Can Anxiety Make You Sick?

 

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Can Anxiety Make You Sick?

First, anxiety is a natural response to believing you could be in danger. Everyone is anxious from time to time. This is normal.

So, anxiety itself is not “bad” or “unwanted.” It’s a vital part of our survival mechanism and can also be an important motivator to accomplish essential tasks.

While infrequent episodes of anxiety are normal and not harmful, anxiety can significantly impact our physical and mental health when it becomes chronic. That’s because anxiety affects the body in many ways.

The Stress Response: Anxiety's Physical Manifestation

Anxiety activates the stress response, which secretes powerful stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol, into the bloodstream, where they travel to targeted locations to bring about specific physiological, psychological, and emotional changes that quickly prepare the body for immediate emergency action.

This survival reaction is often referred to as the fight or flight response.[1][2]

The higher the degree of the stress response, the more dramatic the changes.

Stress hormones affect all of the body’s major systems, such as:

• The Nervous System, which includes the brain, brain stem, and all nerves throughout the body.
• The Respiratory System, which includes your airways, lungs, and blood vessels.
• The Endocrine System, which includes all the glands that make and regulate hormones.
• The Cardiovascular /Circulatory System, which includes the heart and blood vessels.
• The Digestive System, which includes the mouth, esophagus, stomach, intestines, and anus.
• The Urinary System, which includes the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra.
• The Reproductive System, which includes all the reproductive organs.
• The Musculoskeletal System, which includes all the body’s muscles.
• The Integumentary System, which includes the skin and associated glands, hair, and nails.
• The Lymphatic System, which includes the circulatory and immune systems.

 These effects can:

• Quicken heart rate.
• Stimulate the body.
• Increase respiration.
• Tighten muscles so that the body is more resilient to harm.
• Shunt 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.
• Heighten most of the body’s senses.
• Suppress digestion.
• Increase blood pressure.
• Increase activity in parts of the brain responsible for danger detection and reaction, and reduce activity in parts of the brain responsible for executive functions, such as rational thinking, self-control, and working memory.
• Change neurotransmitter levels so the brain is acutely aware of and reactive to danger.

To name a few.

Visit our “Stress Response” article for more detailed information about the many body-wide changes caused by the stress response.

Since stress responses push the body beyond its internal balance (homeostasis), stress responses stress the body. As such, anxiety stresses the body.[3][4][5]

Consequently, anxiety symptoms are symptoms of stress. They are called anxiety symptoms because anxious behavior is the main source of stress that stresses the body, and a body under stress can exhibit symptoms of stress.

As such, anxiety isn't merely a psychological state. Anxiety has physical manifestations.

We can feel sick because of the many ways stress responses affect the body. The more anxious we are, the more dramatic the changes and the sicker we can feel.

However, stress response changes subside as the stress response ends. Therefore, acute anxiety will produce acute stress response changes.

When stress responses occur infrequently, the body can easily manage these changes because they are temporary and quickly resolved after the stress response has ended.

Therefore, feeling sick due to an active stress response is temporary and resolves as the stress response ends.

While beneficial in genuinely dangerous situations, chronic activation of the stress response due to ongoing anxiety can lead to physical health problems.

Hyperstimulation: Chronic Physical Manifestations Of Anxiety

While acute anxiety has a temporary effect, chronic anxiety can chronically affect the body.

That’s because when stress responses occur too frequently, such as from overly anxious behavior, the body can remain in a state of semi-stress response readiness, which we call “Stress-Response Hyperstimulation” since stress hormones are powerful stimulants.[3][4][5]

Hyperstimulation is also often referred to as “hyperarousal,” “HPA axis dysfunction,” or “nervous system dysregulation.”[6][7]

Hyperstimulation can affect the body in many ways, such as causing Nervous System Excitation And Dysregulation, Homeostatic Dysregulation, and Hormonal Dysregulation.

