Anxiety is a common psychological disorder that causes a person to react excessively and uncontrollably to emotions such as worry, anxiety, and fear.

People with anxiety disorders have an intense, persistent state of anxiety and fear of everyday situations. It can also manifest itself with panic attacks. This state of extreme anxiety and panic interferes with the continuation of daily activities. But anxiety can cause not only psychological damage, but also physical damage.

Physical Symptoms of Anxiety

Fast Heartbeat

When something like a sudden loud noise scares you, it triggers stress hormones that make your heart beat faster and harder. You may feel your heart beating irregularly. Over time, if you take too much, you're more likely to have high blood pressure, heart disease, atherosclerosis, high cholesterol, stroke, and heart attack.

Rapid Breathing

You may start to breathe faster when your heart is pounding, when you are afraid or worried, or when you feel like you are not getting enough air. Some people breathe so fast that they become dizzy or pass out.

Fight or Flight Response

The Fight or Flight Response is a set of symptoms you get when you react to something frightening. Your fear triggers the release of certain hormones that send signals through your brain, spinal cord, and nerves. As blood and fuel (glucose) flow into your arms and legs, you prepare to respond to the threat with one of two options. In this state, your heart rate and breathing speed up, you sweat and shiver.

Muscle and Joint Pain

When you are anxious, your body prepares to defend itself. If you really startle, your muscles will suddenly tense up. They usually relax after the stress has passed, but if this happens too often or if you constantly feel anxious, your tense shoulder and neck muscles can cause headaches, including migraines.

High Blood Sugar

Normally, your body collects and stores excess sugar. But high or constant anxiety can keep your blood sugar too high for too long. This can lead to diabetes as well as heart disease, stroke and kidney disease.

Insomnia

Worry can keep you up at night. Insufficient sleep can increase anxiety even more, especially if you have to exercise the next day. Try to have regular sleep and wake times. Sleep in a dark, cool bedroom.

Low Immune System

When you worry, your body may not be able to beat infections that well. Even thinking about something that makes you angry or upset can lower your immune system response in as little as 30 minutes. Anxiety can harm the immune system and make it harder for you to fight the flu, herpes, shingles, and other viruses.

Stomach

Stress and anxiety can make you feel like you have knots in your stomach. Some people feel nauseous and even vomit. If this happens all the time, you may develop digestive issues such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or sores called ulcers in your stomach lining.

Bowel Problems

Anxiety can make you constipated. Being anxious may be changing the way you use the muscles that control how you poop. It can also give you diarrhea because it changes the way your body absorbs certain nutrients.

Gaining weight

Anxiety can sometimes cause you to eat more. It can also cause you to seek out foods with more calories and a lot of fat and sugar. Over time, too much anxiety can disrupt your body's stress response and cause you to gain unwanted pounds.

Low Sex Life in Men

Stress can trigger your fight-or-flight system, which produces the hormone testosterone. This may make you feel more excited. However, cortisol, another stress hormone, can have the opposite effect. In the long run, anxiety can reduce testosterone, change or decrease your sperm, and slow or stop your body's normal response when you want to have sex.

Low Sex Life in Women

In women, the stress hormone cortisol can also reduce sex drive. High stress levels can affect your cycle. It can cause missed or irregular menstrual periods or make them longer or more painful. On the other hand, anxiety can also make it harder to get pregnant.

Source: WebMD - Photos: Unsplash