Dizziness from anxiety: how they appear and how to combat them

Anxiety is one of the most prevalent mental disorders or disorders worldwide. In fact, it is so frequent that most of us have probably noticed or will notice anxiety before some event or in the face of day-to-day stress, and it is not strange to have experienced an anxiety crisis.

It is not rare that when we are anxious we notice intestinal discomfort, general malaise, tachycardia or hyperventilation, being physical symptoms of our high level of anguish. Another symptom that can occur is dizziness. Although they can appear for many reasons, they sometimes do so in the face of a high level of tension and anguish. Namely, dizziness from anxiety, of which we are going to talk throughout this article.

• Related article: "The 7 types of anxiety (causes and symptoms)"

Dizziness and anxiety: two basics

Before entering to analyze why we can get dizzy with anxiety and in order to contextualize the situation, let's briefly recall what it means to get dizzy and what we call anxiety.

What is dizziness?

We give the name of dizziness to that sudden sensation of vertigo,

dullness and narrowing of consciousness that can arise in various situations and that causes a feeling of discomfort, muscular hypotonia, and the appearance of blurred vision or tunnel effect. Sometimes dizziness can end in fainting or loss of consciousness, and although they are usually sudden Sometimes we may previously notice a slight sensation of mental slowing down, general malaise and / or agitation previous.

There are many reasons why we can get dizzy, such as dehydration, hypoglycemia or some diseases of greater or lesser severity, but it is also possible to find with some frequency that the experience of continuous stress, extreme moods or anxiety can lead to provoke them.

• Related article: "Dizziness: types, most common causes, symptoms and treatments"

The anxiety

With regard to anxiety, we consider as such a generalized and diffuse state of malaise that arises as a reaction to the anticipation of some possible evil or danger that may occur in the future, although there is no directly dangerous stimulation at the time of its appearance. A mental and physiological state is generated characterized by a high level of negative affect and a high physiological activation.

Anxiety is characterized by having cognitive, physiological and behavioral components, generating responses at each of these levels.

At the cognitive level, it affects the way we see situations and the emotions that awaken us. At the behavioral level it affects what we do or do not do to avoid anxiety with behavioral responses such as attempts to avoid or escape from feared situations. And finally, at the level of physiological activation, the body reacts to anxiety in different ways, such as generating the presence of cardiac and respiratory acceleration or with the symptom that is the origin of this article: dizziness

The presence of anxiety can occur before very diverse phenomena, being generally caused by the presence of traumatic or stressful situations over which we have no capacity to control or the existence of excessive environmental demands for the resources that we consider to have. It is usually the result of some type of stress that generates high activation, to which there may be some type of vulnerability at the biological level.

A very similar concept would be that of anguish, although there is a small difference: anguish usually refers to more to the physical reaction while when talking about anxiety we usually talk more about cognitive and emotional

How does anxiety dizziness appear?

As we have been commenting, one of the possible effects of anxiety at a physiological level is the appearance of dizziness. When this happens we find that the experience of a negative emotion, generally a very high stress continued in time together with fear, generate an activation of the nervous system in such a way that it affects the nervous system nice.

An activation occurs that initially generates a heightened feeling of muscle tension in response to a possible attack or time when we have to defend ourselves. Also, breathing and heart rate rise, something that causes much more oxygen to enter much faster in order to generate energy. But if the stressor is not reduced and continues in force, finally our reserves end up being depleted and the body does not is able to stay in tension permanently, which can lead to loss of muscle tone, discomfort and dizziness

Among other aspects, hyperventilation, in which our breathing is accelerated and superficial, makes the oxygen levels that reach us not optimal, something that favors dizziness and vertigo.

Also the level of muscular tension generates a great energetic expenditure that can make the system overload. Also, the presence of tachycardia and high blood pressure will cause dizziness to occur when they drop because they cannot sustain this level forever.

Anxiety dizziness, although annoying, is not dangerous to the life of the subject. However, it is advisable to take into account and discard if they can be the product of some other type of affectationEspecially if nothing has happened recently that generates continued nervousness on our part.

At the neuronal level, these dizziness are explained by the activation of them nuclei of the vestibular system (which works with information about body posture and balance and is linked to dizziness) and its connection with the limbic system (which, among others, works with emotional information, such as the perception of fear and anxiety). It is specifically in the parabrachial nucleus where both systems converge, this being one of the main points that make us feel dizzy when we are nervous and anxious.

Different neurotransmitters, such as cortisol or histamine, are also involved in this alteration.

How can we avoid them?

The fact that the cause of this type of dizziness is the presence of anxiety makes it quite logical to find the way to avoid them: reduce or learn to manage our level of stress and anxiety in such a way that it does not generate somatic symptoms such as dizziness.

Some of the simplest and most basic methodologies, and at the same time useful, is the use of relaxation techniques. Among them stand out the use of breathing techniques such as diaphragmatic breathing, or the use of techniques that combine this with the tension and relaxation of muscle groups, such as Jacobson's progressive muscle relaxation.

Another notable aspect is working with anxiety-generating thoughts and beliefs, if necessary. modifying and proposing alternative interpretations of events with cognitive restructuring techniques. Decatastrophizing or putting yourself in a worst-case scenario to assess the real threat of concerns can also help.

In addition to this, it can also be useful to work with at a physiological level with techniques such as biofeedback, in such a way that we learn to assess the state and better manage our basic physiological processes (specifically breathing, cardiac activity or activity muscular).

Finally it is worth highlighting the importance of keeping the body hydrated and well nourished, as well as resting correctly, in such a way that our physical condition makes it difficult to suffer from dizziness.

Bibliographic references:

• Balaban, C.D. and Thayer, J.F. (2001). Neurological bases for balance and anxiety links. J Anxiety Disorder, 15 (1-2) p. 53-79.
• Girl, H.L. (2010). Relationship between anxiety disorders and inner ear disorders. Rev. Fac. Med. 58 (1): 60-70.
• Furman, J.M., Balaban C.D., and Jacob, R.G. (2001). Interface between vestibular dysfunction and anxiety: More than just psychogenicity. Otol Neurotol., 22 (3): p. 426-7.
• Morris, L.O. (2010). Dizziness from anxiety American Physical Therapy Association, Neurology Section.
• Saman, Y. et. Al. (2012) Interactions between Stress and Vestibular Compensation - A Review. Front Neurol; 3: 116.