Are you an excessive worrier? Perhaps you unconsciously think that if you “worry enough,” you can prevent bad things from happening. But the fact is it can affect the body in ways that may surprise you.

This is particularly important for women as worry, stress and anxiety can all increase hormonal symptoms.When worrying becomes excessive, it can even cause you to be physically ill.

This is most commonly seen in the rise of issues with sleep and an increase in the severity of hormonal symptoms such as hot flushes and night sweats.

What happens with excessive worry?

Worrying is feeling uneasy or being overly concerned about a situation or problem. With excessive worrying, your mind and body go into overdrive as you constantly focus on “what might happen, rather than the actual situation.

In the midst of excessive worrying, you may suffer with high anxiety and even panic, day or night. Many chronic worriers experience feeling a sense of impending doom or unrealistic fears that only increase their worries. Ultra-sensitive to their environment and to the criticism of others, excessive worriers may see anything – and anyone – as a potential threat.

Chronic worrying can affect your daily life so much that it may interfere with your appetite, lifestyle habits, relationships, sleep, and daily effectiveness. Many people who worry excessively seek relief in harmful lifestyle habits such as overeating, cigarette smoking, or using alcohol and drugs.

What is anxiety?

Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress. Ongoing anxiety, though, may be the result of a disorder such as generalised anxiety disorder, panic disorder, or social anxiety. Anxiety disorders are commonplace and manifests in multiple ways and does not discriminate by age, gender, or race.

Stressful events such as a test or a job interview can make anyone feel a bit anxious. And sometimes, a little worry or anxiety is helpful as it can help you get ready for an upcoming situation.

But excessive worriers react quickly and intensely to these stressful situations or triggers. Even thinking about the situation can cause chronic worriers great distress and disability. Excessive worry or ongoing fear or anxiety is harmful when it becomes so irrational that you can’t focus on reality or think clearly.

People with high anxiety have difficulty shaking their worries and when that happens, they may experience actual physical symptoms.

What triggers a stress response?

Stress comes from the demands and pressures we experience each day. Long queues when we are running late, rush hour traffic, a phone ringing nonstop, family or relationship issues or a chronic illness are all examples of things that can cause stress on a daily basis.

When worries and anxiety become excessive, chances are you’ll trigger the stress response.

There are two elements to the stress response. The first is the perception of the challenge. The second is an automatic physiological reaction called the “fight or flight” response that brings on a surge of adrenaline and sets your body on red alert.

There was a time when the “fight or flight” response protected our ancestors from such dangers as wild animals that could easily make a meal out of them, and we still initiate that response but to different dangers.

It could be a difficult boss or someone you work with, a crying baby, or a dispute with a friend or family member as there are so many potential triggers. If you can it’s best to learn just what exactly sets you off as once you know that you are better able to deal with it.

Can excessive worry make you ill?

Chronic worry and emotional stress can trigger a host of health problems. The problem occurs when fight or flight is triggered daily by excessive worrying and anxiety.

This causes the body’s sympathetic nervous system to release stress hormones such as cortisol. These hormones can boost blood sugar levels and that can be used by the body for fuel.

The hormones also cause physical reactions such as:

• Difficulty swallowing
• Dizziness
• Fast heartbeat
• Fatigue
• Headaches
• Inability to concentrate
• Irritability
• Muscle aches
• Muscle tension
• Nausea
• Nervous energy
• Rapid breathing
• Shortness of breath
• Sweating
• Trembling and twitches

When the excessive fuel in the blood isn’t used for physical activities, the chronic anxiety and outpouring of stress hormones can have serious physical consequences.

These can include:

• Suppression of the immune system
• Digestive disorders
• Muscle tension
• Short-term memory loss
• Premature coronary artery disease
• Heart attack

If excessive worrying and high anxiety go untreated, they can lead to depression and even suicidal thoughts.

Although these effects are a response to stress, stress is simply the trigger. Whether or not you become ill depends on how you handle stress. Physical responses to stress involve your immune system, your blood vessels, and how certain glands in your body secrete hormones. These hormones help to regulate various functions in your body, such as brain function and nerve impulses.

All of these systems interact and are profoundly influenced by your coping style and your psychological state.

It isn’t the stress that makes you ill. Rather, it’s the effect responses such as excessive worrying and anxiety have on these various interacting systems that can bring on the physical illness.

There are things you can do however  to alter the way you respond.

Lifestyle changes that can help

Although excessive worrying and high anxiety can cause an imbalance in your body, there are many options you have that can re-establish harmony of mind, body, and spirit.

Generally speaking, I am sure you know about all of these, but like most of us they are not always the easiest to adhere to regularly when feeling anxious or stressed.

• Exercise helps because the chemicals produced during moderate exercise can be extremely beneficial in terms of enhancing the function of the immune system.
• Eat a healthy, balanced diet. Stress and worrying can mean comfort eating or loss of appetite or just indulging in the wrong foods or increased alcohol or caffeine intake. If you are a coffee lover, keep it in moderation as it it stimulates the nervous system, which can trigger adrenaline and make you feel nervous and jittery.
• Learn to relax. Relaxation techniques can trigger the relaxation response – a physiological state characterised by a feeling of warmth and quiet mental alertness. They can also increase your ability to self-manage stress as with relaxation, blood flow to the brain increases and waves shift from an alert, beta rhythm to a relaxed, alpha rhythm. Practiced regularly they can counteract the debilitating effects of stress. Try some deep abdominal breathing, meditation, listening to calming music, and activities like yoga, meditation and tai chi all help. They decrease hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline, which are released during the “fight or flight” or stress response.
• Be conscious of your worries. Set aside 15 minutes each day where you allow yourself to focus on problems and fears and then consciously try to let them go after the 15 minutes is up. Some people wear a rubber band on their wrist and “pop” the rubber band if they find themselves going into their “worry mode.” Do whatever you can to remind yourself to stop dwelling on worries.
• Friends and family matter as chronic feelings of loneliness or social isolation make it harder to effectively manage stress. Strong connections and networks help because they are linked to greater life expectancies compared with those people who do not, but also have fewer incidences of just about all types of disease.
• Get support from a professional therapist or a doctor as they can help you develop coping strategies to deal with issues that trigger excessive worrying. This sort of  support can help you identify what types of thoughts and beliefs cause the anxiety and then work with you to reduce them.

Helpful information: 

It is certainly true that during menopause, and often way beyond it, anxiety and stress levels do increase. This is partly due to the natural changes that occur in life around these transitions but also relate to the fact that your hormone levels are changing and decreasing more rapidly.

Anxiety and stress can definitely be related to low hormone levels and although progesterone is often the missing element, it may be that you could be deficient in oestrogen as well.

If you’re not sure then this article can help.

https://anna.blog.wellsprings-health.com/which-hormone-or-hormones-might-you-need/