Your Anxiety Symptoms Finally EXPLAINED

 Anxiety can create some of the strangest and most frightening sensations that a person can have. You can experience intense physical sensations, panic attacks, heart palpitations, derealization, and many other symptoms. In today’s video, we’ll unpack those symptoms so you can be confident that they’re not due to some physical disease or abnormality, but rather directly linked to your anxiety.  

Before we get started, you should know that I suffered from debilitating anxiety for over a year of my life. During that period, each day I experienced endless waves of anxiety, severe panic attacks, and just about every symptom that anxiety can create. I felt like I was stuck in a body that was torturing itself, and I felt more terrified and alone than I ever thought possible. But I discovered the way out, and I fully recovered from my anxiety. I’m excited because I now get to share that entire system with you, and I call it the “5-Step Cure to Anxiety and Panic Attacks”. It’s completely free and I’ve put it in the link below. 

Alright, so let’s dive in. The first step is understanding that the physical symptoms of anxiety are being caused by your overly active “fight or flight” response. When your fight or flight response is triggered, your system gets flooded with stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline.

Now, normally, this would only happen if you were in a dangerous situation, like if you are being chased by a dog, or needing to get out of the way of an oncoming car. But when you are suffering from anxiety, your nervous system becomes sensitized and your fight or flight response is frequently being triggered, even when there’s no danger or threat around. This means your body is getting flooded with stress hormones when there’s no reason for them. And here is the important part: it is this abundance of stress hormones in your body that creates all these unpleasant and sometimes seemingly torturous that you're experiencing. 

Alright, let’s discuss some of these symptoms. 

Panic Attacks

A panic attack is by far the most intense symptom of anxiety. When you have a panic attack, that’s your fight or flight response sending a massive surge of adrenaline and cortisol into your bloodstream. This causes you to experience that sense of sheer panic and can make you feel like your heart is beating out of your chest. You might even begin sweating, trembling, or have shortness of breath. Now, the intensity of a panic attack can feel so harmful and dangerous that you can think you’re experiencing a life-threatening medical condition, like a heart attack. 

But the reality is that you’re completely and entirely safe. What has happened is your body has entered into a state of heightened vigilance, which means it’s in the most protective and safe state possible. So no, you are not being harmed or injured in any way, I promise. 

It’s also worth noting that panic attacks are short-lived. They soon subside because your body cannot continue to release such a high amount of stress hormones. Therefore, your panic attack peaks and then soon begins to come down in intensity. I recently did a video providing step-by-step instructions on how to stop panic attacks forever, and I’ll put a link to that video below. 

Heart Palpitations

Heart palpitations can make it feel like your heart is fluttering, pounding, or beating irregularly. It can even feel like your heart is skipping a beat. This is very alarming, and it can make you think that something is physically wrong with your heart. But you must understand that heart palpitations are an extremely common symptom of anxiety sufferers. 

The reason you are experiencing palpitations is simply because your heart is responding to that surge of adrenaline from your fight or flight response. That causes your heart to beat faster and stronger than it normally does. That’s it. So, heart palpitations related to anxiety are not harmful. They are a temporary response to elevated levels of stress hormones and they’re not an indication of an underlying heart problem. Also, I want you to remember that your heart is an incredibly resilient muscle. It’s designed to work tirelessly and adapt to various situations, including times of heightened anxiety. So whatever you do, don’t become afraid of these heart palpitations. They will soon go away as you recover from anxiety.

Derealization  

Derealization is another common symptom of anxiety. It creates a feeling of being disconnected from the world around you, as though it's not real or as if you're observing it through a veil or a glass wall. It can make life appear foggy, dreamlike, or distorted, which is profoundly unsettling. When I suffered from anxiety, derealization was the symptom that really threw me off. I was suffering through waves of anxiety and panic attacks, and then on top of that, sometimes I’d feel disconnected from reality. That would make me even more worried and fearful, and I’d wonder “What the heck is wrong with me? Do I have a brain tumor or some sort of strange disease?” Now, it was all related to anxiety, of course, but that’s what derealization can do. It can increase your anxiety by making you even more afraid of what is happening to you.

So, if you’re experiencing derealization, know that it is a completely normal side effect of anxiety. Derealization is simply a protective mechanism of your brain. Here’s how I like to explain it: imagine your mind is like a computer, and when it’s faced with too many processes or when overheating, it’ll slow down or even go into "safe mode" to protect itself. In the same way, when you're faced with ongoing and sometimes overwhelming anxiety, your brain can create a sense of detachment from the immediate environment. It’s almost as if it's creating a buffer to protect you from fully experiencing more anxiety-triggering input or stimuli.

What I want you to remember though is that you are not stuck this way. Derealization is only a temporary response to prolonged anxiety and will soon disappear as the stress hormones in your body decrease. That fog will fade away and you’ll soon return to seeing life through a normal lens, I promise.  

Digestive Symptoms of Anxiety

Another symptom that appears for anxiety sufferers is digestive problems. Anxiety creates digestive issues because your fight or flight response is diverting blood away from your digestive tract, and sending it to your muscles so that you can spring into action. This makes it tougher to digest food and causes things like bloating, pain in your abdomen, or constipation.

Alright, the good news is that this is all temporary. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been experiencing these symptoms or suffering from anxiety, you are on the verge of recovering from anxiety and all these symptoms. And that’s why I’m here. I will keep putting out videos, posts, and free resources each week that contain proven strategies and methods to overcome anxiety and all the strange symptoms. See you next time!