Pushed, Pulled, Blown By The Wind Feeling
Feeling pushed or pulled, like you were blown by the wind even though a wind isn’t blowing, are common anxiety symptoms, including anxiety and panic attack symptoms. This symptom occurs because of how anxiety stresses the body, and how stress can affect the nervous system.
This article explains the relationship between anxiety and feeling like you are being pushed or pulled like you were blown by the wind.
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Feeling Like You Are Being Pushed or Pulled Common Symptom Descriptions
- You suddenly feel like your body was pushed or pulled, like you’ve been blown by the wind, yet there isn’t any wind.
- It can also feel like your body is swaying back and forth.
- Some people also describe this symptom as a sideways pressure on the body.
- It can also feel like you are floating in the air and being pushed and pulled back and forth even though you are standing, sitting, or lying on a stable surface.
This symptom can:
- Occur occasionally, frequently, or persistently.
- Precede, accompany, or follow an escalation of other anxiety symptoms or occur by itself.
- Precede, accompany, or follow a period of nervousness, anxiety, fear, and stress, or occur "out of the blue" for no reason.
- Range in intensity from mild, to moderate, to severe.
- Come in waves where it’s strong one moment and eases off the next.
- Occur for a while, subside, and then return for no reason.
- Change from day to day, moment to moment, or remain as a constant background during your struggle with anxiety disorder.
This symptom can seem more noticeable when undistracted, resting, trying to sleep, or waking up.
All the above combinations and variations are common.
To see if anxiety might be playing a role in your symptoms, rate your level of anxiety using our free one-minute instant results Anxiety Test, Anxiety Disorder Test, or Hyperstimulation Test.
The higher the rating, the more likely anxiety could be contributing to or causing your anxiety symptoms, including feeling like impending doom symptoms.
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Causes
Medical Advisory
Talk to your doctor about all new, changing, persistent, and returning symptoms as some medical conditions and medications can cause anxiety-like symptoms.
There are two main anxiety-related causes for this symptom:
1. The stress response
Anxious behavior activates the stress response, which prepares the body for immediate action – to either fight or flee. This survival reaction is why the stress response is often referred to as the fight or flight response.[1][2]
Visit “The Stress Response” article for more information about the stress response and the many changes it causes.
The stress response causes many body-wide changes, including:
- 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 stimulating certain parts of the brain.
- Heightens most of the body’s senses.
- Muscles to tighten so that the body is more resilient to harm.
- Increases heart rate.
- Increases respiration.
Any one or combination of changes can cause a feeling like you are being pushed or pulled like a wind is blowing you sensation. This sensation can last as long as the stress response is active.
2. Hyperstimulation
When stress responses occur infrequently, the body can recover relatively quickly from the physiological, psychological, and emotional changes the stress response brings about.
However, when stress responses occur too frequently, such as from overly anxious behavior, the body can remain in a state of semi-stress-response readiness, we call “stress-response hyperstimulation” since stress hormones are stimulants.
Hyperstimulation is also often referred to as “hyperarousal,” “HPA axis dysfunction,” or “nervous system dysregulation.”[3][4]
Visit our “Stress Response Hyperstimulation” article for more information about its many effects on the body.
Hyperstimulation can cause the changes of an active stress response even though a stress response hasn’t been activated. Experiencing involuntary anxiety symptoms is a common indication of hyperstimulation.
For instance, when the nervous system becomes hyperstimulated, it can act erratically,[5] which can cause sensory and equilibrium problems, resulting in a pushed or pulled sensation.
Moreover, hyperstimulation can impair the nervous system’s ability to find equilibrium, which can be experienced as episodes of unsteadiness, dizziness, feeling like your body is being pushed and pulled, and feeling off balance.
Furthermore, the nervous system is primarily comprised of neurons,[6] nerve cells that have an electrochemical makeup (electricity and chemicals). Because of their electrochemical makeup, they can gather and transmit messages to each other.
When the nervous system is healthy, neurons act and communicate normally. Normal functioning allows us to think, feel, and move normally.
