Electric Shocks, Zaps, Jolts, and Anxiety

Causes

Anxiety can cause electric shock symptoms in two main ways:

1. Anxiety-Activated Stress Response

Anxious behavior, such as worry, activates the stress response, which secretes stress hormones into the bloodstream, where they travel to specific locations to immediately prepare the body for emergency action – to fight or flee. This instinctual survival reaction is often referred to as the Fight Or Flight Response.[1][2]

The stress response causes many body-wide changes, including:

• Tightens muscles so that the body is more resilient to harm, including those in the back, shoulders, neck, head, and scalp.
• Shunts blood to parts of the body more important for survival, such as the brain and muscles, and away from those less important, such as the skin and digestive system.
• Stimulates the nervous system, which includes certain parts of the brain.
• Heightens most of the body’s senses, including the sense of touch.
• Heightens alertness.
• Quickly converts the body’s energy reserves into “fuel” (blood sugar) to provide an instant boost of energy.
• Increases heart rate, respiration, and metabolism due to the boost in energy.

Visit “The Stress Response” article for the many ways it can affect the body.

Any combination of the above changes can cause an “electric shock” or “jolt” feeling while the stress response is active.

Moreover, the “stimulating” effect of a sudden boost of energy can also feel like an electrical charge that jolts the body.

An active stress response is a common cause of acute electric shock symptoms.

2. Hyperstimulation

When stress responses occur infrequently, the body recovers relatively quickly from its changes. However, frequently activated stress responses, such as from overly anxious behavior, can prevent the body from completely recovering. Incomplete recovery can leave the body in a state of semi-stress-response-readiness, which we call “stress-response hyperstimulation” since stress hormones are powerful stimulants.

Hyperstimulation is also often referred to as “hyperarousal,” “HPA axis dysfunction,” or “nervous system dysregulation.”[3][4]

Visit the “Hyperstimulation” article for more information about the many ways hyperstimulation can affect the body and how we feel.

Hyperstimulation can cause the changes of an active stress response even though a stress response hasn’t been activated.

Just as an active stress response can cause acute electric shock symptoms, hyperstimulation can cause chronic electric shock symptoms.

As long as the body is hyperstimulated, even slightly, it can cause symptoms of any type, number, severity, frequency, duration, and at any time.

Chronic electric shocks are a common symptom of hyperstimulation.

But that’s not all. Hyperstimulation can cause this symptom in other ways, too. For instance, hyperstimulation can cause:

• Nervous System Excitation and Dysregulation: A chronically stimulated nervous system can act erratically [5], causing all kinds of nervous system problems, such as chronic electric shock symptoms.

• Homeostatic Dysregulation: Homeostasis is the body’s ability to automatically maintain a stable internal environment despite changes in the external environment. Hyperstimulation can cause homeostatic dysregulation [6], leading to internal regulation problems, which can affect the nervous system and cause electric shock symptoms.

• Hormone changes: Hormones play a crucial role in homeostasis and many bodily functions, which can affect the nervous and other regulatory systems. Since stress hormones affect other hormones, hyperstimulation can cause many regulatory symptoms [7], including an electric shock symptoms.

• Neurotransmitter changes: Hyperstimulation causes a reduction in GABA, the body’s primary inhibitory neurotransmitter responsible for calming the body, and an increase in Glutamate, the body’s primary excitatory neurotransmitter responsible for exciting the nervous system.

While the exact cause of this symptom is unclear, there is good evidence to believe this symptom is caused by the over-excitement of the nervous system resulting from hyperstimulation and the relational change between GABA and Glutamate.[8]

This symptom can be startling when it first occurs and bothersome when it occurs chronically. It certainly scared me (Jim Folk) when I first experienced it. But as I understood and became more familiar with it, I learned to contain myself. Over time, this symptom also subsided with the rest of my anxiety sensations and symptoms as my body recovered. I’ve not had this symptom since my recovery from anxiety disorder (over 37 years).

So again, electric shocks are common symptoms of anxiety and hyperstimulation.

2. Medication

Medication is another common cause of “electric shock feelings.” Many medications, including common psychotropic medications (anti-anxiety, antidepressants, mood stabilizers, etc.) can cause a variety of side effects when starting them, taking them regularly, missing dosages, switching to another medication, in combination with other medications and over-the-counter medications, and when discontinuing.[9] Having “electric shock” and “body jolt” symptoms are common side effects of medication.

If you think your medication might be causing your “electric shock” sensations, talk with your doctor and pharmacist about options.

Other Factors

Other factors can create stress and cause anxiety-like symptoms, as well as aggravate existing anxiety symptoms, including:

• Recreational drugs
• Stimulants
• Sleep deprivation
• Fatigue
• Hyper and hypoventilation
• Low blood sugar
• Nutritional deficiencies
• Dehydration
• Hormone changes
• Pain

Select the relevant link for more information.