How Stress may be causing you Heart Problems
Have you ever had a panic attack? People who suffer them describe them as overwhelming and marked by extreme nervousness and fear. A person having a stress induced attack of anxiety finds it difficult to function normally.
What happens during an anxiety attack? A stress induced anxiety or panic attack might be viewed as an overwhelming feeling of fear or nervousness that makes it nearly impossible to think or behave normally.
When the brain gives that danger signal to the body, the organs must prepare for exertion: to fight or to run. The heart begins racing to pump extra blood to the organs for the emergency. Suddenly the eyes are on alert — the hearing is keener — muscles tense and tighten. Every body part is calling for extra energy.
All of us have felt the adrenalin rush of a dangerous situation. But such periods of danger are normally short. And it is a good thing, because the body cannot continue to stay on full alert constantly. With stress induced anxiety, however, it tries to do just that. The brain continues to yell: Danger!
When does the body reach its breaking point? Half the brain is saying: whoa! Slow down. We can’t keep this up. The other half is reading the anxiety and continues to scream: Danger! The heart races, slows down, races, slows down. Eventually it becomes too much. And it stops.
So the heart is told to beat faster, but then, because the body needs to rest, the brain signals the heart to slow down. But the anxiety tells it to speed up. Everything is racing and everything is trying to slow down. Eventually it is easier just to stop.
* Rising and falling blood pressure * Accelerated heart beat * It becomes hard to breathe normally * The body feels cold * Nervousness and shaking
Common heart problems might sometimes be classified as stress heart problems. When you understand the affect that stress induced anxiety has on the body, it is not difficult to understand why.
No wonder stress can cause you heart problems. You have to find a way to reduce anxiety or it will eventually cause your brain to give constant mixed signals to all of your organs — taxing them to the limit.