According to the Anxiety & Depression Association of America, roughly 40 million American adults have an anxiety disorder. That is close to 20% of the population. With such a high prevalence, many people deal with the debilitating symptoms of anxiety daily. Over half of those suffering from anxiety deal with at least one anxiety attack each year. 

Anxiety disorders and panic attacks are treatable using various medications or therapeutic techniques. However, they are not curable. The only thing that medicine or therapy can do is help people manage their symptoms and avoid having panic attacks as best they can. 

One way people can keep anxiety and anxiety attacks at bay is by knowing triggers and learning how to cope appropriately. But what are the most common triggers of anxiety? Read on to learn more. 

What is the most common cause of anxiety? 

There is no single most common cause of anxiety. Typically, various factors play into its development. Anxiety disorders are generally the number one cause associated with anxiety and panic attacks; however, medical researchers are yet to understand why these disorders develop.

Other things that can lead to anxiety and panic attacks include trauma, stress, medications, drug use, and other underlying medical conditions. Each person’s anxiety will develop because of something different, and no two people experience it the same way. 

What triggers anxiety attacks? 

People with anxiety often get to know their individual triggers to cope with their disorders and symptoms. However, some more general triggers can cause anxiety attacks to occur. These include: 

1. Health issues

Being told that you have an illness can make you feel like your world is ending. It can be a profound and drastic life change that will turn things upside down. When a person already has anxiety, or even if they don’t, dealing with severe or chronic illness can trigger feelings of anxiety or a panic attack. 

2. Medications 

While medications keep your health in check, some have nasty side effects. One such side effect can be anxiety or panic attacks. The medicines that trigger these feelings can be either prescribed to you or over-the-counter. Ingredients in the medication can trigger emotional or physical changes that cause an anxiety attack when you’re least expecting it.

Medicines that may cause this include: 

• Weight loss medications
• Birth control pills
• Cough and congestion medicines 
• Inhalers for congestion or chest infections 

3. Caffeine

Caffeine in small doses may not cause anxiety in most people, but it can send some into a panic attack. Research has found that people with existing anxiety disorders are more susceptible to the effects of caffeine. 

4. Hunger and skipping meals 

Blood sugar and anxiety can go hand-in-hand in some cases. If you skip meals, your blood sugar drops. When that happens, the body begins to experiences symptoms such as jittery hands. Research has found that the hungrier you are, the higher your anxiety levels may be. 

5. Negative thoughts 

Your thoughts have a remarkable ability to control physical sensations within the body. Suppose you constantly repeat negative phrases or words to yourself in times of distress. In that case, you can trigger feelings of anxiety without even realizing it. The mind–body connection is strong, and if you aren’t kind to yourself, you may be doing yourself more of a disservice than you realize. 

6. Finances 

Money makes the world go round, and when people are experiencing a financial worry or downfall, it can trigger anxiety or panic attacks. Worrying about one’s financial position and falling behind on bills have been shown to correlate with anxiety and depression.  

7. Social events

Social anxiety is a form of anxiety disorder that affects people in a specific way. People with the condition often feel significant anxiousness while in social situations. They may even experience an anxiety attack at a party or other social gathering. Social interaction with even a few people, or someone you don’t know, could bring on an anxiety attack for some. 

8. Conflict 

When a person has stress surrounding their relationships with their partner, friends, family, or coworkers, they may experience an increase in anxiety or panic attacks. People with anxiety feel an increase in physical and emotional distress when they have to witness or engage in hostile situations. 

In some cases, conflict can be much more profound – for example, if a person is in a war-like situation. Research shows that people who experience this more severe form of conflict in their life may suffer from anxiety and panic attacks years after the events took place. 

9. Stress

Stress and anxiety are often connected because of how they influence each other. Stress can trigger feelings of anxiety, and anxiety can trigger the physical stress response in the body. When people experience high levels of stress for any reason, it can trigger anxiety symptoms and even full-blown panic attacks. 

While these triggers are common, they do not affect all people with anxiety disorders similarly. People may also have personal triggers that are unique to them and their own life experiences. The best thing you can do for your anxiety attacks is to learn your triggers and develop coping mechanisms to help you manage your symptoms. 

