The Physical Side Of Anxiety
The brain is a powerful organ. So much that the anxiety, the depression, and the fear can turn mental fears into actual physical pains.
Most people actually experience anxiety as a physical problem, said Jason Conover, social worker for Intermountain Healthcares Utah Valley Hospital. It often doesnt get recognized because the physical symptoms are so apparent and quite troubling that they might think they are experiencing something else for instance, a heart attack.
Anxiety builds tension throughout the body. Conover said in the brain can react to thoughts of fear and turn to the muscles to brace for a moment that is not happening. Much like if you were about to get in an accident or protecting your body to get punched. The action never happens but chemically you just experienced it just from a random fear thought that crept in.
Treating anxiety is important for better mental health and physical health as well. Inflammation builds up from the stress, and inflammation is a culprit in numerous chronic conditions such as heart and gastrointestinal conditions.
Here are several ways that anxiety manifests in physical problems.
Breathing Due to the tension, your breathing can change, Conover said. Breathing can become shorter, shallower, or even holding your breath too long. The lungs do not fully exhale due to the tension. Relaxation and breathing techniques can help.
What Are Symptoms Of Anxiety And Depression
It is not uncommon for people with depression to experience anxiety, along with symptoms such as nervousness, irritability, and trouble sleeping. Likewise anxious people can become depressed and experience low energy or a loss of interest in life.
People suffering from anxiety or depression can have a broad range of experiences- some may have only mild symptoms of anxiety and depression, while others may experience debilitating anxiety attacks or severe depression. Symptoms may also fluctuate, from difficult episodes to periods of relief.
Your Mood And Emotions Are Not The Only Casualties Of Depression This Mental Health Ailment Can Hijack Your Body
Depression is perhaps the most misunderstood mental health ailment in India. Often considered just as a sad phase that will go away on its own, the ramifications of depression on the mind and body are more often than not ignored.
But the truth is that depression is not just a phase and that it actually alters the brain, because of which it needs medical intervention. Not just that, did you know that major depression can also wreck your bodys functioning, right from your immune system to your heart.
In fact, here is how having depression can impact your body:
1. Depression can cause inflammation in the body Depression and stress share an intimate relationship. In fact, a 2010 study published in the journal Current Immunology Review states that chronic stress initiates a series of changes in the way the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal gland interactthus triggering depression and anxiety.
Both chronic stress and depression, hence, are known to cause inflammation in the body and weaken the immune system. Many scientists are also trying to understand whether its chronic inflammation that causes depression or whether its the other way round.
According to an article in Harvard Health Publishing, when your brain is distressedlike when you are suffering from depressionit can send signals to your gut and intestines, thus causing an upset stomach even though there is no physical cause for it.
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How To Distinguish Between Productive And Unproductive Worrying
If youre focusing on what if scenarios, your worrying is unproductive.
Once youve given up the idea that your worrying somehow helps you, you can start to deal with your worry and anxiety in more productive ways. This may involve challenging irrational worrisome thoughts, learning how to stop worrying, and learning to accept uncertainty in your life.
Summary Of Main Findings
During the last decade, research regarding the relationship of burnout and depression, and burnout and anxiety, has grown. As we observed from our database search on the studies that measure the aforementioned relationships, the research in this field of area has increased in recent years, with the majority of the studies being conducted during the last year . The interest on clarifying these relationships appears to be growing stronger and by conducting the present meta-analysis we wanted to clarify whether there is an overlap between burnout and depression, and an overlap between burnout and anxiety. Overall, burnout research is growingparticularly when it comes to small-scale occupational studies, but the research tends to be varied, and applies a range of different instruments to measure burnout . It is possible that employees who have been diagnosed with a depressive and/or an anxiety disorder might also suffer from burnout . Indicatively, Maske et al. found that 59% of individuals who have been diagnosed with burnout they were also diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, 58% with an affective disorder, i.e., depression or a depressive episode and 27% with a somatoform disorder. In other words, the similarities between burnout and depression and burnout and anxiety might lead to false diagnosis or it is possible that burnout might be overlooked on the account of these similarities, resulting in false treatments of the individuals who suffer from it.