These changes can cause a wide variety of symptoms, such as:

• Stomach and digestive problems
• Trembling, shaking
• Hot and cold spells
• Headaches
• Feeling like you have the flu
• Dizziness, lightheadedness, off-balance
• Chronic pain, shooting pains
• Back pain
• Body jolts
• Brain zaps
• Chest tightness and pain
• Choking feeling

And many, many other chronic anxiety symptoms.

Nervous System Excitation And Dysregulation

Hyperstimulation (chronic stress) can cause the nervous system to become excited and dysregulated, causing it to act erratically. This erratic behavior cancause all sorts of sensory symptoms, such as issues with touch, taste, hearing, sight, smell, and balance.

Consequently, all our senses can produce symptoms.Visit our “Anxiety Symptoms” section for a comprehensive list of sensory-based anxiety symptoms.

Homeostatic Dysregulation

The body has thousands of monitoring and regulating systems, all working together to keep the body functioning. To remain healthy, the body must be regulated and maintained in an ongoing state of internal balance, despite the ever-changing conditions. Homoeostasis is the term used to describe this ongoing process.

When the body is healthy, it does a good job managing itself. Consequently, we don’t notice the moment-by-moment adjustments when all systems are working as they should.

However, hyperstimulation can create a state of homeostatic dysregulation, also known as dyshomeostasis or cacostasis.[4][5][6]

Homeostatic dysregulation means the body can have trouble regulating itself, causing erratic swings in feelings, sensations, and symptoms for no apparent reason.

As long as the body is hyperstimulated, it can cause problems with homeostasis.

Many anxiety symptoms that come “out of the blue” are caused by hyperstimulation-caused homeostatic dysregulation.

Hormonal Dysregulation

If we were to focus solely on how hormones are affected by hyperstimulation, it alone can cause profound changes, symptoms, and how we physical feel.

For example, the Encyclopedia Britannica once stated:

A hormone is an organic compound (often a steroid or peptide) that is produced in one part of a multicellular organism and travels to another part to exert its action. Hormones regulate physiological activities including growth, reproduction, and homeostasis in humans.  Most human hormones originate in specialized tissues and are carried to their targets through the circulation. Among the many mammalian hormones are ACTH, sex hormones, thyroxine, insulin, and epinephrine.

For up-to-date information, visit the Encyclopedia Britannica’s “Hormone” (https://www.britannica.com/science/hormone) page for the many ways hormones affect the body.[8]

Hormones are responsible for the regulation of many of the body’s functions. Furthermore, they perform their tasks, for the most part, all by themselves.

A Columbia University Press description stated:

Hormone: A secretory substance carried from one gland or organ of the body via the bloodstream to more or less specific tissues, where it exerts some influence upon the metabolism of the target tissue. Normally, various hormones are produced and secreted by the endocrine glands, including the pituitary, thyroid, parathyroids, adrenals, ovaries, testes, pancreatic islets, certain portions of the gastrointestinal tract, and the placenta, among the mammalian species.

As lack of any one of them may cause serious disorders, many hormones are now produced synthetically and used in treatment where a deficiency exists. The hormones of the anterior pituitary include thyrotropin ,prolactin, adrenocorticotropic hormone, the gonadotropic hormones, and growth hormone; the posterior pituitary secretes oxytocin, and vasopressin, also known an arginine vasopressin (AVP) or antidiuretic hormone (ADH).

The thyroids secrete thyroxine and calcitonin, and the parathyroids secrete parathyroid hormone. The adrenal medulla secretes epinephrine and norepinephrine while the cortex of the same gland releases aldosterone, corticosterone, cortisol, and cortisone. The ovaries primarily secrete estrogen and progesterone and the testes testosterone. The adrenal cortex, ovaries, and testes in fact produce at least small amounts of all of the steroid hormones. The islets of Langerhans in the pancreas secrete insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin. The kidneys also produce erythropoietin, which produces erythrocytes (red blood cells). The passage of chyme (see digestive system) from the stomach to the duodenum causes the latter to release secretin, which stimulates the flow of pancreatic juice. The duodenum can also be stimulated by the presence of fats in the chyme to secrete cholecystokinin, a hormone that stimulates the gall bladder to contract and release bile. There is evidence that the upper intestine secretes pancreatozymin, which enhances the amount of digestive enzymes in the pancreatic juice. In addition, the pyloric region of the stomach secretes gastrin, a hormone that increases the secretion of hydrochloric acid into the stomach. The placenta has been shown to secrete progesterone and chorionic gonadotropin. There is evidence that it even contains a substance similar to growth hormone.