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Everybody experiences some form of stress – it’s just a normal part of everyday life. Whether it’s acute stress, such as having a really tough day at the office, or something more chronic because of a continually stressful situation or lifestyle, there isn’t a person on the planet who hasn’t felt this emotion at some point in their life.

The stress response is an evolutionary part of human existence and initially acted as a way to protect you from harm. However, it was designed solely for this purpose, and typically, when our ancestors were out of the stressful situation, their bodies returned to normal because the stress response was no longer needed.

Today, however, that initial stress response (also known as fight-or-flight) still works for you and your health, but it can be skewed in the sense that it may be activated for too long. When that happens, different bodily processes can be negatively affected. One such system that can be affected by stress is the immune system – but what is the role of stress in immunity, and can it make your immune function worse? Read on to learn more about how stress can influence immune function.

What is the relationship between stress and the immune system?

The immune system acts as your body’s first line of defense, and technically speaking, stress can actually be helpful when it comes to your immune response. As mentioned above, stress was initially a psychological response that protected people against harm. In terms of the immune system, that initial response primes the body to be better prepared to fight off infection and avoid or heal any injuries a person may have from fleeing a dangerous situation.

Since the same rules don’t apply today (the stimuli our ancestors experienced were very different to the ones we experience today!), that stress response now invokes an immune response that isn’t necessarily needed. For example, if you get stressed while waiting in line for coffee while you’re late to work, your body isn’t in any real danger – but you’re still stressed. The physiological response is still the same, and the activation of your immune system to help heal injury or prevent infection will still occur, even though it isn’t really needed.

How does stress affect the immune system?

Stress can affect the immune system in many ways because of the way it influences various bodily systems that tie into immunity. For example, the bowel is a large part of immunity since it houses immune cells needed to fight off infection. Stress can cause issue with the bowel that can lead to various unpleasant symptoms.

When it comes to immunity, stressful situations can reduce the amount of nutrients that are absorbed into the body and the gut bacteria can become imbalanced. The immune system can become weakened when the nutrients it needs are not getting absorbed, and when gut bacteria are off balance, immune function also falters. 

The nervous system also gets activated during times of stress. During this activation, stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline are released. These are designed to help the body prepare for battle, so to speak – but when there is no battle, the body doesn’t really benefit from their release.

An overproduction of cortisol that is not used appropriately, or remains high due to constant and chronic stress, hinders the action of the immune system. This is because too-high levels of cortisol end up causing the immune system to become less responsive to the hormone, thus increasing the production of inflammatory cells that hinder the immune system’s function.  

Cortisol also has the ability to disrupt how well the immune system works because of its effect on the endocrine system. The endocrine system acts as a series of messengers throughout the body to regulate the action or organs and glands. Because acute levels of stress cause inflammation to occur due to the production of cortisol, chronic stress drives chronic inflammation.

When the body’s inflammatory process isn’t acting as it should, the immune system does not activate when it needs to, because the connection between it and the glands that produce stress hormones is compromised.Altogether, when chronic inflammation and the connection pathways in the body are hindered, you are more at risk of chronic diseases.

Can stress cause a weak immune system?

As mentioned above, stress can weaken the immune system. While acute stress isn’t as much of an issue, chronic stress can cause real problems. Brief periods of acute stress are a normal and typical response that leads to the re-regulation of the immune system once the stressful situation has passed. Chronic stress, on the other hand, drives crossed wires and poor functioning because the body is in a constant state of stress when there is no actual situation that it needs protection from.

While avoiding stress completely is essentially impossible, one of the best things you can do for your immune system is practice stress reduction techniques. This could include meditation, practicing a hobby you enjoy, or exercising regularly. Keeping overall stress levels down as much as possible will ensure any acute stress you experience doesn’t stick around to harm your health in the long run.

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Unfortunately, there is no way to completely avoid situations that may cause you to feel stressed – stress is just a part of life. However, when a person is stressed, their health is often hindered because stress can impact the body in negative ways (right down to a cellular level).

