Why Does Anxiety Cause Physical Symptoms?
You’re probably familiar with some of the physical symptoms of anxiety - tight chest, fast breathing and a racing heart. But do you know why anxiety causes physical symptoms?
The body, while imperfect, is actually pretty well designed! It wants you to have a healthy fear of things that are dangerous.
In the hunter-gatherer days, if something was life threatening, we would have a stress response and the fight-flight-freeze reaction would kick into gear. So when a tiger appeared, the stress response would automatically switch on and your heart would beat faster, your breath would become shallower and everything in your body and mind would become focused on the impending danger.
Then, after the danger of the tiger had passed, the switch would go off and you would return to a calm and resting state.
The problem is, we’re not living the hunter-gatherer life anymore! Most of us have never been chased down by a tiger, but our body thinks it’s happening all the time. Even as you read this now, it’s possible that your body is in a stress response mode.
Your body may be mistaking your boss, an obsessive thought you’re having, or an inbox full of unread emails for a tiger. Essentially, the stress response can be triggered unnecessarily - in the same way as an oversensitive burglar alarm.
We’re not meant to stay in this mode for extended periods of time and if we don’t process our stress or discharge it, it just builds up and builds up. This can take a toll and we can start to experience the consequences - often in the form of anxiety.
The good news is, recognising the physical signs that you are in a stress response, and understanding where those physical symptoms come from is critical and extremely powerful in turning anxiety around. Next time you feel anxiety in your body try remembering that this evolutionary self protective response is happening for you, it is not against you.
