Physical Symptoms of Anxiety and Stress

In today's fast paced life, anxiety and stress are commonly observed problems in people from different age groups. These abnormalities in the functioning of the human body may result into a series of physical symptoms. Most of the time, these symptoms are overlooked or neglected, However, if immediate action is not taken, it may create major problems. Let's have a look at some of the physical symptoms of anxiety and stress.

Anxiety
It is feeling or abnormality, which creates a kind of uneasiness and fear in the mind. Anxiety can also be described as a response to stress. It is estimated that around 18% Americans suffer from the anxiety disorder. The physical symptoms exhibited by people suffering from anxiety are enlisted below.

• Sweating: This is one of the commonly observed symptoms of anxiety. Sweating a physiological reaction or response to anxiety may be the result of either nervousness, embarrassment, anger or fear.
• Trembling: The problem of trembling resulting from anxiety might be a deep-rooted one. The body shakes or trembles because of the biochemical changes that take place in the body. These changes directly affect the nervous system and brain. The result of the process is that the body loses its balance. Trembling is associated with rage, anger and fatigue.
• Difficulty in Breathing: Anxiety might also cause difficulty in breathing. This is because of the insufficient oxygen supply to the body. The person suffers from dizziness during this phase.
• Chest Pain: With patients suffering from anxiety, chest pain is a common symptom. There is a kind of tightness in the chest that shows up during the phase of anxiety. The chest pain might sometimes be confused with the precursor to heart attack. The chest pain associated with anxiety can be either dull or sharp. Along with the chest, hands and shoulders too experience slight pain.
• Nausea and Vomiting: These symptoms are stimulated by different states of the body including anxiety. Nausea is the central nervous system's way to respond to anxiety. There is a vomiting center in the brain that is responsible for vomiting.

Let's find out the different physical symptoms shown by the body in response to 'stress'. Most of the stress-related symptoms are similar to those experienced in the anxiety phase.

• Headaches: Probably the most common side-effects of stress - headaches and migraine can create a lot of problems in daily life. The continuous pounding one experiences during a headache is enough to disturb his routine.
• Fatigue: Stress is also responsible for fatigue.
• Diarrhea: Stress can act in different ways on different people. Some people may suffer from diarrhea due to stress. Thus, it can be clearly stated that stress affects different organs of the body including the digestive system.
• The person who is under stress may experience pain in the neck or shoulders manifesting signs of fibromyalgia.
• Insomnia or sleeplessness is another symptom of stress.

Stress has long lasting effects on our body. As mentioned above, it can affect different systems of the body. Medication along with some changes in lifestyle are necessary to protect ourselves from the ill-effects and the physical symptoms of anxiety and stress. Although it is not possible to completely avoid stress in today's life, one can decide how to healthily respond to it.