When we experience short-term stress, the body activates its “fight or flight” mode to prepare us to get out of harm’s way. This is an evolutionary response that kept our distant ancestors alive. Today, there are much fewer immediate dangers for most people – however, the stress response has stuck around and can be activated when there is no imminent threat to your life. During short bouts of stress, hormones are released that increase how hard the body works in order to get you out of a difficult or dangerous situation. Your breathing and heart rate speed up, your skin may grow pale or flushed, and your pupils dilate.

When stress is long-term or chronic, the body believes you are in danger a lot of the time. Because of this, you may experience headaches and stomachaches, your blood pressure may increase, and you may have difficulty falling asleep. Many people also experience a depletion of energy when they’re stressed. Read on to learn exactly how stress can influence energy levels.

Does stress deplete energy levels?

In short, the answer is yes: stress can significantly affect your energy levels. When people experience acute or chronic stress, their body essentially goes into overdrive, and when that happens, a lot of energy is used. Without adequate rest time or a break from stress, the energy that is being used up will not be restored properly.

How does stress impact energy levels?

The reason energy levels are zapped when you’re under chronic stress is because of the body’s physiological responses. The main system affected by these changes is the hypothalamic pituitary-adrenal system. When this system activates, it does so in various steps.

First, the stressor activates the hypothalamic pituitary axis. This action stimulates the pituitary gland to release a substance known as adrenocorticotropic hormone, which in turn stimulates the release of corticosteroid, or cortisol, from the adrenal glands. When cortisol is produced, glucose is released from the liver.

This hormone release is designed to help the body maintain adequate levels of sugar in the blood so that it’s prepared to take action in response to the stressor, and to return to normal once the stress has passed.

The automatic nervous system is also activated during this time – specifically, the adrenal medulla. The adrenal medulla releases adrenaline, which causes the body to prepare itself to either fight the threat or run away from it. While the automatic nervous system is activated, which prepares the body for better control, the parasympathetic nervous system is reduced so that certain processes within the body are quieted.

This entire reaction occurs quickly after a person experiences stress. When the stress is chronic, these physiological responses affect overall health in various ways.

Does short-term stress drain your energy?

During bouts of short-term stress, the process described above actually increases your body’s energy for a short period of time so you can be prepared to fight or run away from the potential threat. This short-term boost comes from stored glucose in the liver.

When the stressor has been eliminated, the body rebalances itself back to a normal state. During this time, you will not typically experience any sort of energy loss. It is only when stress is chronic that you will begin to feel your overall energy levels drop.

How does chronic and long-term stress affect energy levels?

There are various ways that long-term stress impacts energy levels. One has to do with your metabolic process and digestive system: acute stress hinders the appetite because the body determines that it doesn’t need to feed itself when it is preparing for danger.

However, when stress is persistent, the response that affects your appetite and digestion messes up your entire metabolic process. Not only are you not eating enough to properly fuel your body, your energy metabolism is also under-functioning and not providing you with the fuel you need to get through the day.

Bouts of chronic stress can also make it difficult for you to get proper sleep, and may lead to the development of mental health disorders that can further disrupt the way energy is stored and dispersed throughout the body. When we don’t get enough rest, our energy levels do not have enough time to replenish themselves. During sleep, the molecule ATP is made; this molecule plays a large role in energy levels, and if there isn’t enough of it, you will lack energy.

Because of the various effects that stress has on the body, especially chronic stress, low energy levels could indicate that you have been too stressed for too long. It’s important to manage stress levels to ensure your body stays healthy and your energy levels stay consistent.

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Many factors are at play when it comes to our weight. Food (the types eaten and how much), exercise (how often we move our body), and genetics can all play a role in whether a person gains or loses weight easily, or how well they are able to maintain a healthy weight. Metabolism – the rate at which we burn or store calories – can also influence weight.

There are other lesser-known factors that contribute to weight loss or gain just as strongly as those mentioned above. One such factor that many people either don’t know about, or pay little attention to, is stress levels. Read on to learn how stress can influence weight in terms of both loss and gain.

What is chronic stress?

