How Anxiety Disorders Can Impact Your Physical Health & Body

Photo by Uday Mittal on Unsplash

Anxiety can be a normal part of everyday life. People can get anxious when they have an interview, their first day at a new job, or addressing a group of people. But when you are dealing with an anxiety disorder the anxiety a person feels can get extreme. It can activate your natural fight or flight response.

There are several types of anxiety disorders from Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Social Anxiety, and even Agoraphobia (a fear or leaving one’s house) since being afraid to leave your house is anxiety riddled, among other types of anxiety disorders.

Anxiety does not just affect your mental health and mind, but it can have physical affects on your body as well. Sometimes anxiety can build up so much that the person might end up having a panic attack. Anxiety can cause rapid heart rate and breathing rate. When you are near a panic attack because your anxiety is so bad, some people start to hyperventilate and breathe faster than normal which could make them lightheaded and dizzy. Some people can end up dealing with headaches and elevated blood pressure levels.

Some people even develop insomnia when their anxiety is high and their mind just will not stop racing with things that are going on in their life; either past or present. When dealing with anxiety disorders, you could even develop abdominal pain and indigestion. Some peoples’ anxiety can even make them feel like they must go have a bowel movement.

Dealing with a lot of anxiety can cause chest pains and sometimes your chest can hurt so bad that you feel like you are having a heart attack. A person can even have the opposite of insomnia and feel drained and fatigued like you would rather just curl up under your blanket and try to sleep the anxiety away. For some, they might even feel nauseous like they need to throw up. Anxiety can sometimes bring out depression for people with mental health disorders.

I have dealt with extreme anxiety most of my life. I am familiar with the feelings and physical symptoms that having a panic attack can cause you. When you are anxious it is good to utilize your coping methods and skills so that you can try to relax a bit and lower your anxiety and stress levels. If you need help figuring out ways to relax, you can read another article I created recently which is titled, “20 Things You Can Try To Help You Relax.”