Physical anxiety and how symptoms arise

When I was first diagnosed with anxiety disorder, one of the things that I just could not get my head around at first was why my body was throwing out all sorts of distressing physical symptoms, without their being some kind of organic cause for them.  This is sometimes know as physical anxiety.

Looking back I think part of the confusion for me was caused by the fact that my anxiety condition was in fact post viral, and initial tests that I had done had confirmed that I had indeed had a viral infection that was the cause of my initial symptoms. However, as I continued to have tests over time, these showed no evidence of any abnormal organic process in my body, despite the fact I was still symptomatic. This concerned me, as I had always associated physical symptoms with an organic illness, yet I was now not organically ill but still symptomatic. Little did I know that this was where the seeds of my anxiety were sown, as at the time no doctor had explained to me that it was very possible for the body to become over-stressed from a physical illness such that it could continue to throw out symptoms even after the initial illness had passed.

Since no-one had warned me about this, my initial reaction was to think that the doctors were missing something, and I became convinced that I had some odd, obscure illness. I started searching for answers from other doctors, homeopaths, acupuncturists, herbalists and even the internet. The latter was by far the worst thing I could have done as I convinced myself further that I had all sorts of terrible illnesses. I became more and more stressed, and my body became more and more symptomatic. I then worried more and more and the whole cycle got worse!

I count myself as one of the lucky ones though, as I know many people go through this merry-go-round for many years before they start to recover or find the right information they need to understand how stress can cause the body to become symptomatic.

So why do these symptoms arise? Well in my case, my body was already stressed from my lifestyle (more on this in another article). The viral illness I had placed further stress on my body. People who are anxious, as I was, trigger more of the bodies stress response than the average person does. This causes the body to produce stress hormones, which are essentially stimulants. Triggering the bodies stress response enough causes the body’s organs to become overstimulated and this in turn can lead to them becoming tired and worn-out. At this point, the body starts producing symptoms.

Having understood this, it becomes apparent that there are two physiological strategies that we need to follow to bring the body back to a normal state of stimulation:

1) Take steps to reduce underlying stress levels and in particular, stop triggering the bodies stress response.

2) Make a conscious effort to lower the bodies level of stimulation.

More about these in articles to follow.