As you can see, hormones ARE powerful! Hormonal Dysregulation can dramatically affect how we feel.

Furthermore, hormones can affect the production of other hormones. Therefore, it’s reasonable to conclude that hyperstimulation can make the body and mind sick.

Gastrointestinal Distress: The Gut-Brain Axis

The stress response and hyperstimulation affect the body in many ways, including the “gut-brain axis”: the communication between the gut and the brain.[4][5][6]

For instance, when we’re anxious, the brain signals the gut to make emergency changes, such as shunting blood away from the digestive system so that it can be used for emergency action elsewhere, increasing hydrochloric acid in the stomach to speed food through the digestive system, and decreasing motility so energy can be used for fighting or fleeing.

While these changes quickly reverse when anxiety is acute, chronic anxiety can cause chronic gastrointestinal distress, causing a host of gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, bloating, gas, acid reflux, vomiting, stomach cramps, and diarrhea, to name a few.

Cardiovascular and Respiratory Impact of Anxiety

Anxiety-caused stress responses and hyperstimulation also affect the cardiovascular system in many ways, such as increased heart rate, respiration, and blood pressure.[7] Consequently, hyperstimulation can potentially contribute to heart disease.

Moreover, hyperstimulation due to chronic anxiety can cause respiratory issues, such as shortness of breath or rapid breathing, especially in those with pre-existing respiratory conditions like asthma or COPD.

Immune System and Anxiety: A Weakened Defense

Anxiety-caused stress response and hyperstimulation also affect the immune system.[2] While acute anxiety can rally the immune system, chronic anxiety can weaken the immune system, making us more susceptible to infections and increased vulnerability to illness.

Musculoskeletal Symptoms: Headaches, Muscle Tension, and Fatigue

The stress response and hyperstimulation tighten muscles so that the body is more resilient to harm. As such, chronic anxiety can lead to chronic headaches, muscle tension, and fatigue. Hyperstimulation (chronic stress) has also been linked to fibromyalgia and chronic pain.

These symptoms can significantly impact one's quality of life, which can increase anxiety, creating a vicious cycle.

Many Other Physical Changes

The stress response and hyperstimulation can affect the body in many more ways. Each of them can cause symptoms, making you feel sick.

Overall, yes, you can feel sick, and quite sick, due to anxiety and the acute and chronic stress it causes.

Again, visit our “Stress Response” and “Hyperstimulation” articles for more in-depth information about how each can affect the body.

So, the next time you wonder, “Can Anxiety Make You Sick?” Your answer should be, “YES, IT CAN. And for many reasons!”

Steps Towards Better Health

Understanding the connection between anxiety, the stress response, hyperstimulation, and physical health is the first step toward effective management.

Strategies such as reducing stress, increasing rest, regular light to moderate exercise, regular good sleep, and a healthy diet can help keep anxiety-caused stress to a minimum.

However, working with an experienced anxiety disorder therapist is the most effective way to overcome anxiety and stress problems and their physical manifestations.[9][10][11]

Conclusion: The Mind-Body Connection and Anxiety

Yes, anxiety can make you sick. However, with awareness, support, and the right strategies, you can overcome anxiety and its physical manifestations, leading to a healthier, happier life.

Remember, seeking help is okay and wise. Mental health is as important as physical health.

Also, remember you are not alone in your recovery journey. The road to recovery is now well-known and well-travelled. Many people have overcome their anxiety issues and gone on to live wonderful, anxiety disorder-free lives, including all of the folks at anxietycentre.com.