Explainer Link Copied 08.21.24

10 Weird Physical Symptoms That Can Be Caused By Anxiety

Stress headaches and anxiety poops are just the beginning. ByAnna Borges

Shutterstock / Wondermind

I won’t lie: Whenever any doctor besides a psychiatrist tries to talk to me about stress or anxiety, I have to fight the urge to tune them out. It’s not that I don’t know logically that these mental health struggles can manifest physically—I’ve had my share of panic attacks that felt like death—but sometimes it can be hard to hear anything but “It’s all in your head” when I seek help for a new ache, pain, or abnormality and get told to start meditating in return. Like, damn, just tell me I’m suffering from hysteria, why don’t you?

At the same time (sigh) I’ve come to begrudgingly accept that, sometimes, my anxiety really is at the root of my mystery symptoms. Because while other causes, dismissive doctors, and medical gaslighting certainly do exist, so does the mind-body connection. And it is powerful.

Why are stress and anxiety so physical?

Most of the time, you can blame your fight-or-flight response, says James MacDonald, PhD, a clinical psychologist at CBT Los Angeles who specializes in anxiety disorders and PTSD. When your brain senses a threat—whether it’s an acute stressor like an argument with a friend or some nebulous anxiety like, What if I mess up this presentation?—it sends out a series of signals to the rest of your body to prepare it for action. We’ll get to the specifics in a bit, but the important thing to know is: sometimes our brain’s response is pretty freaking dramatic. 

“The human body has evolved over millennia to respond to threats in a way that it thinks will be helpful in the moment,” Dr. MacDonald says. “Unfortunately the brain is not always super sophisticated when it comes to differentiating between running away from a lion and worrying about losing your job.”

In other words, our body doesn’t care that we don’t actually need to fight or take flight—it’s gonna make the necessary preparations anyway. And despite its best intentions to help you out, you get left with a host of uncomfortable and seemingly random physical symptoms of anxiety as a result. It’s not just in the moment, either. If you set off this response frequently—say through chronic stress or an anxiety disorder—you can also deal with some long-term effects.  

To add insult to injury, our bodies want us to be in tune with these sensations. “When it perceives a threat, the body tries to get as much information about what’s going on both internally and externally, so it turns up the dial on what we call sensory sensitivity,” says Emeran Mayer, MD, director of the UCLA Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience and author of The Mind-Gut Connection. So not only are all these changes going on in our body—we’re also more likely to feel them. 

I'm not trying to freak you out, though—being aware of the physical symptoms of anxiety and stress is the first step toward addressing them. Whether you’re occasionally anxious, chronically stressed, or have a diagnosed condition, here are some ways it could be showing up in your body.

1. Difficulty breathing

Ever notice that your breathing gets shallow or even a bit erratic when you’re anxious? That’s because, Dr. MacDonald explains, when your body gears up for fight-or-flight, your brain sends signals to your respiratory system to take in more oxygen to fuel your various organs and muscles—just in case you need to bolt. 

But if there’s no immediate action required, all that in-case-of-emergency prep can lead to the sensation of not being able to catch your breath. The kind of quick, excessive breathing that usually follows can even mimic an asthma attack, thanks to how hyperventilation can lead to your airway spasming. Yeah, no fun. 

BTW, we asked experts how to tell if your shortness of breath is from anxiety or something more serious, in case you’re wondering how to know the difference. 

2. Chest pain and tightness

Yep, anxiety can cause chest pain too. Another consequence of all that stress-breathing: Your carbon dioxide levels drop, which constricts the blood vessels in your heart and makes your chest tight and achy. Then there’s your chest muscles, which can feel uncomfy when they distort as you gulp in big or fast breaths, pulmonologist Barbara Mann, ​​MD, previously told us. 

If that weren’t enough, you might feel an extra ouch from a heightened response to normal levels of acid reflux. “Like other parts of your body, your esophagus nerves become more sensitive, so even a small amount of acid washing up from the stomach can be perceived as painful heartburn,” Dr. Mayer says. 

3. Diarrhea

When you're freaking out, another thing your brain does is trigger the release of stress hormones that tell the muscles in your digestive system to start squeezing its contents out ASAP, Dr. Mayer says. This urgent need to poop could be your body’s way of, uh, lightening the load so you’re prepared to take on whatever threats lie ahead. 

But when your stool zooms through your system too quickly, your intestines don’t have time to absorb as much water as they normally would. Add that to the extra fluid your GI tract secretes during fight-or-flight, says Dr. Mayer, and you might wind up with some less-than-solid poops. So, yes, stress and anxiety can cause diarrhea.

4. …And constipation

Yep, in a fun twist of fate—er, physiology—stress is capable of causing both diarrhea and constipation. While your intestines worry about offloading excess cargo, your stomach does the opposite, slowing things down so your body can conserve energy for more essential functions, Dr. Mayer explains. Plus, that extra sensitivity we talked about earlier can make you hyper-aware of feeling full and like you need to go, which is just as unpleasant—something Dr. Mayer describes as “sensory constipation.” 

