Anxiety is a common symptom that almost everyone experiences in their lifetime. You may feel anxious when walking into a job interview or when meeting a new person or learning a new task. For some people anxiety can turn into chronic worry and can hinder their life and bring on great suffering. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, “For a person with an anxiety disorder, the anxiety does not go away and can get worse over time.” These emotions can get in the way of daily activities such as work performance, school work, and relationships. There are several different types of anxiety disorders. Examples include panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and social anxiety disorder. Anxiety can affect different parts of your body as shown below.
Chest Pain
Anxiety can cause chest pain that mimics some of the symptoms of a heart attack. This can include stabbing pain, tightness, pressure or prolonged dull ache. It can feel like a elephant is sitting on your chest and should not be taken lightly. Some have confused a panic attack, which is a severe form of anxiety, as being a heart attack due to the severe tightness in the chest and feelings of passing out.
Back Pain
Anxiety can also cause back pain, as anxiety cause stress hormones to release which influence the muscles and joints to tense. This muscle tension can turn into pain, such as after a hard workout. Because the anxiety continues to put stress on your muscles, even sitting or receiving a massage may not take care of the pain without some relief of the anxiety.
Stomach Pain
According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, “People feel the effects of stress and anxiety in many ways.” Anxiety can negatively influence symptoms of abdominal cramps and pain and can make you sick to your stomach. But when is it more than just an upset stomach? Millions of Americans suffer from gastrointestinal problems. Many individuals see their primary doctors because of abdominal pain that is often diagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome. That means there isn’t a specific physical problem that is causing the problems.
Anxiety can also affect other parts of your body, including causing leg pain, neck pain, joint pain and jaw pain.
Controlling Anxiety Pain
Remember, anxiety is the perceived fear or stress of what can occur, and most of what we are anxious about never actually happens. If you are sure that something terrible will occur, it usually does not help to overly worry about it. Instead, it is important to learn different techniques to deal with the anxiety, such as deep breathing and meditation. These along with other therapeutic skills can help you become more focused on what you actually do control. You may still be faced with bad news and difficult situations in your life, however; you will more likely to deal with life’s problems if you are not suffering from an anxiety disorder.
If you are in the Charlotte, NC area – We can help you with your anxiety disorder. With treatment for the underlying anxiety, pain caused by it will also lesson or go away.
Schedule an Appointment Online, Call the Office at (980) 263-9608 or email us.