However, because of their electrochemical properties, neurons are particularly sensitive to stress hormone stimulation. When they become overly stimulated, they can act erratically, as mentioned.[7]
This erratic neurological behavior can cause all sorts of unusual sensory-based sensations and symptoms, including feeling like your body, or the inside of your body, is floating, swaying, rocking, grinding, shimmering, feel as if there is a downward pressure on your body, and feel like you are being pushed and pulled like a strong wind is blowing you off balance.
While these sensations can be disconcerting, they aren’t harmful or indicate something more serious. They are merely the adverse effects of a hyperstimulated nervous system.
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Other Factors
Other factors can create stress and cause anxiety-like symptoms, as well as aggravate existing anxiety symptoms, including:
- Medication
- 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.
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Treatment
When this symptom is caused or aggravated by other factors, addressing those factors can reduce and eliminate the feelings of being pushed or pulled.
When this symptom is caused by an anxiety-triggered stress response, calming yourself will end the active stress response and its changes. This symptom will subside as your body recovers from the active stress response.
Keep in mind that it can take the body up to 20 minutes or more to recover from a major stress response. However, this is normal and needn’t be a cause for concern.
When this symptom is caused by hyperstimulation, eliminating hyperstimulation will end this anxiety symptom.
You can reduce and eliminate hyperstimulation by:
- Containing anxious behavior.
- Reducing stress.
- Regular deep relaxation.
- Relaxed diaphragmatic breathing.
- Regular light to moderate exercise.
- Getting regular good sleep.
- Eating a healthy diet of whole and natural foods.
- Avoiding stimulants.
- Passively-accepting your symptoms until they subside.
- Being patient as your body recovers.
Visit our “60 Natural Ways To Reduce Stress” article for more ways to reduce stress.
As the body recovers from hyperstimulation, it stops sending symptoms of hyperstimulation, including feeling like you are being pushed or pulled as if a wind is blowing against you.
However, eliminating hyperstimulation can take much longer than most people think, causing symptoms to linger longer than expected.
As long as the body is hyperstimulated, even to a mild degree, it can present symptoms of any type, number, intensity, duration, frequency, and at any time, including this one.
Even so, since this is a common symptom of stress (acute and chronic), including anxiety-caused stress, it's harmless and needn't be a cause for concern. It will subside when unhealthy stress has been eliminated and the body has had sufficient time to recover and stabilize. Therefore, there is no reason to worry about this symptom.
Since worrying and becoming upset about anxiety symptoms stress the body, these behaviors can interfere with and stall recovery.
Passively accepting your symptoms – allowing them to persist without reacting to, resisting, worrying about, or fighting them – while doing your recovery work will eventually cause their cessation.
Acceptance, practice, and patience are key to recovery.
Since the body can take a long time to recover from hyperstimulation, it's best to faithfully work at your recovery despite the lack of apparent progress. If you persevere with your recovery work, you will succeed.
Eliminating hyperstimulation will bring results in time!
Recovery Support
The Recovery Support area of our website contains thousands of pages of important self-help information to help individuals overcome anxiety disorder, hyperstimulation, and symptoms.
Due to the vast amount of information, including a private Discussion Forum, many of our Recovery Support members consider it their online recovery support group.
Therapy
Unidentified and unaddressed underlying factors cause issues with anxiety. As such, they are the primary reason why anxiety symptoms persist.
Addressing your underlying factors (Level Two recovery) is most important if you want lasting success.
Addressing Level Two recovery can help you:
- Contain anxious behavior.
- Become unafraid of anxiety symptoms and the strong feelings of anxiety.
- End anxiety symptoms.
- Successfully address the underlying factors that so often cause issues with anxiety.
- End what can feel like out-of-control worry.
All our recommended anxiety therapists have had anxiety disorder and overcame it. Their personal experience with anxiety disorder and their Master's Degree and above professional training give them insight other therapists don't have.
If you want to achieve lasting success over anxiety disorder, any one of our recommended therapists would be a good choice.
Working with an experienced anxiety disorder therapist is the most effective way to treat anxiety disorder.[8][9][10][11][12]
Typically, working with an experienced therapist is the only way to overcome stubborn anxiety.
In many cases, working with an experienced therapist is the only way to overcome stubborn anxiety.
