5 Physical Effects of Anxiety That I Wish I’d Known Sooner
Dealing with anxiety is a pain; anyone who experiences it knows that. I remember the first time I had a panic attack.
I felt like I was going to die, and to be honest, I didn’t even understand what was going on. Being aware of the things that make you anxious and learning to identify how your body expresses itself is important when dealing with these dreadful feelings so that we can slowly, but surely, learn to handle them. Here are 5 physical effects caused by anxiety I wished I’d known sooner.
Gastrointestinal Problems
There is a powerful connection between the gut and the brain. The digestive tract and the brain share many of the same nerve connections, so when we are stressed or anxious, the hormones and chemicals released by our bodies go to our digestive system. Common symptoms of digestion issues related to anxiety include indigestion, loss of appetite, nausea, diarrhea, constipation and stomach cramps.
I would often note the loss of appetite even before I recognized what was making me anxious. I don’t skip meals often, so when I start to notice I’m not hungry when it’s meal time, I know it’s a sign I’m not feeling good about something . Another common one is constipation. Have you ever stayed over at someone’s place, and you wanna go but you can’t? My mom says that your butt knows when it’s home (I believe her).
Heart Effects
Anxiety is also capable of altering the body’s stress response. Often, a threat sets off a chain of hormonal and physiological reactions that helps us decide whether to fight or flee. However, when experiencing anxiety, the threat is often not life threatening though our bodies react in the same way. Our bodies respond aggressively to a problem that most likely doesn’t mean impending doom and raises our heart beat and blood pressure. These cardiovascular changes lead to increased temperature, which then results in sweating to cool our bodies down. The increase in heart rate is what causes trembling, a common symptom associated with anxiety disorders. For this reason, in the long run, chronic stress can be damaging for heart health.
Urinary System’s Response
Anxiety and stress, particularly for those with phobias, can increase the need to urinate. Sometimes you might even lose control over urination and pee yourself. We’ve all been there, right? No? Just me? Oh well. This is explained by the involvement of the serotonergic and noradrenergic neurotransmisors systems (serotonin and noradrenaline) in both bladder control and the pathology of anxiety. When I was younger, I was really scared to get on the school bus my first few months of school because I was the new kid. When it was time to get on the bus, I would feel this intense need to pee. While my dad got mad every single time thinking I was acting up, in reality, I was just scared and anxious.
Hyperventilation
As we’ve previously stated, anxiety triggers the flight or fight response. Whether you are preparing to get attacked by a lion or run from a bear, you will start to breathe faster and deeper to increase the oxygen in our cells. However, since there’s not any fight or flight being done, it leads to low carbon dioxide, causing the many of the symptoms we experience while hyperventilating like confusion, dizziness, shortness of breath and pain or tightness in your chest.
Impaired Immune Function
Anxiety, stress and excessive worrying is directed linked to cortisol, known as the stress hormone. This hormone is anti-inflammatory and controls the immune response, but chronic elevations can lead to the immune system becoming desensitized to cortisol. When this happens, cortisol will no longer work to diminish the inflammatory response, which results in an increased production of inflammatory substances that can cause chronic inflammation and lead to autoimmune diseases down the line.
Dealing with anxiety is not uncommon. The World Health Organization statistics show that anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders worldwide. In the United States alone, it affects 40 million adults ages 18 and up. Anxiety isn’t something you have to fight on your own. Get help when you need it and learn how to move forward. Progress isn’t linear or perfect, so try to be proud of yourself and celebrate your small wins as you slowly learn more about yourself and your body.
Written by Allyson Valenzuela