Everyone experiences stress at some point in their lives. Whether those stresses are small, such as being stuck in traffic while late for work, or large, such as losing a loved one, feeling stressed from time to time is unavoidable. Typically, passing stressors don’t do much in the way of weight gain or loss, because the body can cope well with the type of stress that doesn’t stick around. However, when chronic stress strikes, it’s a whole different story.

Chronic stress is characterized as consistent and unrelenting periods of high stress that tend to last for three months or more. People who experience chronic stress often find themselves dealing with other physical symptoms such as aches and pains or the inability to get a good night’s rest. When a person deals with this level of stress for a long time, several physiological changes can occur.

One such change is the level of cortisol in the blood. Cortisol is referred to as the primary stress hormone. In the natural stress response, cortisol raises and encourages the release of more glucose into the blood stream. That glucose is then used by the brain and bodily tissues as a way to repair injury. It also stops the functioning of certain processes that could hinder a person’s ability to fight or flee in a dangerous situation.  

During a chronic stress situation, levels of cortisol stay high and the processes that are hindered as a form of protection remain that way, even when there’s no threat or danger. This leads to various malfunctions within the body, one of which can affect your weight.

How does chronic stress affect your weight?

Chronic stress can affect your weight in different ways because of the high levels of cortisol you’re experiencing. High levels of cortisol change the way many processes in the body function and can make it difficult to maintain a healthy weight by either encouraging weight loss or weight gain. But how does stress cause weight gain or loss, exactly?

Can stress cause weight gain?

Cortisol and weight gain often go hand in hand because of the way the hormone affects the body. When a person is constantly under stress, they may experience sugar cravings because the body is using up all the glucose it has stored in order to be ready for the perceived threat.

However, when there is no threat and that glucose storage is getting used up, the body will crave more and more sugar because it won’t have any left to power up the areas needed for the fight or flight response. This increase in sugar cravings can lead to a person eating more sugary foods that cause weight gain. The body also stores sugar after stressful situations so that it’s well prepared, and if these stores don’t get used as energy, they can end up on your waistline. 

If you’re trying to lose weight but are constantly stressed, cortisol will make that difficult, too. This is because cortisol slows down your metabolism. When the metabolism slows, less calories are burned on a day-to-day basis and you will find it increasingly difficult to lose weight.

How to stop cortisol weight gain

If you want to stop the cortisol weight gain, you will first have to lower your levels of cortisol – that is, by reducing your stress levels. This can be easier said than done, but one proven way you can do this is by practicing mindful meditation. Studies have shown that the practice of meditation can effectively lower cortisol levels in people who perform it regularly. Regular moderate exercise may also help to lower cortisol levels over time, leaving you less stressed in the long run and more able to either lose weight or maintain your weight over time.

Research has shown that other activities and stress reduction techniques can also help to lower cortisol levels within the body. These activities include:

• Music or art therapy
• Yoga
• Being out in nature
• Focusing on positives

Does stress cause you to lose weight?

On the opposite side of the spectrum, stress can also cause a person to lose weight. While most of the clinical research surrounding chronic stress and weight focuses heavily on weight gain, there are some reasons why stress could also cause a person to lose weight, including a loss of appetite or an inability to sit still (causing more calories to be burned throughout the day).

Chronic stress is bad for the body in many ways, and weight fluctuation is one of them. In addition to eating well and exercising, the best thing you can do to maintain a healthy weight is undertake stress management/reduction techniques that can help you curb chronic stress.

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The liver is one of the most important organs because of the variety of life-maintaining functions it performs. Essentially, the liver acts as a sort of detox program built right into the body, processing the blood that leaves the stomach and intestines so it can create nutrients the body needs to survive. This process also ensures that any medications can be effectively metabolized so that the body can use them without harm.

Since the liver plays such a vital role in filtration, digestion, metabolism, and detoxification, its proper function is essential to our overall health. A healthy liver ensures your body gets everything it needs (and that everything it doesn’t is removed), but when it isn’t working as it should, some serious health issues can occur.

Diseases such as hepatitis B and C and excessive use of alcohol can both lead to liver damage or failure. But does stress have the same effect? Read on to learn how stress can influence liver function and what you can do about it.