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Changes In The Number Of Physical Disorders And Disability
Changes in the total number of physical disorders between the two study points were also calculated, and yielded a range of 1 to +8. At follow-up, the total number of physical disorders remained unchanged in 307 of the 909 follow-up participants 267 individuals developed one additional disorder during the follow-up period, 166 participants developed two new disorders, and 140 developed three or more new disorders during the study period. In contrast, 29 individuals saw their physical disorders reduced by one during this period. With respect to disability, WHODAS scores were 6.6±10.79 at baseline and 20.6±20.49 at follow-up. The unadjusted association of anxiety/depression status with changes in the number of physical disorders and disability scores over the two-year period is shown in Figure 1. Increases in the mean number of physical disorders during the follow-up period occurred in the following order: no anxiety/depression < anxiety only < depression only < comorbid anxiety and depression . A similar pattern was found with respect to changes in WHODAS scores . When associations for psychological status with changes in the number of physical disorders and WHODAS were adjusted, only the increase for the mean number of physical disorders and mean WHODAS scores among those with comorbid anxiety and depression were found to be statistically significant when compared to increases in scores for those with no anxiety or depression .
Depression And Medical Illnesses: A Vicious Cycle
Many of the physical changes caused by depression, such as insomnia or a lack of deep sleep, are thought to weaken your immune system. This can make existing illnesses worse. In turn, physical changes caused either by depression or chronic disease can trigger or worsen depression. All these changes can lead to a vicious cycle that’s tough to break without treatment for both depression and any other diseases.
Many serious illnesses or conditions coexist with depression. They include:
Depression increases the risk of some of these diseases, but not always. For example, there is no evidence to support the idea that depression leads to cancer, although the two often coexist. At the same time, it’s important to know that depression is not an inevitable result of serious diseases such as cancer and HIV, or that it can’t be managed.
Once you become ill, how does depression influence the course of disease? For one, you are more likely to develop complications. This may be true because depression magnifies physical changes in your brain and body. If you already have heart disease, for example, higher levels of stress hormones may make it harder for your body to do needed tissue repair.
Depression may also make it more difficult to follow instructions, take medications, or stick with other aspects of a treatment regimen. Pain, which is common with depression, can also complicate the treatment of depression. This means people with chronic pain tend to have worse depression outcomes.
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What Happens Inside A Persons Head Can Have Damaging Effects Throughout The Body As Well As The Other Way Around
anxietydepressionstressLink Between Mental and Physical Illness
Many people are reluctant to seek treatment for emotional ills. Some people with anxiety or depression may fear being stigmatized, even if they recognize they have a serious psychological problem.
How common are anxiety and depression?Ill Effects of DepressionTreatment can counter emotional tollsSpiegel and his co-workers created an app called Reveri that teaches people self-hypnosis techniques designed to reduce stress and anxiety, improve sleep, reduce pain, and suppress or quit smoking.Improving Sleep is Helpful
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The Dark Side Of Anxiety: 7 Effects Of Anxiety On The Body
Anxiety, either about a current situation or forthcoming event is a normal bodily reaction to stress. This reaction begins in the Amygdala – an area in the brain which sends distress signals to the hypothalamus. These signals are then communicated to the rest of the body to evoke a fight or flight response.
Physiologically, a positive stress response is short-term, when the adrenalin hormone, an increased heart rate, blood flow to the brain, and consequent rush of oxygen collectively forces us to concentrate on the problem and cope with it in a constructive manner.
However, long term repetitive stress responses to anxiety, excessive, and undue worry about a number of situations in every day life – such as, apprehensions about arriving late at work due to traffic, a failed deadline, a lost or misplaced item, a crying child, dread of examination or interview stress, fear of meeting a person or socialising, a missed appointment, and so on – can trigger a series of stress responses causing damaging emotional, and actual physical reactions in your body.
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Associations With Incident Physical Disorders
The incidence of physical disorders was assessed during follow-up, and the distribution of incident physical disorders by anxiety and depression status at baseline is shown in rows 1 through 11 of Table 3. At follow-up, only 30 individuals had no physical disorders, and the remaining 879 had one or more physical disorders. Adjusted associations derived from logistic regression analyzing the relationships between individual incident physical disorders and anxiety/depression status at baseline are described in Table 4. Having anxiety alone at baseline was significantly associated with the occurrence of heart disease having depression at baseline was significantly associated with the occurrence of asthma and comorbid anxiety and depression at baseline were associated with increased occurrence of eyesight problem, persistent cough, asthma, hypertension, heart disease, and gastrointestinal problems.
