5 Physical Side Effects Anxiety Gives Me

Because Being Just Anxious Isn’t Enough

By Grace K. Bianco

“Don’t worry about it” “You can’t think like that.” “You’re just overthinking.” Is that all you think anxiety is??

The things people say to an anxious person always make me raise an eyebrow. I always feel like people think I have choice, and as if, I literally choose to torment myself with worry. I could probably write a whole blog of things people say to anxious people (like me) that just shouldn’t be said… Who knows may be I will? (:

Anyways, I have dealt with anxiety since I was four years old, and I am now twenty-one. Throughout my life, I have encountered many people who just don’t seem to understand anxiety at all. I am always thinking of new ways to explain it. In my later years, I found that relating it back to physical health helps.

It’s easy to take pity on the sick, because for the most part, you can see it. You can’t see one’s mental state. You can’t see what’s really going through the person’s head, but you can see what it does to them.

Physical Pain

1. The Stomachaches :

Everyone has heard of “butterflies”. Okay well people who struggle with anxiety can tell you that those “butterflies” can turn painful. It may start out as a little flutter, but it quickly can turn into an ache / nausea.

Anxiety releases hormones in the body that can cause digestive issues, bloating, and cramping.

I have struggled with stomach pains majority of my life. A huge reason is because of my anxiety. I take a probiotic everyday. It is supposed to help with gut health, and gut health affects mental health. That way I am helping ease the symptoms already there, and hopefully, I am able to help my mind at the same time.

2. The Headaches :

You know the people in your life that you call a “headache”? Okay well, I am my own headache. When we argue with someone and it makes us all tense, we can choose to walk away. Anxiety is just an ongoing argument against myself, but I can’t just walk away. I have to continue fighting it. My mind becomes overwhelmed, and my head starts to ache.

Stress headaches, also called tension headaches, are located on the forehead, temples, and/or the back of the head. Tensing up, gritting teeth, or lack of sleep are all…