If you make a habit of practicing belly breathing whenever you feel anxious, you can help prevent that pesky fight-or-flight response from taking over.įind more breathing exercises for anxiety here. This response is pretty common, but it can still frighten you and worsen your anxiety. Some people with anxiety, particularly health anxiety, might notice numbness and tingling that happens for a perfectly ordinary reason, like sitting still too long, but see it as something more serious. It’s also worth noting that anxiety can often increase sensitivity to physical and emotional reactions - other people’s reactions, yes, but also your own. If hyperventilation continues, the loss of blood flow to your brain can cause more significant numbness in your extremities and eventually a loss of consciousness. In response, your blood vessels begin to constrict, and your body shuts off blood flow to less essential areas of your body, like your extremities, in order to keep blood flowing where you need it most.Īs blood flows away from your fingers, toes, and face, these areas may feel numb or tingly.
Even though this might not last very long, it can still decrease the amount of carbon dioxide in your blood. When you feel very anxious, you might find yourself breathing rapidly or irregularly. If you live with anxiety, you might have some experience with how it can affect your breathing. This rapid flow of blood away from your hands and feet can often cause temporary numbness. Your extremities, or the parts of your body that aren’t as essential to a fight-or-flight situation. One important part of these preparations is an increase in blood flow to your muscles and important organs, or the areas of your body that would provide the most support for fighting or fleeing. Your brain begins sending signals to the rest of your body right away, telling it to get ready to face the threat or escape from it. To handle this perceived threat, your body responds with what’s known as the fight-or-flight response. The fight-or-flight responseĪnxiety happens when you feel threatened or stressed. Why does numbness show up as an anxiety symptom for some people? How can you tell whether it relates to anxiety or something else? Should you be seeing a doctor ASAP? We’ve got you covered.Īnxiety-related numbness happens for two main reasons. low levels of vitamin B-12, potassium, calcium, or sodium.sitting or standing in the same position for a long period of time.Luckily, if your numbness isn’t an anxiety symptom, it’s usually not anything serious.Ĭommon causes of numbness other than anxiety include: This can be pretty unnerving, especially if you’re already feeling anxious. Something else you might notice? Numbness and tingling in various parts of your body. Your symptoms could include physical concerns like muscle tension, an upset stomach, chills, and headaches along with emotional distress such as rumination, worry, and racing thoughts. For additional information visit Linking to and Using Content from MedlinePlus.Anxiety conditions - whether that’s panic disorder, phobias, or generalized anxiety - involve plenty of different symptoms, and not all of them are emotional. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited without authorization. Links to other sites are provided for information only - they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites.
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