How Anxiety Can Cause Physical Pain To You

What Is Anxiety?

Anxiety is a constant feeling of fear, worry, and uncertainty.

Although it is the brain’s way of reacting to stress and its adaptive response to threat, it can be dangerous when these feelings become excessive and involving persistent thoughts and emotions that lead to panic attacks.

Anxiety disorder is the most common of all mental and emotional health issues that affect 1 in 10 people and about 40 million adults between ages 18 and above.

Anxiety, an expected part of life, can be temporary or worse over time, interfering and disrupting your day-to-day activities, performances, and relationships.

These feelings can become obsessive and threatening and even last a long time. They can cause physical, mental, and psychological issues and can lead to depression and suicidal thoughts if left untreated.

Anxiety disorder is alarming when there is;

Thoughts that are out of proportion
Constant deterioration in physical, mental, and emotional health.
Recurrent panic attacks
Severe physical symptoms
Abnormal thoughts and beliefs

Types of anxiety disorder

There are different anxiety disorders, ranging from the most common to the most severe.

Phobia

Phobia occurs when you have an excessive fear of certain conditions, situations, and circumstances. There are 3 distinct fear associated with anxiety disorder.

Agoraphobia: closely related to panic attacks, is an unexpected, intense fear followed by shaking, shortness of breath, hot or cold flashes, lightheadedness, and sometimes jerky movements.

Specific phobia: irrational fear that occurs in the presence of certain objects such as animals, natural environment, situations, and others.

Social phobia: fear of crowds and gatherings or contact with strangers. It usually surfaces in late childhood and early adolescence and can sometimes be severe.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

This is the recurrence of inappropriate and intrusive thoughts and ideas that can be persistent and cause distress. It can occur at a young age, but often in adolescence.

Post-traumatic Stress And Acute Stress Disorder

Characterized by symptoms or exhibited after exposure to trauma. Episodes can persist for the short or long term.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Continuous apprehension and worry about major life events such as family, money, relationships, work. People with GAD experience restlessness, muscle tension, insomnia, and almost always expect the worse in every circumstance.

How Does It Feel When You Have An Anxiety?

While anxiety is a normal emotion, sometimes regarded as a healthy one, there is a high possibility of it being a dangerous emotion that can leave you feeling insecure, irrational, and sometimes depressed. It affects people in complex ways with multiple influences. Here are some effects on your health and well-being to look out for.

Difficulty concentrating

Anxiety can make it quite challenging to focus. It is also likely that there’ll be traces of forgetfulness.

Self-esteem

Fear, worrying, and overthinking will make you doubt yourself and your ability to handle situations

Nightmares

People with anxiety experience bad dreams, their minds do not go to rest, causing them to relive trauma and situations and impossible to get sufficient rest

Weakened immune system

Chronic stress and anxiety lead to a reduced immune system, making it difficult for our body to fight infections

Restlessness

Agitations are sometimes formed out of bad habits. Habits, such as always being on edge and expecting the worse from situations, can become part of our life.

Easily fatigued

Overthinking and worrying have negative effects on the mind, our brain is overly stressed. This takes a huge toll on the body, leaving us tired all the time.

Muscle tension

Physical and muscle tension go together, side by side. This will lead to neck and back pain, headaches, and digestive problems.

Alter Speech Patterns

When you second guess yourself, speaking can be quite difficult without the required self-confidence, stuttering and not speaking freely. Anxiety can also aggravate the symptoms of other mental health conditions.

What Physical Pains Are Caused By Anxiety?

Physical pain is a common presence in depression and anxiety, with almost 70% of patients found suffering from chronic physical pain associated with anxiety. Here are some physical pain symptoms linked to anxiety disorder.

Headaches

Dull or sharp pain or migraines around the temples of the head, eye, or ear can be felt. Over the inevitable, leaving the mind with too many clustered thoughts and ideas.

Digestive Discomfort and Stomach Pain

Excess gas, constipation, nausea, and vomiting can occur with disruption in the digestive system.

Light-headedness

People suffering from the disorder feel lightheaded, unsteady, and dizzy, and have problems with balance. This happens when there is a reduction in blood flow to the brain.