Can emotional stress affect the liver?

Emotional stress can take a toll on your mental wellbeing and cause a host of mental health disorders such as anxiety or depression, but it can also cause issues with your physical health. When the body feels high levels of emotional stress, it releases a hormone known as cortisol. While cortisol can be beneficial in terms of preparing to respond to danger or increasing metabolism to help process glucose, there is such a thing as having too much cortisol.

According to the American Psychological Association, when levels of cortisol are too high (especially on a regular basis), many of the body’s systems can be negatively affected. For example, the muscles naturally tense up in an effort to be on guard when cortisol levels are high. However, when there is no actual threat of danger, that prolonged tension can lead to the development of disorders tied to muscle tension, such as migraines and chronic pain.

Every other system in the body can be negatively affected by too much emotional stress, including the cardiovascular system, the respiratory system, and the digestive system (which includes the liver). Research has found that when someone is constantly experiencing high levels of emotional stress, it can lead to issues with the blood flow in the liver. When that happens, the liver cannot get enough oxygen stores and its blood vessels can narrow, ultimately leading to liver damage.

If your stress levels begin to affect your liver, you may start to experience symptoms such as:

• Changes to the color of your skin
• Chronic digestive issues
• Aches and pains
• Dark-colored urine
• Mood swings
• Low energy
• Pain in the chest or abdomen

Does stress contribute to fatty liver?

For people who already have an issue with how their liver functions, high levels of stress can make the issue worse. This is especially true in the case of fatty liver disease – a condition that develops when a person has an excess level of fat within the liver.

Over time, high levels of fat in the liver cause damage, which comes with a host of health problems such as:

• Fatigue
• Unintentional weight loss
• Jaundice (a yellowing of the skin or eyes)
• Spiderlike blood vessels on the skin
• Itching that doesn’t go away 

If the condition worsens, it can lead to cirrhosis, a disease that can develop into liver failure and even lead to the need for a liver transplant. Various studies have examined how the liver is affected by stress in relation to fatty liver disease. One particular study looked at the livers of healthy adults to see how high levels of stress may influence the development of the disease. The results showed that fatty liver disease was correlated most often with people who had higher levels of stress – indicating that stress itself can bring on fatty liver disease for people who may already be at risk of developing the condition.

Another research paper looked at people who had already been diagnosed with fatty liver disease and how stress affected the health of their liver following onset. The study found that stress, especially prolonged and chronic stress, was a main factor in the worsening of the disease because of the way it can lead to an increase in both cholesterol and triglycerides in the liver. 

Can stress and anxiety cause elevated liver enzymes?

Various substances assist the liver in performing its job. One substance that is vital for liver function is liver enzymes – proteins that help the processing of blood from the stomach and intestines. Liver enzymes are designed to speed up those chemical reactions for the best possible result.

Research has shown that people who experience high levels of emotional stress and anxiety often have elevated levels of liver enzymes. High levels are associated with inflammation and liver damage.

The effect stress has on the liver is an entirely negative one, especially in instances where the stress is chronic. Since your liver is vital to your overall health, the best thing you can do to keep it healthy is eat right, take care of yourself, and do your best to reduce stress wherever possible.

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The world today is full of stressors that cause mental anguish. Many of these stressors are unique to our modern society – novel “first world problems” that nonetheless provoke a stress response that is very real, and often chronic.

Our ancestors may have been susceptible to dying from an illness that modern medicine has neutered and made benign… But they also lived much more in accordance with their circadian rhythms, suffered less Instagram-induced status anxiety, never had to grind their way through rush hour traffic, and didn’t use email!

The modern world is a fantastic place to live, but it can also be stressful. Stress can have an impact on many elements of your life and health – let’s take a look at a few below.

How Stress Can Influence Fitness Levels

Most of us would agree that at the end of the day, our health, and the health of those we love, is the most important thing in the world. So why do so many of us live in ways that are damaging to our health?

Stress can have a very negative impact on our health and physical fitness levels. Being physically fit is a crucial component of overall health, but unfortunately many of us have compromised fitness because we are chronically stressed.

How Does Stress Affect Fitness?

