Anxiety can cause the body to react in strange and uncomfortable ways. From increased heart rate to gastrointestinal discomfort to vague aches and pains, we know now that anxiety and its resultant emotions have a direct effect on the various systems in our bodies. One of these, the vestibular system, is responsible for our sense of balance and spatial orientation. When we feel anxious, this system can be affected, causing feelings of unsteadiness, dizziness, blurred vision, and lightheadedness. Naturally, these feelings can be frightening and lead many people to a doctor’s office. In these appointments, an immediate conclusion is sometimes drawn to a medically diagnosable problem—in this case, vertigo, whose symptoms include dizziness, loss of balance, a spinning or whirling sensation, nausea, and sensitivity to light and sound.
Vertigo, however, shares many of the symptoms of anxiety and panic, so, therefore, it is important to recognize that while one might manifest in a similar fashion as the other, they are two separate diagnoses with different causes and courses of treatment. Vertigo, for instance, may require anti-motion sickness medications or surgery whereas anxiety can be treated with psychotherapy, medication, or a combination of the two. So, how can you avoid a misdiagnosis when you are experiencing sensations such as dizziness and imbalance? Here are some important factors to bear in mind:
Understand Anxiety’s Relationship to the Body
According to a study by Omara et al. (2022), “anxiety and dizziness have a complicated relationship. Specific individuals experience dizziness because of their anxiety, while others get dizzy and then feel anxious about it. Anxiety can cause a person to feel emotionally unsteady, resulting in a subjective sensation of dizziness.” Recognizing that a common physical symptom of anxiety is dizziness can help us to avoid jumping to the conclusion that any feeling of imbalance is vertigo or a deeper vestibular system problem. Asking yourself where in your body you experience anxiety can help to rule out more catastrophic conclusions about your symptoms.
Recognize What Other Symptoms Are Occurring
The physical manifestation of anxiety often includes more than just a single, isolated physical sensation. For example, when I am anxious, I am dizzy, but I also feel my heart beating quickly, and I tend to perspire more than usual. The point is that recognition of the multiple ways anxiety may show up in the body can help us to know when we are, indeed, experiencing a physical response to anxiety and not another singular, yet incorrect, diagnosis.
Talk to Your Provider About Your Anxiety
It is important that your general practitioner is aware of your experience with anxiety or panic, as it provides vital diagnostic information. If a doctor, for instance, is aware that you struggle with anxiety, they will likely be more apt to consider anxiety a root cause of your physical discomfort rather than a vestibular problem such as vertigo. This can help to avoid misdiagnosis or unneeded tests or scans.
Among the countless physical presentations of anxiety, vertigo-like symptoms are extremely common. Differentiation between vertigo and anxiety is necessary to ensure proper diagnosis and treatment.