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People with social anxiety experience nervousness and discomfort, either mental or physical, or both, when dealing with social situations. Here are some of the symptoms you might experience when you are around other people, or anticipating a social situation. These symptoms that might accompany social phobia and social anxiety, panic attacks or other sorts of anxieties and phobias:
Chest pain
Chest pain is caused by muscle tension. It can feel very scary to the level that people think they are going to die of a heart attack. But this is a different pain and this can be checked out with a physician. Deep breathing and relaxation techniques help this pain to diminish. Massaging the upper body muscles also reduces the pain.
Lump in throat & difficulty swallowing
This is caused by the muscles in the throat contracting due to anxiety or stress. Sometimes you feel like it is so difficult to swallow and trying hard to do it makes it more difficult. It is harmless and will not cause you to stop breathing, eating or drinking, it is just very unpleasant.
Colour loss in skin
During high tension and anxiety, blood is diverted to the muscles. As a result the blood vessels in your skin surface that give the skin a pink, healthy color receive reduced blood flow and the skin loses some of its color. It is not dangerous and will return to normal as the body starts to recover after an anxiety attack.
Sweating
Sweating is a normal physical reaction to reduce the body temperature. During periods of anxiety and stress, as the body enters into the fight or flight mode, it uses more energy and as a result it sweats to release the excess heat. As the anxiety subsides sweat levels return to normal. Try to avoid focusing on sweating as it makes it worse, distract yourself by other activities and thoughts.
Shaking and shivering
Shaking is a normal reaction to fear and also happens as a response to a drop in body temperature. The muscles in the body contract spasmodically to create friction and heat to increase the body temperature. It is natural and normal and it will pass after some time.
Neck and shoulder pain
As part of the body’s fight or flight response, the muscles contract. It is normal for the muscles in the neck and shoulder area to follow this route and if the stress and anxiety lasts longer, the muscles get tense and tired and as a result we feel pain in this area.
Indigestion, heartburn, constipation, and diarrhea
During anxiety and stress, the body diverts blood to critical parts that are necessary for fight or flight, mostly the muscles. One of the outcomes would be that the blood that is necessary for digestion is diverted from stomach and digestive tract. Also the muscles around the digestive tract can become knotted. As a result we might feel indigestion, heartburn and diarrhea or constipation.
Sexual Dysfunction and loss of sex drive
Prolonged anxiety can have an adverse affect on sexual performance. Both men and women may experience a loss of sex drive. Men may have trouble achieving or maintaining an erection.
Skin rashes, spots, or dryness These symptoms are common among people suffering from anxiety. Sometimes people will see eczema-like rashes around their nose, cheeks and forehead. Usually these rashes disappear soon.
Weakness in arms & tingling in the hands or feet
Because of all the physiological responses to anxiety we can have tingling feelings in hands or feet and also feel weak in arms or legs. The feeling of legs giving way under the body weight is one of them. Usually shaking and moving hands and legs can recirculate the blood to these extremities of the body and stop the tingling feeling.
Dry mouth
As body fluids are diverted for use in other parts of the body during anxiety, the mouth becomes dry. To counter it, try to sip water or suck sweets to lubricate your mouth.
Insomnia
Everybody knows that the result of extreme anxiety during the day is having difficulty falling asleep. We have to try to have enough sleep because lack of sleep actually increases the anxiety symptoms.
Nightmares
Dreams and nightmares tend to mimic what is going on in our daily lives. If we are relaxed and contented we have pleasant dreams and usually do not remember them. If we are disturbed or confused our dreams are more likely to be too. Nightmares are unpleasant but harmless, the more you master good sleep and practice breathing and relaxation exercises the better your dreams will become.
Fears of going mad or losing control
You are not going mad if you think you are. If you are scared you are going mad, it means you are aware of what is happening to your mental process. People who really go mad don’t know what is happening to them. Confused nervous messages to the brain along tired nerves in a tired body do not constitute madness. So don’t be scared, it is just that your body and brain are tired and exhausted with anxiety and you receive wrong messages.
Increased depression & suicidal thoughts
Depression and anxiety are different and the result of different chemicals in the brain but sometimes they are felt together. Anxiety has some similar symptoms to depression but still is a different state of mind. If you have thoughts of harming yourself, talk to a doctor or therapist. You can also call the Toronto Distress Centre at 416-408-HELP (4357).
Aggression
Aggression and anger is part of fight or flight feelings we have during anxiety. It is a normal reaction to anxiety for some people. Aggression and anger can be controlled through Anger Management techniques.
Flu-like symptoms
When the body is fighting flu, it releases anti-bodies into the blood to attack the virus. This and flu cause the body to feel weak and sweaty and painful. Anxiety can cause the same symptoms. The way to get rid of it is to exercise.
Distorted vision
When adrenalin is released into the body, it creates many different reactions to deal with danger. One is to dilate the pupils, allowing more light to enter to be prepared to see the danger. When you are anxious, you become sensitive to bright light. It can become so severe that sometimes anxious people wear sunglasses to reduce the sensitivity.
Hormone problems
Anxiety affects different parts of the body, including the endocrine system. Endocrine balances the body glands and the secretion of hormones into the body. The human brain has centres that control the levels of released hormones and during anxiety periods these centres are affected and might change the hormone levels. Sometimes women will have irregular menstrual cycles and men might have mood swings because of the levels of testosterone in the body. These can be controlled and corrected by drugs.
Headaches
One of the results of anxiety is tension in all muscles. In the neck and shoulder muscles, this can create feelings of headache and a tight band around the head, pain in the eyes, forehead or face.
Sore eyes
During an anxiety attack, the body fluids are directed to organ important for fight or flight response. This can cause soreness and dry eyes which is irritating.
Pins and needles sensations in the skin
Confused nerve signals in the body can create these feelings which will cease after the anxiety is reduced.
Hyperactivity
Hyperactive people do everything faster, they talk faster and walk faster, etc. Some people, when they are anxious, become hyperactive because of the tense muscles and adrenalin in their system.
Toothache-like pains in the face and jaw
This happens because of the tension in the neck, shoulder and face muscles. It can also be caused by tooth grinding that sometimes accompanies anxiety attacks.
By: Rama
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