Dr. Mayer says it’s unclear why some people get the aforementioned runs while others get plugged up, but the exact way stress and anxiety wreak havoc on your bowel movements might have to do with genetics, gender, and other individual differences. Plus, if you have a condition like irritable bowel syndrome, symptoms can be exacerbated due to stress. As you can imagine, no matter which poop issue you deal with, stomach pain and discomfort are often part of the package, making it all the more frustrating to manage.  

5. Headaches

Stress and anxiety are notorious for triggering headaches, particularly tension headaches. When your body is in fight-or-flight mode, your muscles, including those in your neck and scalp, can tense up, leading to that familiar, vice-like pressure around your head, Dr. MacDonald explains. 

Meanwhile, migraines—which are severe, throbbing headaches often accompanied by nausea, sensitivity to light, and visual disturbances—can also be exacerbated by anxiety, with stress considered a common trigger.

6. Dizziness

According to Dr. MacDonald, feeling lightheaded and off-balance can be just another delightful perk of stress and anxiety. In fact, stress is thought to impact the vestibular system, your inner ear’s balance center, which could definitely lead to dizziness. 

Your breathing might also play a part here, too, whether you’re hyperventilating or partaking in another common habit: “Many people don't realize they are holding their breath when they are feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or anxious,” says Nina Polyné, PsyD, a clinical psychologist who specializes in anxiety. Either way, the sudden changes in your blood pressure can leave you feeling woozy. 

7. Tingling in your extremities

Ever get that weird, pins-and-needles feeling in your hands, feet, or face when you’re anxious? Yeah, that’s the ol’ F-or-F response working its magic. According to Dr. MacDonald, your blood vessels in your extremities constrict as part of the process, resulting in a lovely and not-at-all-concerning sensation of tingling or numbness. It’s your body’s way of saying, “Hey, we’re in crisis mode, so let’s send all the blood to the important places!” Even if the only “threat” is your brain going into overdrive.

Dr. MacDonald mentions this paraesthesia can also happen when we’re on high alert for longer periods of time, not just in moments of perceived crisis. “Your nervous system keeps up this increased sensitivity when you’re anxious and want to be responsive to your environment, so it keeps firing, firing, and firing these hormones, leading to the tingling sensation,” he explains.

8. Sexual dysfunction

Your mental health can impact your sex life in a whole host of ways, and anxiety loves to take advantage of the mind-body connection to kill the vibe. The physiological processes we’ve talked about so far can lead to discomfort during penetration (thanks, muscle tension), vaginal dryness, and erectile dysfunction, just to name a few intimate side effects.  

Then there’s the psychological effects with real physical consequences: stress and anxiety can interrupt the sexual response cycle in general, making it tough for you to get in the mood. “It’s really an evolutionary mechanism—if a bear is chasing you, you don't want to be thinking about sex,” psychiatrist Gail Saltz, MD, previously told us. FYI, here are more ways your mental health can lead to sexual dysfunction. 

9. Skin problems

Anxiety doesn’t just mess with your insides—it can wreak havoc on your skin too. For one, all that cortisol can lead to the overproduction of sebum (the oily substance your skin produces), leading to acne or making existing skin conditions even worse. Stress breakouts are a thing for a reason. 

Research also shows that stress can trigger the activation of mast cells, which release histamine and make you itch like the dickens, leave you red and blotchy, or stir up other annoying skin irritations. Stress is also known to trigger flare ups in skin conditions like psoriasis, eczema, and rosacea. Then it’s a vicious cycle: stress messes with your skin, and seeing your skin wilding out makes you even more anxious. Fun, right?

10. You’re just exhausted

If you feel wiped out all the time, even when you haven’t done anything particularly strenuous, Dr. MacDonald says chronic stress or anxiety could be the culprit. That’s because your body might be releasing higher levels of stress hormones on the regular, which means you’re essentially running on adrenaline. 

It’s like your body is stuck in overdrive, always ready to respond to threats, even when there aren’t any. “You’re exhausting your body’s system that’s intended not to run chronically,” Dr. MacDonald explains. So, if you feel like you’re perpetually running on empty, your body might just be telling you that it’s been in fight-or-flight mode for way too long.

So what if you’re dealing with any (or all) of the above?

Blame anxiety!! No, JK. While it’s clear that anxiety can manifest in all sorts of physical ways, it’s crucial to remember that these symptoms can also be signs of real medical conditions. “If you’re experiencing physiological symptoms like tightness, pain, skipping heartbeats, or chronic constipation and nausea, it’s important not just to assume they’re anxiety-related,” Dr. MacDonald says. 

Before pinning the blame on how stressed you are these days, he recommends doing your due diligence by checking in with a doctor who can help rule out other potential causes and give you peace of mind. Once you have that clean bill of health, you can be more confident in addressing these issues from a mental health perspective. So, if you’re dealing with any of these symptoms, don’t hesitate to reach out to your doctor—it’s always better to be safe than sorry.