You can connect with one of our recommended therapists by checking their availability, making an appointment, and seeing their Rates and Terms of Service.
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FAQ
Can anxiety make it seem like your body is being pushed or pulled, as if by the wind?
Yes, feeling like you are being pushed or pulled like the wind is blowing you is a common symptom of anxiety. It occurs because of how anxiety stresses the body, and the effects of stress can cause a feeling like you are being pushed or pulled.
Is feeling like you are being pushed or pulled an indication of a serious medical or mental health problem?
Feeling like you are being pushed or pulled is a common symptom of anxiety. As such, it does not indicate a serious medical or mental health problem. However, discussing your symptoms with your doctor is important to rule out a medical cause.
Can you get rid of the anxiety feeling like you are being pushed or pulled ever go away, or is it permanent?
Feeling like you are being pushed or pulled is a common symptom of anxiety. So, yes, you can eliminate it by addressing your anxiety and stress issues.
Are anxiety symptoms dangerous?
Anxiety symptoms are typically not dangerous. They are temporary symptoms of stress that will subside when you address your anxiety and stress issues.
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Common Anxiety Symptoms
Additional Resources
- For a comprehensive list of Anxiety Disorders Symptoms Signs, Types, Causes, Diagnosis, and Treatment.
- Anxiety and panic attacks symptoms can be powerful experiences. Find out what they are and how to stop them.
- How to stop an anxiety attack and panic.
- Free online anxiety tests to screen for anxiety. Two minute tests with instant results. Such as:
- Anxiety 101 is a summarized description of anxiety, anxiety disorder, and how to overcome it.
Return to our anxiety disorders signs and symptoms page.
anxietycentre.com: Information, support, and therapy for anxiety disorder and its symptoms, including feeling like you were pushed and pulled by the wind anxiety symptoms.
1. Berczi, Istvan. “Walter Cannon's ‘Fight or Flight Response’ - ‘Acute Stress Response.’” Walter Cannon's "Fight or Flight Response" - "Acute Stress Response", 2017.
2. Godoy, Livea, et al. "A Comprehensive Overview on Stress Neurobiology: Basic Concepts and Clinical Implications." Frontiers In Behavioral Neuroscience, 3, July 2018.
3. Elbers, Jorina, et al. "Wired for Threat: Clinical Features of Nervous System Dysregulation in 80 Children." Pediatric Neurology, Dec 2018.
4. Teixeira, Renata Roland, et al. “Chronic Stress Induces a Hyporeactivity of the Autonomic Nervous System in Response to Acute Mental Stressor and Impairs Cognitive Performance in Business Executives.” Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2015.
5. Justice, Nicholas J., et al. “Posttraumatic Stress Disorder-Like Induction Elevates β-Amyloid Levels, Which Directly Activates Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Neurons to Exacerbate Stress Responses.” Journal of Neuroscience, Society for Neuroscience, 11 Feb. 2015.
6. Bear, Connors, Paradiso (2016). Neuroscience: Exploring the brain - Fourth Edition. In Neurons And Glia (pp. 29-53). New York, NY: Wolters Kluwer
7. Z, Fatahi, et al. "Effect of acute and subchronic stress on electrical activity of basolateral amygdala neurons in conditioned place preference paradigm: An electrophysiological study." Behavioral Brain Research, 29 Sept. 2017.
8. Hofmann, Stefan G., et al. “The Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A Review of Meta-Analyses.” Cognitive Therapy and Research, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Oct. 2012.
9. Leichsenring, Falk. “Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy the Gold Standard for Psychotherapy?” JAMA, American Medical Association, 10 Oct. 2017.
10. Thompson, Ryan Baird, "Psychology at a Distance: Examining the Efficacy of Online Therapy" (2016). University Honors Theses. Paper 285.
11. Kingston, Dawn.“Advantages of E-Therapy Over Conventional Therapy.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 11 Dec. 2017.
12. DISCLAIMER: Because each body is somewhat chemically unique, and because each person will have a unique mix of symptoms and underlying factors, recovery results may vary. Variances can occur for many reasons, including due to the severity of the condition, the ability of the person to apply the recovery concepts, and the commitment to making behavioral change.