Making Lifestyle Changes To Reduce Future Anxiety
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Too Much Alcohol And Drugs
Too much consumption of alcohol and drugs or withdrawal from them can also lead to anxiety and stress.
Anxiety attacks happen due to medical causes too. Patients with an underlying cause of medical conditions can experience anxiety. Your doctor can diagnose if your anxiety has a medical cause by doing the necessary tests. Some of the medical problems connected with anxiety are:
Drug Abuse or Drug Withdrawal
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Respiratory Disorders
The best way to deal with psychogenic fevers and anxiety-related problems is by seeking medical expertise or engaging in relaxation techniques like meditation, walking, exercise, yoga, etc. There are many ways to treat anxiety without medication, and some of the most common ones are:
Aim To Get A Good Nights Sleep
Not enough sleep can worsen symptoms of both anxiety and depression but too much sleep can also affect well-being and mood.
Experts recommend most adults get
These tips can help you get the sleep you need:
- Make a habit of going to bed and getting up around the same time each day.
- Turn off electronic devices about 1 hour before bedtime.
- Create a soothing ritual that helps you wind down before bed.
- Keep your bedroom dark, cool, and quiet.
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Let Us Help Manage & Treat Your Anxiety
Here at StoneRidge Centers, we combine brain science with compassionate care. We know just how taxing anxiety can be on your brain. But we also know that with treatment and support, you can learn to manage anxiety. We created our mental health treatment program for that very reason.
Anxiety doesnt have to take over your life. You dont have to live in fear of the world or constantly worry about potential dangers. We can customize our comprehensive program to meet your needs. Contact us today at 928-583-7799 for a free and confidential conversation about managing your anxiety in a healthy way.
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Effects Of Anxiety On Your Body
These can include:
- a churning feeling in your stomach
- feeling light-headed or dizzy
- feeling restless or unable to sit still
- headaches, backache or other aches and pains
- faster breathing
- a fast, thumping or irregular heartbeat
- sweating or hot flushes
- grinding your teeth, especially at night
- needing the toilet more or less often
- changes in your sex drive
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Do Something You Have Control Over
Regaining some control in the moment could help overwhelming feelings feel a little easier to cope with.
You dont have to take any major action, but accomplishing a short task, such as making your bed, taking a shower, or unloading the dishwasher, can help boost a sense of accomplishment. It could also offer a temporary distraction.
Managing Anxiety And Depression
A therapist can offer more guidance on treatment options for anxiety and depression, but you can also take steps to cope with symptoms on your own.
The strategies below may not always help, but trying different approaches at different times can help you learn more about what works for you. That insight can guide you toward a personalized toolbox of coping strategies, so you always have options to consider when feeling distressed or overwhelmed.
Your therapist can also offer suggestions for new strategies to try, plus offer tips on putting them into practice.
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What Might Indicate That Both Anxiety And Depression Are Present
Traits that may signal the presence of both anxiety disorder and depression include:
- Irrational worries or fears that wont go away
- Physical symptoms, such as fatigue, headaches, rapid heartbeat, labored breathing or abdominal pain
- Difficulty going to sleep or staying asleep
- Changes in eating habits either too much or too little
- Trouble remembering, making decisions or concentrating
- Constant feelings of sadness or worthlessness
- Loss of usual interest in activities or hobbies
- Feeling often tired and cranky
- Inability to relax and live in the moment
- Suffering from panic attacks, including the sense of losing inner control2
Exercise Is Effective Against Symptoms Of Major Depression
Physical exercise has been shown to be an effective treatment for major depression in adults 14, 91 in several randomized controlled trials comparing it to a wide range of other treatments, including usual care, psychological interventions, and antidepressant medications 14, 92. Although there have been contrarian meta-analytic findings , closer inspection of methodological details reveals a pattern of debatable choices .
Exercise interventions consisting of three sessions per week for 1224 weeks typically result in a medium to large reduction in the severity of depression, measured by symptom rating scales . Moreover, exercise interventions have been found to result in 22% higher likelihood of remission from depression than treatment as usual , the latter in turn being associated with the remission of about a third of patients . Generally, exercise is well-tolerated and leads to about 18% of dropout rates . Based on the available data, the efficacy of exercise seems greater if it is aerobic, delivered in groups, and supervised by an instructor . Although there are relatively few head-to-head comparisons and duration of treatment may be different, the efficacy of exercise may be comparable in terms of magnitude to that of psychotherapies or antidepressant medications .
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