Managing Health Anxiety
Anxiety symptoms such as shortness of breath and fatigue can be mis-interpreted as signs of having the virus, and can create more anxiety and stress, thus leading to even more symptoms.
Anxiety can often manifest itself in physical symptoms, since it is often a whole-body experience, and this can sometimes cross over with Health Anxiety – a condition that can be challenging and debilitating, especially in tense and uncertain times.
For those who are experiencing anxiety, some of the common symptoms can be things like tightness of chest, pounding heart, dizziness, lack of concentration and fatigue. As we know, these symptoms can also be indicative of other health conditions – and it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish what needs medical attention, and what might be less serious and more attributable to anxiety or stress.
Anxiety symptoms such as shortness of breath and fatigue can be mis-interpreted as signs of having the virus
For some people who are anxious about contracting COVID-19, anxiety symptoms such as shortness of breath and fatigue can be mis-interpreted as signs of having the virus, and can create more anxiety and stress – thus leading to more symptoms.
The first thing to do when addressing health anxiety is to be educated about what anxiety symptoms can look like – so we can make a reasonable judgement about what is actually happening within our bodies. The most common anxiety symptoms are: shortness of breath, dizziness, racing heart, nausea, trembling and sweating.
One easy way to remember what is happening with these symptoms is that they are our body’s response to stress – so we are getting ready to fight or run away – our heart is busy pumping blood around our body, or stomach is stopping digestion so the body can focus on protecting itself, and you are being flooded with adrenaline so you can spring into action when needed.
The second thing to consider if you’re wanting to understand whether your symptoms are anxiety or something more serious, is to consider – is there anything that has happened that might have triggered these symptoms? Some possible stressors might be a stressful situation or event at work (eg. giving a presentation), having an argument or conflict with a loved one, or a significant loss.
If your physical symptoms started at a certain point in time where there was also something stressful or anxiety provoking, this might be a clue that your symptoms are anxiety-related, and probably do not require further medical investigation.
If your physical symptoms started at a certain point in time where there was also something stressful or anxiety provoking, this might be a clue that your symptoms are anxiety-related
The final thing to consider with symptoms such as this is – do they resolve after you do some anxiety management exercises? Exercises such as progressive muscle relaxation, reflective writing and deep breathing are effective anti-anxiety tools that reliably reduce anxiety symptoms.
If you’re noticing that you are having some symptoms that are causing you distress, it might be useful to have several short exercises on hand that you can try – if you’re still in discomfort after doing these, it might be time to seek out medical attention.
If you’re noticing that you are having some symptoms that are causing you distress, it might be useful to have several short exercises on hand that you can try
Mind Ease has a number of these exercises, as well as a resource for identifying Early Warning Signs of anxiety – so that you can be more aware of your physical and emotional signs and understand them more.
We hope that this has been helpful, and that you are able to find ways of looking after yourself and identifying health anxiety in the future.
If you’d like reliable relief from anxiety, you can install Mind Ease for free here.
