When Anxiety Feels Physical

Your body can’t always tell the difference between a charging bear and a charged thought, and that’s why anxiety so often feels physical. We explore how tight chests, headaches, GI issues, dizziness, and racing hearts can mimic illness, even when test results say you’re fine. Drawing on hard-earned personal experience and years in dementia and senior care, we connect the dots between emotional stress, caregiving strain, menopause, aging, and the nervous system’s alarm response.

Together, we map out practical steps to break the loop. You’ll learn how hyper-awareness keeps symptoms alive, why breath gets shallow and muscles lock up, and how to reverse those signals with simple, body-first tools. We walk through slow diaphragmatic breathing, grounding strategies you can do anywhere, and gentle movement like walking, yoga, or tai chi to settle the system. We also talk about designing small routines and predictable rituals that restore a sense of control—vital for seniors and caregivers navigating constant change. From adjusting your information diet to choosing calmer social settings, we share choices that reduce baseline anxiety.

We don’t ignore the medical side. Getting checked is smart; once emergencies are ruled out, the goal shifts to management, not fear. Medication can be a helpful bridge when symptoms are too intense to tackle with skills alone, creating space for the practices that actually work. By learning your body’s early signals and talking to yourself with clarity and compassion, you can ride anxiety’s waves without escalating them. Share this with someone who needs to hear that their symptoms are real—and manageable.

If this helped, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a caregiver or senior in your life. Your support helps more people find calm, clarity, and safer days.

For more information about aging in place and caregiving for older adults, visit our website at SeniorSafetyAdvice.com

