The Biological Effects of Anxiety on the Body

Stress and anxiety can wreak havoc upon your body. It can lead to problems with childhood physical development, and affect the immune, endocrine, gastrointestinal, and cardiovascular systems. It can exacerbate diabetes. Stress affects the mind as well, a tragic example being PTSD, where an individual might relive a traumatic event over and over. 

Stress can be either good or bad event - such as marriage or a divorce. Low levels of stress can actually be a good thing - for instance, a small amount of stress might help you prepare for an upcoming exam better than you otherwise would have. But sometimes stress becomes overwhelming, and biological systems in your body that would usually only slightly increase during "good stress," go into overdrive - potentially on a long-term basis. 

Panic Disorder

Fear is an emotion that elicits the "fight-or-flight" response of the autonomic nervous system. It is an immediate (uncontrollable) response to a direct danger - such as a rattlesnake, a gun pointed at your head, or a fast car driving right at you. Fear is generally a helpful response that allows you to protect or remove yourself from the imminent peril. 

Sometimes the fear response can occur in the absence of any obvious stimulus - this can lead to a panic attack. Panic attacks are terrifying physiological and psychological events in which your autonomic nervous system ramps you up for fight-or-flight. Often, the person becomes terrified that they are dying - usually of a heart attack. Like intense fear, the heart starts pounding, adrenaline flows, breathing races. Sometimes the victim will run from the room - perhaps to a hospital or perhaps with no direction at all - to escape the unseen threat.