Long-term anxiety can increase your risk of physical illness and other mental health issues like depression. To ensure you stay in good health, we will cover 10 surprising anxiety symptoms you should know about.
Rapid Heartbeat
When you are suddenly scared by a loud noise, it triggers stress hormones that make your heart beat faster and harder. If this happens too much, you could develop heart disease, high cholesterol, stroke, and heart attack.
Fight or Flight Response
These are a set of symptoms you experience when you react to something scary. Your fright triggers certain hormones that send signals through your brain, spinal cord, and nerves. This makes blood and glucose fill your arms and legs to respond by either confronting the threat or running away.
Fast Breathing
Along with a pounding heart, you might start breathing faster when you’re scared or anxious. Sometimes, you might breathe so fast that you feel light-headed or pass out. This can be a severe issue if you already have breathing problems caused by asthma, lung disease, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
High Blood Sugar
Stress hormones can give you a burst of energy by releasing stored-up extra sugar. However, constant anxiety could keep your blood sugar too high and result in diabetes, stroke, and kidney disease.
Tense Muscles
When you’re really startled, your muscles tense all at once. If you worry constantly, your tight shoulder and neck muscles can result in headaches, including migraines.
Difficulty Fighting Off Germs
When you constantly think about issues that make you angry or sad, it can weaken your body’s defense against germs. Anxiety that lasts for days, months, or years also makes it harder to fight against the flu, shingles, herpes, or other viruses.
Upset Stomach
Anxiety and stress can make it feel like you have knots in your belly, potentially making you vomit. If it frequently happens, you could develop irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Weight Gain
Anxiety makes you eat more foods that contain lots of fat and sugar. Over time, this could affect your body’s stress response and cause you to add unwanted weight.
Bowel Problems
Anxiety can make you constipated and give you diarrhea because it alters how your body absorbs certain nutrients.
Men’s Sexual Problems
Over time, anxiety can decrease testosterone, lessen your sperm, or stop your body’s normal response when you want to have sex.
Conclusion
Anxiety can negatively affect your physical and mental health. You can manage your worry using relaxation techniques, exercise, correct breathing techniques, and dietary adjustments.