Transcript

Setting The Stage: Anxiety In The Body

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey everyone, welcome back to another daily senior safety advice podcast. This is Esther Kane, retired occupational therapist and certified dementia care specialist. I'm so glad that you're here with me today, and we're going to talk about when anxiety feels physical. Um, because this is still this is February 26th, and uh this month we're focusing on heart health and emotional resilience topics. So the reason I wanted to talk about this topic when anxiety feels physical is because the majority of people from my experience don't understand that anxiety can actually manifest in physical symptoms. And I'm going to give you an example. Um, my husband suffered greatly from anxiety, and the last three years before he passed away, he had a terrible sinus um, what seemed to be a sinus problem. I mean, he was constantly blowing his nose, he had constant headaches, it was really quite awful, and we did everything. We changed, we removed all the carpeting in the house, we added filters throughout the house, we changed pillows and bed sheets and made everything anti-allergenic. He went and got all kinds of allergy shots and testing, all kinds of medication, and nothing worked. Now he was also on anti-anxiety medicine and anti-depression medicine. And um, if you are not aware, he did take his own life. But what we found out was that um several weeks before he passed away, he had stopped all his medication. And usually when someone who takes their life does that, it's because they've then decided that that's what they're gonna do. That's at least the norm. And wouldn't you know it that it was three weeks, it was at that same time that all his sinus problems went away. And you might think, well, that medication was causing it, but no, because a lot of that medication he had only been taken for the few months before he passed away because he was seeing all kinds of different doctors for his anxiety and depression. So, no, it wasn't the medication he was taking. Um, it was because his anxiety had risen to a point where it began manifesting, and the way it manifested for him was in this horrible sinus issue where he was constantly snorting and blowing and headaches. And I mean, it was ridiculous, really. My heart went out to him, but anyway, anxiety can absolutely, definitely, 100%, yes, percent present itself in a physical way. It can show up as a tight chest, uh racing heart, shortness of breath, dizziness, upset stomach, muscle tension, and people begin to think, oh my god, I'm having a heart attack. I have a brain tumor, I'm getting sick. I mean, even in my patients as an occupational therapist, I would see it over and over again. Um, and I want to say this right away: it's not your imagination. Anxiety is not your imagination, it's not in your head, it's very, very physical. I do look forward to the day when what are deemed today as mental illnesses such as bipolar and schizophrenia and depression and anxiety, when those can actually be listed as medical conditions because they truly are. That has been my experience. All right, anxiety lives in the nervous system. When your body senses stress, even emotional stress, it prepares for danger. Your heart rate increases, your breathing changes, your muscles tighten, and that's your body trying to protect you, not to hurt you. But when it happens often or without an obvious reason or significant precursor, it can feel overwhelming and scary. I've worked with many people who say, I don't feel anxious at all, I don't have anxiety, I don't have anxiety, but yet they were demonstrating all the physical signs of anxiety. So here's something important to understand: anxiety doesn't always come up with anxious thoughts. Sometimes it shows up as fatigue, a lump in your throat, pressure in your chest, a sense of restlessness. And people then start chasing physical answers. It makes sense because you feel it physically. So you go to doctor visits, and if you go to your, you know, your regular doctor, then he's going to check you out physically because that's what he knows. They're going to do tests on you physically and appointments and on another doctor and another doctor. And all of those are important because you want to rule out what it's not. But oftentimes the tests will come back, you're normal. Everything is fine. And you're sitting there at the doctor's office thinking, well, I'm not fine. I know I don't feel fine. I'm not fine. And especially for women, if you're going through menopause, a lot of women going through menopause will experience anxiety for the very first time in their life, and they have no idea what's happening. And of course, you want to rule out any other physical issues, but don't discount the fact that it could be anxiety. Anxiety is your body staying on high alert, even when there's no immediate threat. And here's where this really matters: the body doesn't know the difference between emotional danger and physical danger. You could be stressed out about caregiving, you could be stressed out about aging, about your family, about the economy, about politics. Stop watching the news. That'll decrease your anxiety greatly. You can be stressed out about being alone, about thinking about the future and regretting things in the past. There's so many things you could be anxious about without even realizing that you're anxious about them. I've seen anxiety feel exactly like heart trouble. It can even feel like you're having a stroke. That feeling is very, very scary. And it's why it's so important not to dismiss the symptoms, but also not to panic. Getting checked is smart. And once the serious issues are ruled out, yes, you're not having a heart attack, yes, you haven't had a stroke, yes, you're okay, then uh consider that it may be anxiety because anxiety, I am telling you, feeds physical symptoms. The cycle is exhausting. Another thing I want to talk about related to this is hyper-awareness. When anxiety is present, people start monitoring their bodies very closely. That's very common. Every sensation, every beat, every breath, that constant scanning keeps the nervous system activated. I've seen people say, I can't stop noticing my heart. And that attention alone can increase your symptoms. Not because something is wrong, but because the nervous system has now been put on guard. Another physical symptom that's very common with anxiety is muscle tension, clenching your jaw, neck pain, shoulder tightness, back pain, leg pain, any kind of muscle tension. People don't even realize that they're holding their bodies rigid. How many times have you found yourself with your shoulders pushed up and you don't even realize it? And you have to physically think about it to push your shoulders back down. That tension creates, of course, discomfort, and discomfort creates worry, and the loop continues. Breathing also changes with anxiety. You tend to breathe more shallow, high up in the chest, and that can easily cause dizziness or tingling or shortness of breath, which then increases your fear because you're like, why am I dizzy? What's happening? You know, am I having a stroke? Am I, you know, do I have a brain tumor, cancer? I mean, all these thoughts, these negative um what's the word? Um cathic, catastrophic, catastrophic thoughts come through in your head. And that's very common with anxiety, of course, because then you start going through the loop of constantly thinking of those catastrophic types of scenarios. So here's the good news though. Because anxiety does live in the nervous system, it can be calmed through the body, not just the mind. Slow breathing helps, you know, like the kind of breathing you do with meditation, yoga, gentle movement helps, you know, the kind that you can do with, you know, just walking