Does stress reduce fitness? Yes, stress can reduce fitness levels. Some of the negative effects that stress has on fitness are:

• Increasing muscle tension
• Increasing appetite and promoting storage of body fat
• Increasing risk of injury
• Reducing sleep quality and energy levels

How Do Stress And Anxiety Affect Exercise?

Stress and anxiety can…

• Make exercise less enjoyable

• Negatively affect concentration, ability to focus, and exercise quality
• Hinder recovery after exercise
• Reduce sleep quality, which makes exercise more difficult
• Make people avoid gyms and exercise classes

What Are The Physical And Emotional Symptoms of Stress?

The most common physical symptoms of stress are:

• Headaches
• Clenched jaw and grinding teeth
• Muscle tension, aches, and pains
• Nervousness and shaking
• Upset stomach
• Chest pain and heart palpitations
• Trouble sleeping
• Low energy levels
• Frequent colds and infections
• Loss of sexual interest
• Ringing in the ears
• Cold or sweaty extremities
• Dry mouth and difficulty swallowing

The most common emotional symptoms of stress are:

• Low or erratic mood
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Being easily agitated
• Frustration
• A feeling of overwhelm or panic
• An inability to relax your mind
• Negative internal dialog
• Low self-esteem

What Are The Cognitive And Behavioral Symptoms Of Stress?

The most common cognitive symptoms of stress are:

• A pessimistic outlook
• Chronic worrying and rumination
• Racing thoughts
• Forgetfulness
• Trouble focusing
• Disorganized thinking

The most common behavioral symptoms of stress are:

• Overeating
• Undereating
• Using alcohol and/or drugs
• Procrastination
• Avoidance behaviors
• Engaging in compulsive coping behaviors such as masturbation, pacing, nail biting, or fidgeting

What Are The Effects Of Stress On Physical Health?

Short-term stress has physical, emotional, cognitive and behavioral symptoms. If/when stress goes away, these symptoms will usually abate. However, long-term chronic stress can lead to a variety of physical health problems, including:

• Obesity
• Cardiovascular disease
• Gastrointestinal diseases
• Menstrual problems
• Sexual dysfunction, such as impotence and premature ejaculation, or loss of desire
• Skin problems, such as acne, eczema, and psoriasis
• Balding and permanent hair loss
• Long-term mental health problems

Causes Of Stress In The Modern World

Some of the main causes of stress in the modern world are:

• Financial concerns
• Overwork
• Internet overuse and addiction
• Alienation and a lack of face-face connection
• Status anxiety
• Sleep deprivation
• 24-hour news coverage
• Omnipresent advertisements and marketing
• A lack of connection to nature
• Exposure to artificial light that interrupts our circadian rhythm

How Can We Manage Our Stress Levels And Improve Our Fitness Levels?

Here are some ways we can manage stress levels and improve our fitness:

• Eat a healthy diet
• Get plenty of sleep
• Spend lots of time with people whose company you enjoy
• Get off social media
• Limit how much news you consume
• Spend time with animals
• Read a good book
• Go for walks in nature
• Explore supplements that reduce stress levels and improve health

What Are The Best Supplements For Reducing Stress?

CBD oil: Research has shown that CBD oil has the effect of lowering cortisol. CBD also appears to increase sleep duration.

Melatonin: Good-quality sleep goes a long way to reducing stress levels. Research suggests that melatonin can improve sleep in several ways, including encouraging the onset of sleep and improving people’s subjective assessment of the quality of their sleep.

Delta Sleep Inducing peptide: Another promising supplement that can reduce stress by improving sleep is Delta Sleep Inducing peptide. Research indicates that Delta Sleep Inducing peptide promotes higher sleep efficiency and shorter sleep latency.

Bioactive Milk Peptides (lactium): Lactium peptide contains amino acids that can reduce cortisol levels, induce relaxation, improve sleep quality, and reduce stress.

Magnesium: Research suggests that magnesium relaxes muscles, improves sleep time and sleep efficiency, and reduces serum cortisol concentration.

Valerian: Research indicates that valerian may help reduce stress by promoting sleep and relaxation and reducing anxiety.

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