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5 Unexpected Ways Anxiety Physically Manifests in Your Body

People often think that anxiety is merely “all in your head,” but this insinuates that anxious thoughts and feelings aren’t valid and exist only in our imagination. However, this oversimplifies the complex reality of how anxiety works and what it looks like in our daily lives.

When we’re anxious, our brains operate over time, trying to justify and understand many different things simultaneously. While this happens, our bodies respond to the rapid firing of nervous feelings and worries with physical symptoms.

These symptoms prove anxiety isn’t just imaginary; it’s an interconnected experience involving the mind, body, and emotions. Recognizing this helps us understand and support ourselves and others struggling with anxiety rather than dismissing feelings and authentic experiences.

What are the physical symptoms of anxiety? And how exactly do our bodies respond to anxious cues from the brain?

Outside of physical symptoms, anxiety also manifests in other ways you may not expect. In this blog, we’ll define anxiety and five ways it may appear in your life.

What happens in the brain when you’re anxious?

Like the thoughts that may rattle through your head when you’re anxious, the same thing is happening on a neurobiological level. Anxiety is caused by increased activity in different brain areas, such as the “fear network,” which involves communication between the amygdala and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex.  Your perception of the world influences your level of anxiety; the more fear-producing things you encounter, the more anxious your brain is going to be. If you’ve heard of fight or flight, you’re already familiar with how this works.

5 Unexpected Ways Anxiety May Manifest in Your Body

Understanding your anxiety is the key to learning how to find healthy coping skills and effective treatments to conquer it. It’s also a form of preventative health care; you’re doing what you can to stop it from worsening in the future.

1. Physical Tension and Pain

Physical discomfort may seem unrelated to anxiety, but when your autonomic nervous system kicks into gear, your body responds. When you become distressed, these emotions trigger physical symptoms like tension headaches, migraines, back pain, muscle spasms, or fatigue — all things that intensify anxiety. So, if you’re having unexplainable pain or you just feel a little weird, you may be anxious.

2. Digestive Issues

Have you ever been in situations where you suddenly have “butterflies” in your stomach or feel nauseous? Chances are, you’re nervous about something. These feelings, plus your environment, can throw your digestive system off track. Gut and mental health are directly related, with the digestive tract sometimes called the second brain. Your brain sends signals through the vagus nerve to the gut, and the gut uses microbes to send information to the brain in response – or vice versa.

3. Skin Problems

Stress hormones like cortisol and epinephrine (adrenaline) trigger inflammation, worsening your anxiety symptoms. This can look different for everyone, but some of the most common manifestations are:

In some cases, severe anxiety can lead to specific skin and hair-related anxiety disorders, like trichotillomania – a condition where a person will pull out hair on their eyebrows, or dermatillomania – where someone may pick at skin and wounds with their hands or other tools.

4. Sleep Paralysis

Sleep paralysis, a temporary inability to move or speak while falling asleep or waking, is often linked to anxiety. It usually happens with other conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), narcolepsy, substance use, or even from taking a new medication. Sleep paralysis typically occurs during REM sleep, when muscle relaxation (atonia) prevents acting out dreams. However, premature awakening from REM disrupts atonia, causing paralysis and hallucinations. So, in a nutshell, anxiety can be a cause or an effect of sleep paralysis, other sleep disturbances, and disorders such as:

5. Technology Addiction

If you feel you’re always looking for an escape, you’re probably falling victim to doom-scrolling. This is where you may sit for long periods on social media, looking at things that increase your anxiety, like constantly watching the news, looking up historical events that make you nervous, or something you’re afraid of — the list goes on and on. Whatever you’re searching, we know it’s not good for your brain to constantly consume negative media or content.  Like any form of addiction, it’s a hard habit to break, especially when it comes from a place of anxiousness. Other technology addiction signs include:

Ready to tackle your anxiety symptoms?

If any of these symptoms sound familiar, it’s a sign you need to start working on your anxiety. The nurse practitioners at Balance Psychiatric Services offer holistic health services to help you start taking control of your mind and your overall well-being. Schedule here.