body, designed to engage all of our energy and attention to fight off threats. Every single person experiences anxiety symptoms in some form or another. It can often be adaptive: helping someone pass a difficult exam, run away from an angry dog, win a sports game or help in an emergency etc.
Anxiety can be a compass for when something doesn’t feel quite right in our lives. Often, anxiety can spike for no apparent reason- this is also normal. Our alarm system was developed millions of years ago when we had to fight off lions and bears and hunt for our food. It has not caught up to our modern world, and so it can be activated easily through minor threats and inconveniences.
People often report the most distressing parts of anxiety are the physical effects of anxiety. The positive about this, is that this is often the easiest part to treat or relieve.
How to relieve physical symptoms of anxiety quickly
Deep belly breathing for 10 counts (see demonstration here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB3tSaiEbNY)
Moderate paced 30-minute walk through nature (if possible)
Ice pack to the chest for 10 minutes
Cold splash of water to the face
Grounding exercises (count down from 100, progressive muscle relaxation, 5,4,3,2,1 technique)
Short guided visualisation (you can find many for free on Youtube)
Take your shoes off and walk through grass or natural ground
Yoga stretches for relaxation
When anxiety goes haywire
Normal anxiety can also develop into an anxiety disorder. This is when the threat system goes a bit haywire and becomes hyper vigilant, setting off frequently and consistently over a long period of time, to the point that it causes significant distress and dysfunction in someone.
What makes you more at risk of developing an anxiety disorder?
Genetic disposition: parents or siblings with anxiety
Trauma: the more high stress past events you have experienced the more likely to develop an anxiety disorder
Depression: if you already have depression you are more likely to develop anxiety
Constant stress: consistently stressful environments or multiple stressful events piling up
Personality: some personality types are more prone to anxiety disorders (shyness, rigidness, sensitivity to criticism, fixation)
Substance abuse: you are more likely to develop an anxiety disorder if you engage in drug or alcohol abuse
Social isolation: consistent loneliness can lead to increased risk of an anxiety disorder
Physical health conditions: some physical health conditions can lead to an anxiety disorder, or produce symptoms similar to an anxiety disorder.
What are the different types of anxiety disorders?
Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD)
Panic Disorder
Specific Phobias
Separation Anxiety
Medication-Induced anxiety disorder
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Agoraphobia
What to do if you are struggling with anxiety:
Speak with a healthcare professional, your GP or Psychologist. There are many effective treatment options available.
Many of the Psychologists at PsychWest have significant experience working with anxiety and anxiety disorders. Make an enquiry today.
