Can anxiety cause my body to jolt?

This article will discuss if anxiety can lead your body to jolt. It will explain what it means to have body jolts, why they can happen when you are anxious, and how to cope.

Can anxiety cause my body to jolt? 

Yes, whenever you are anxious you can experience body jolts. It is something that can happen as people experience many forms of anxiety, such as generalized anxiety, panic disorder, or even social anxiety.

Whenever you get anxious, and stressed, you may feel like your entire body, or parts of it experience jolts. Sometimes it can feel like you just received an intense electrical shock that is going through your body, which can make it shake all over.

It is something that can be persistent, or come as you start to get more anxious, or even come and go in waves. It can go through your whole body, start in one area and migrate to others, or stay in just one area of your body.

The frequency and intensity that it can happen can change from one person to the next. One person with an anxiety disorder may experience body jolts whenever their anxiety manifests itself, while others may have it only sometimes, and other people with anxiety may never have experienced it at all.

As for the intensity of it, the body jolt can be mild, or in some cases more severe. Being that when it is mild sometimes it can even go unnoticed by the person experiencing it, or people around them. And even when you notice them, they can be uncomfortable, but know that they are not serious, and won’t lead to harm.

But there are a few things that can cause a body jolt whenever you have anxiety, let’s discuss what they are.

Why does anxiety cause body jolts? 

There are a few reasons that can lead you to experience a body jolt. Here they are.

Body jolt related to the medication you are using 

If you are using an anti-anxiety medication, or even antidepressants, as part of your treatment, it can be that you experience body jolts as side effects. Those can happen right when you begin the medication and can be mild, and go on for as long as your body adjusts to the medication.

But others, it can be that the dosage or the medication needs adjusting, because this side effect remains, or because it is too intense. These medications can cause you to experience body jolts because they tend to impact your nervous system, including your brain. 

As it affects how this system in your body functions, it can lead it to act erratically, which can lead to the body jolts. 

Effects of hyperstimulation

When you feel anxious, your body goes into the fight or flight response. And when the anxiety subsides, it can relax. But if your anxiety is too intense, and constant, your body doesn’t have enough time to recover, which will lead it to be in a state of hyperstimulation.

In time, this can affect your nervous system, which as said before includes your brain. The high levels of stress and stimulation your nervous system may be experiencing can lead to the body jolts. 

What is important in this situation is to learn strategies that can give your body some time to recover from this hyperstimulation. So let’s discuss that now.

How can I cope with body jolts caused by anxiety? 

There are a few ways to cope with body jolts that happen because of anxiety. First, if you think it may be related to the medication you are taking, you should get in touch with your doctor. 

Understanding if this is part of the process of your body adjusting to the medication, or if it may be time to consider changing your dosage, or medication, can help you to even worry less about this symptom.

But if the body jolt seems to be related to hyperstimulation, and continuous anxiety, it may be time to focus on caring for what is making you anxious. Understanding the roots, and triggers of your anxiety, so you prevent yourself from being too exposed to it may be important to give your body some time to recover.

For that, therapy may be a good way to go. Talking to a professional about your emotions can make it easier for you to understand your patterns of anxiety. Writing about how you feel may also help you notice how, and when anxiety seems to take its toll on you.

Aside from that, it may be important to take care in your everyday life to not eat or drink things, such as caffeine, sugar, or alcohol, that can make you more anxious. Exercising may also help your stress levels to go down since it reduces your cortisol levels.

Coping with anxiety may also require you to take some time away from the stressful life, and focus more on doing things that bring you joy, so you can be less tense. 

Meditation can be something that will often help with that, since it allows you to focus more on the moment, and on yourself rather than on the anxiety the racing thoughts that will often bring you.

By managing your anxiety daily, you may give your body some time to recover from this hyperstimulation. But not only that, but you can also begin to feel calmer, and maybe little by little anxiety, and all its symptoms, including body jolts, won’t be so frequent in your life anymore.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): Can anxiety cause my body to jolt? 

What is the 3 3 3 rule for anxiety? 

The 3 3 3 rule for anxiety is an exercise you can do to calm yourself down whenever you feel anxious, as many times as you feel is necessary. To do it, when anxiety is creeping up on you, you may want to take a deep breath.

After that, you should try to name three things you hear in your surroundings, followed by naming three things you see in the environment around you. And finally, you should focus on naming three of your body parts.

Doing this exercise may help you feel more relaxed, and it may also make your thoughts focus on something else rather than the anxiety, and the negative thoughts it usually brings.

What are the most common symptoms of anxiety? 

Anxiety can affect you in many ways. It can lead you to experience physical, and emotional symptoms. The intensity of those can vary from one person to the next, and not everyone will experience the same symptoms.

But when you are anxious you may feel that your heart is beating faster. Aside from that, you may realize that your breathing will change. It can also become faster, or in some cases shallow.

You can begin to sweat, feel your muscles tense up, and experience shaking, tremors, and even numbness of your hands, and feet. Anxiety can make you feel tired, affecting your gastrointestinal system and changing your sleeping pattern, causing you to have insomnia.

When talking about the emotional symptoms of anxiety, you should know that it will often cause the person to worry too much. They can have the sense that the worst is about to happen, and because of that, they can be constantly scared.

It will also be that the person with anxiety won’t be able to relax, and their focus will be only on the matter in which they are worried. Even if they try to move past it, sometimes they may be unable to control it. 

Finally, because anxiety will lead to such discomfort, it may be that at some point the person starts to avoid the situations in which their anxiety is triggered.

What are some common triggers of anxiety? 

Even though each person may have their trigger for anxiety, it is important to know that there is something that will commonly make it easier for your anxiety to be triggered. For example, it is known that having too much coffee is something that will trigger a person’s anxiety.

Aside from that, being in an environment that you consider to be messy, makes it harder for you to focus, and makes you more stressed. Not caring for yourself properly, so not doing things that please you, for example, can often trigger your anxiety.

Not sleeping well, or dealing with too much stress for a prolonged period will often take its toll on you, and make you feel more anxious. Having trouble with your finances, or with the law can do the same. And to some people being in social gatherings can be a common trigger for anxiety.

To some people, the environment of the place they work can trigger anxiety, in the same way as dealing with a situation of conflict.

Can my anxiety kill me? 

No, anxiety in itself is not able to kill you. What can happen is that anxiety can have a detrimental impact on your health. For example, too much stress can lead to heart problems, or even increase the chances of a person having a stroke, making them more susceptible to developing dangerous conditions.

Aside from that, anxiety can also affect your health in another manner. It can make you fear pursuing proper health care, for example. Some people that have anxiety may fear that if they look for doctors, they will discover some condition, and because of this fear, they may be prevented from doing so. 

In those cases, a person may have a medical condition that needs treatment, but they are unable to follow through with it. Which can lead to dreadful consequences.

Is anxiety all in my head?

No, anxiety is not all in your head. Although the worry that comes with it can be sometimes misguided from the reality of the facts, what you feel is real. The fast heartbeat and change in your breath are all proof that anxiety is there, and at moments it is, unfortunately, taking control over you.

Knowing that is important for when people begin to question if it is possible that you are just being dramatic, or that you can just alter your line of thought. Anxiety is not a choice and is not something someone can simply control from one moment to the next. It takes time, and a lot of work to move past that intense fear, and worry

Conclusion 

This article centered on explaining why, and how anxiety can lead you to experience body jolts. It also showed the best ways to cope with it.

If you have any questions or comments about this article, feel free to write them in the section below.

References

Body Jolt, Jolts, Shocks, Zaps, Tremors, Shakes – anxiety symptoms