The Role of Somatic Symptoms in Anxiety

Have you ever experienced that feeling right before a presentation — the one where you feel you might just burst from the nerves of having to stand up in front of a group of people? Maybe your chest felt tight, your breathing heavier than normal, and you might even have felt a bit of a stomach ache.

If this has happened to you, you may have experienced somatic symptoms. Understanding what somatic symptoms are and how to manage them can help you feel prepared the next time you experience anxiety.

What are somatic symptoms?

When we experience anxiety, our bodies can enter into fight or flight mode. This causes a surge of physical symptoms — what we refer to as somatic symptoms. Some individuals report significant somatic symptoms when anxious; others report none. Everyone is a little bit different in their experience of anxiety.

Common somatic symptoms:

• breathlessness
• feelings of panic
• chest tightness
• stomach ache
• gastro-intestinal distress
• insomnia
• exhaustion
• restlessness

Somatic symptoms can be unsettling if you’ve never experienced anything like it before. Some of the symptoms could easily be mistaken for other medical concerns. Providing yourself with the knowledge and understanding of anxiety, how to detect it, and coping skills can allow for better mental health management.

Understanding and detecting anxiety

Evolutionary Psychology helps us understand the origin of anxiety: emotions evolved to organize aspects of our environment and appropriate responses. If we encounter a bear, we become fearful — a rush of adrenaline activates our sympathetic nervous system, sending us into fight or flight.

In modern society, anxieties have evolved around money, work, family stress, life and health. They’re still stressful, but they don’t necessarily elicit the same fight-or-flight response. Anxiety becomes problematic when we enter fight-or-flight mode even when the perceived and real threat is not proportionate to the level of fear that we are experiencing.

Common symptoms of anxiety:

• excessive worry; finding it difficult to control the worry
• irrational thinking
• ruminating thoughts
• nervousness
• panic
• fear or avoidance
• difficulty relaxing
• catastrophizing
• aching muscles
• sweating
• increased heart rate

Coping with anxiety

Coping skills allow the opportunity for anxiety to become more manageable.

Grounding techniques

Anxiety forces our minds out of the present moment and into the future or past. Grounding techniques allow our bodies to return to homeostasis.

5-4-3-2-1

Observe your surroundings and find five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste.

Box breathing

Breathe in slowly for four counts, hold your breath for four counts, release for four counts. Repeat. The purpose of intentional deep breathing is that it plays a role in calming your autonomic nervous system.

Get active

Integrating some type of movement for 20–30 minutes minimum each day will greatly increase your positive endorphins and support your body in decreasing anxiety by regulating cortisol. Sunshine and Vitamin D are great allies — getting outside for even 10–15 minutes can support in combating anxiety and depression.

If anxiety is hard to manage alone, read about our anxiety work or book a free 20-minute consult.