Anxiety’s Physical Effects on the Body

Whether you’re running your own fashion label, small business, or simply dealing with daily life, at one time or another you must have (or will have) experienced anxiety. The feelings of nervousness, worry, and fear are quite normal in small instances like when giving a presentation in front of a class or coworkers, but what is not normal is for this feeling to occur everyday. 

Anxiety is essentially characterized by the “fight or flight” mode that allows us to react to stressful situations. But when this “fight or flight” mode exists when there isn’t a need to fight or flee, it becomes a problem in our daily lives to the point where our physical health is threatened. Unfortunately, since we don’t take mental health seriously, anytime we feel anxiety we tend to dismiss this or chalk it up to the “normal” daily stress of life. But if every-day-anxiety persists, it will increase the chances of developing chronic medical conditions that can ultimately be fatal.

It is therefore crucial to be mindful of anxiety and its effect on our mental and physical health. Many people will not associate physical symptoms with anxiety because they will not understand (or refuse to believe) that our mental and physical health are tied together.

Psychogenic Fever

One of the most ignored symptoms of anxiety is Psychogenic Fever, which is a persistent low-grade fever of around 100˚F that is caused by constant stress and motional events. This is common in young women and some of them have experienced psychogenic fever spikes of 106˚F.

 Gastrointestinal Issues

Constant anxiety produces constant stress which in turn affects your gastrointestinal system. Signs of this are long-lasting abdominal pain which can also be accompanied by diarrhea, indigestion, and nausea. Moreover, if you have constant diarrhea or constipation, you will develop hemorrhoids. If you suffer from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), stress will worsen its symptoms; you will become more sensitive to stomach acid and if you don’t treat this in time, inflammation will occur which will increase your chances of developing peptic ulcers.

Pain

Pain in your chest and back are very common with anxiety. Your body will begin to ache all over because continued anxiety produces stress which in turn makes your muscles tense up. Your headaches will also intensify with the added stress from anxiety.

Taking care of your mental health is paramount to a long-lasting happy life. Please seek help if you have experienced any of the mentioned issues. Anxiety can become crippling if left unchecked. Don’t dismiss other common symptoms of anxiety such as constant light-headedness, fatigue, confusion, blurry vision, dizziness upon standing, and/or a rapid heart rate. Physical manifestations of anxiety are very real and very serious. Ignoring them won’t make you tough, it’ll just make you severely ill.