The Connection Between Anxiety and Feeling Cold
Is it Real?
We all experience feelings of anxiety from time to time. It’s perfectly normal, as it can be a helpful response in challenging situations. However, when you experience anxiety on a more frequent basis and it begins to harm your life, it could be a sign that you are suffering from an anxiety disorder.
Are you constantly feeling cold?
Feeling cold is one of the most common anxiety symptoms and other anxiety symptoms often accompany it. Other anxiety symptoms that can attend to feeling cold are shortness of breath, trouble breathing, chest pain, difficulty swallowing, muscle tension, and headaches.
The role of fear in feeling cold
Feeling cold is a common anxiety symptom and it has to do with the role of fear in the process. When you are feeling anxious and experiencing a high amount of cortisol, your body diverts the blood flow away from the periphery, including the extremities such as your hands and feet. That’s why you may notice that you begin to feel colder when experiencing anxiety. Moreover, your body also has a reaction that makes you feel warmer in an attempt to counteract the feelings of anxiety. This is called an autonomic nervous system response, or the fight or flight response.
What does the research say about the connection between anxiety and feeling cold?
The researchers compared the scores between the two groups. The results showed that those who scored higher on the anxiety scale also reported that they felt colder. This study shows that anxiety and temperature perception are closely linked and that we can use temperature perception to better understand anxiety. This is important because nervousness often goes undetected and untreated. People may not want to talk about it or they may not even realize that they have anxiety. This study can help people to understand that anxiety can also be felt in physical ways.
Tips to help reduce anxiety and decrease your chances of feeling cold
Stress can lead to anxiety so learning how to manage it is an important part of reducing your chances of feeling cold.
– Meditation is one of the best ways to manage your stress and reduce anxiety.
– Exercise is a great way to both reduce your stress and increase your serotonin.Serotonin is a chemical in your body that helps manage anxiety.
– Lack of sleep can lead to anxiety and sleeping less than 7 hours can make you more prone to feeling cold.
– Eating a healthy diet can help you to feel less anxious and cold.
Feeling cold when you are not in cold weather is a sign that you may be experiencing anxiety. Researchers found that there is a strong relationship between anxiety and temperature perception. Learning how to manage it is important for you to feel better.
The author of this article is a therapist from the Sensera app. Sensera is a daily 10-minute self-therapy app. It’ll help you to cope with various mental problems (anxiety, self-esteem, and relationship issues). Feel better with CBT audio sessions and exercises. Download now to become happier!