Arthritis

Found in people with chronic anxiety disorder usually starts from pain in joints and leads to joint weakness. Symptoms include strain in joint cartilage and surrounding areas.

Rapid Or Increased Heart Rate

High levels of anxiety can trigger abrupt changes in the body’s response to threats and situations. These changes can sometimes create instability, making it difficult to tell the difference between reality and imagination.

Shortness Of Breath

Hyperventilating is a distressing symptom found in heart attacks, anxiety disorder, and some lung problems. Anxiety can make you feel you are choking and confined in a space. Symptoms include difficulty breathing, feelings of tightening around the neck and chest areas.

Muscle Aches

Stiffness, strain, and aches around the neck, shoulders, joints, and legs can occur, leading to poor health, reduced resistance to infections, and a range of other problems.

Insomnia

Constant thinking will take its toll on the body, cause the mind and brain to be stressed, and lead to irregular sleep patterns.

Other symptoms of an anxiety disorder include;

Trembling
Shaking
Loss of libido
Pounding heart
Irritability
Increase in blood pressure Panic attacks

How Can I Get Relief From My Anxiety?

Here are a few ways you can get relief from an anxiety disorder.

Relaxation Techniques

Stressors are one of the leading causes of anxiety. Taking an inventory of your lifestyle and reducing stressful activities can have a great impact on relieving stress. Activities such as yoga, meditation, deep breathing, and other stress relief activities can help reduce the symptoms of anxiety.

Avoid Alcohol And Nicotine

Many alcoholics believe taking alcohol is a good way to combat obsessive thoughts and worry. However, anxiety symptoms resurface as soon as the alcohol wanes.

Staying away from alcohol and nicotine will improve your health and reduce anxiety.

Regular Exercise

Regular exercise helps refocus your mind in a natural, effective way by controlling OCD symptoms.

Adopt Healthy Eating Habits

Going too long without eating causes low blood sugar, which can make you feel anxious throughout the day. Eat food rich in complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.

Get Enough Sleep

Lack of sleep increases anxiety. It is easier to keep the mind and body balanced when one is well-rested. Create a regular sleep pattern and stick to it.

Take Care Of Yourself

A healthy lifestyle is necessary for the body to function properly, avoid stressful and negative lifestyle choices and activities. Take care of your mind and soul, create a conscious habit of healthy things that make you happy.

Get Help

Anxiety can get worse when you feel left out and alone. Join a strong support system, reach out to family and friends who share the same values and goals as you. Do not be scared or shy to ask for help.

Stay Connected To Family And Friends

Surround yourself with positive-minded family and friends, create schedules that help balance work and family life.

How To Prevent An Anxiety Disorder

Refocus

Focus on healthy choices that make you happy, put your attention on things you have control of, and stop thinking about things you have no control over.

Learn To Recognize And Reduce Stress

Do away with any and everything, bringing you more harm than good. Stay away from people and things that seek to intrude on your peace and self-esteem.

Revalue

Do not take negative thoughts, words, and ideas at face value. It is insignificant and will only cause more damage. Remember, you are good enough and work on your self-worth.

Write Obsessive Thoughts

Jot down obsessive thoughts on a pad, laptop, or smartphone. This will help figure out the consistency and similarity in thoughts and help narrow down the most important things. Writing can become harder, causing a loss of interest in thoughts.

Daily affirmations

Speak positive words to yourself, even when no one else does. This will help boost self-esteem and prevent anxiety.

Positive Mindset

Have a positive outlook on life and stop worrying. You cannot change everything that happens in life.

Put In The Work

Staying healthy mentally and bodily requires a determination on your part to commit to the work. The work involves taking charge of what you allow to get into your minds that can have a negative impact on your overall mental health.

Conclusion

Anxiety manifests more from thoughts, moods, behaviors, and psychological activity than medical conditions. What you do, how you do, and also what you feed your mind can have varying effects on our physical, mental, and emotional health. Stay positive, seek help when necessary, and avoid negative and harmful lifestyle choices.

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PristenHealth uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

1. Research Gate: Anxiety: Insights into Signs, Symptoms, Etiology, Pathophysiology, and Treatment

2. Core AC UK: Anxiety Disorder and Its Types

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