What Are The Physical Symptoms Of Anxiety (FAQ)
A frequently asked question. Anxiety can sometimes go beyond worries and thoughts and cause physical symptoms.
Anxiety is often associated with the psychological symptoms of fear, restlessness and dread. However, there are also many physical symptoms of anxiety, too.
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Physical Symptoms Of Anxiety
- Racing heart
- Shortness of breath
- Sweating, tremors and twitches
- Headaches, fatigue
- Insomnia
- Upset stomach or diarrhoea
- Frequent urination
This video goes through some physical symptoms of anxiety:
Where Do Physical Symptoms Of Anxiety Come From?
We have explained where symptoms of anxiety come from before, but basically, anxiety may be defined as the human body’s physical response to danger. It is essentially an overreaction of the fight or flight response to stimuli in our environment. It evolved to help us survive when there was danger in front of us (like a lion) but in the modern day, it can be triggered when there is no real danger in front of us (like feeling anxiety when making conversation).
Here is a useful video that explains the concept of fight or flight:
Applyng this theory, it means that when you feel intense physical symptoms, like a racing heart or upset stomach, they are just a result of your body trying to protect you.
If you want to identify your symptoms, you can use this body map:
A Final Note
Hopefully this article has helped you to recognise some of the physical symptoms of anxiety, as well as understand a little more about why they exist.
If you are feeling anxious right now, you can explore the other articles we have on breathing exercises, mindfulness meditation or just go straight ahead and try Stresscoach :)
This is the list of symptoms provided by The The National Alliance on Mental Health.
Learn to manage anxiety in only 5 minutes per day