outdoors, um, yoga or tai chi, and grounding helps. And that's again, meditation, you know, listening to meditation tapes, yoga, placing your feet on the floor, noticing what you can see, feeling something solid. Those things tell the body I'm safe, I'm safe right now. And when the body feels safer, anxiety symptoms tend to ease. Another thing that I've noticed is that anxiety often shows up when people feel out of control. And these days it's very easy to feel out of control. Everything is changing so quickly, and as you know, not only outside of ourselves, with um the economy, with you know, politics, with um our finances, because everything is going up, and then also, you know, the the uh introduction of AI and all the smart home appliances, everything is constantly changing. But what's also changing as we're getting older is our bodies. Our bodies are changing, you know, our health is changing, we may be losing some independence or realizing that we can't do things as easily as we used to. You know, when was the last time you were able to get up the floor without any help? Uh, caregiving stress, your lifestyle may be changing because you're caring for a senior loved one. All those situations create uncertainty because what was routine is no longer routine anymore. Now your lifestyle has changed, your um everything around you is changing, and you're trying to control and get back some of that control. So creating predictability can help you to reduce anxiety, creating some kind of a routine, small rituals, knowing what comes next. That's why planning is so very important. Planning as much as you possibly can, you know, within the parameters of whatever your lifestyle, getting help, getting respite help if you're a caregiver is extremely important. That kind of steadiness can calm your nervous system. And I've also seen anxiety improve greatly when people stop fighting the sensation. Once you know what anxiety feels like in your body, then you know that it will go away. Anxiety does not last, usually it does not last for hours and days and weeks and years. It comes and goes in waves. So when you feel it, once you know what it feels like, when you feel it, then you know that it's time to maybe sit down, meditate, relax, do some yoga, take a walk, whatever. Any whatever it is that you need to do to relax, watch a comedy show, anything, whatever it is that you find. A lot of times just talking to yourself. This is uncomfortable. I know I don't like this, but it's gonna be okay. Sort of like the kind of thing you would say if you don't like flying, and as soon as you sit in the airplane seat, you start talking to yourself, telling yourself that it's gonna be okay. It's the same kind of thing. But it doesn't make the symptoms appear, you know, disappear completely instantly, but it does stop the escalation and it does make it more controllable so that you can live with it. Just like anything else, it's like a needle. It it doesn't, it's like a needle in your skin, you know, like a splinter in your skin. You just learn to live with it as long as you learn the techniques on how to take care of it. Anxiety does, however, grow oftentimes in isolation. So talking to someone, being reassured, uh, feeling seen, all of those things calm the body down. Now, for some people, going into large events, you know, parties with a lot of people and all kinds that increases your anxiety. So be aware of what calms you down. If just being with one or two people to lunch or dinner or breakfast or just coffee, whatever, if that calms you down, if that helps you, then do that and avoid the large events. But you have to know yourself. And most seniors and caregivers tend to hold everything inside um worry, fear, exhaustion, and that only feeds anxiety, and your bodies end up carrying it, you know, chest tightness, headaches, GI issues, all of those are stress signals and anxiety. It's not a failure. You just haven't yet learned how to cope with those issues. Anxiety can definitely come and go. You might feel fine one moment and awful the very next moment. That unpredictability is part of anxiety. It can happen at any time. You could be sitting watching a movie calmly, and all of a sudden you get a rush. You can get a rush that feels like a heat wave inside your body. You start, your hands start shaking. I mean, all kinds of things can start happening, and nothing nothing caused it. It just comes and it goes. And it doesn't mean that you're getting worse, it just means your nervous system, for whatever reason, is sensitive right now. And I want to say this very clearly. If physical symptoms are new, if they're severe, if they're changing, always, always, always go talk to a healthcare provider. The conversation is not about ignoring symptoms, it's about understanding what could be the cause. But again, do not dismiss the fact that it could be anxiety. Taking a small tiny little pill of anxiety, uh, an anti-anxiety pill can definitely help and it will give you at least the ability to begin managing it. Sometimes it is too difficult, it has gone on for too long, or it's too severe to manage completely with meditation, yoga, walking, tai chi, whatever. Those things are great and they can really help, but sometimes you need the medication in order to get to the place that you can do those things so that they help you. So don't be shy about taking anything like that. Um, all right, once serious issues are ruled out, then learning how anxiety shows up in your body now that you know what it feels like is very empowering because now you have the tools, now you understand what it feels like, and you can begin working on you know dealing with it. All right, all of those things, medication and everything that I've mentioned already, meditation, yoga, tai chi, walking, you know, the restful music, getting respi care, all of that can help you. And they all add up. The trick is that you need to find what works for you. And it may take a while. It may take a while for you to figure that out. But in the meantime, I think it's always easier to uh to it, it takes away the fear of that it might be something severe once you know what it feels like. At least that's been my experience. Well, that's all that I have for you today. I want to thank you so much for being here with me today on this very um important topic. Um I've lived through years and years of watching my husband deal with this horrible illness, this horrible disease. So I know what it looks like from the outside, and I um have an inkling of what it feels like. Um, after his passing, I myself went through um some terrible anxiety. Obviously, anyone who's lived through anything like that is um gonna have a little anxiety. Um, but uh it affects people uh quite differently. Some people have it horribly and some people just have a little smidge of it. Either way, take care of it because you deserve to live the rest of your days as happy as you can, and also you want the people around you to be as happy as they can. All right, if today's episode gave you some useful insights or some new ideas, then please share it with someone who you think might find it helpful as well. Um you can discover even more expert tips and helpful guides for seniors and caregivers at senior safetyadvice.com. And listen, if you're searching for an aging in place specialist, visit our website at aging in place directory.com and come back tomorrow for even more useful tips, insights, and ideas right here on the Senior Safety Advice Podcast. And if you haven't yet subscribed to the YouTube channel or the podcast yet, then please go ahead and do that right now. Having more subscribers and comments and um, you know, sharing it, those things really help us reach more people who could use this kind of support and information. So until next time, take care of yourself and the ones that you love.