I notice that when I experience a sudden anxiety (for example when someone starts shouting at me) then my balance gets markedly worse at that moment.
Does anyone else experience this?
Bid stress always sends me into higher than usual dizziness!
Yes, sudden strong anxiety makes me feel suddenly dizzy for a few moments.
Such as from a sudden sound, a sudden shock or surprise of seeing someone very unexpected or unwanted, or sudden fear from an accident or near-accident of any type, and most notably when I feel a sudden slight dizziness in the shower and get suddenly worried that it’s an earthquake (because we DID once have an earthquake when I was in the shower!). (I just have to look at the shower door; if it’s not rattling in the runners, it’s not an earthquake, just my imagination!)
Of course you probably know that the vestibular system is very closely linked (physiologically) with the sympathetic nervous system (the fight-or-flight response). That’s why anxiety can make you dizzy, and vice versa.
Nancy
Yup, and I have a lot of daily anxiety associated with this disorder therefore my balance sucks pretty much all the time!
— Begin quote from “Nancy W”
Yes, sudden strong anxiety makes me feel suddenly dizzy for a few moments.
Such as from a sudden sound, a sudden shock or surprise of seeing someone very unexpected or unwanted, or sudden fear from an accident or near-accident of any type, and most notably when I feel a sudden slight dizziness in the shower and get suddenly worried that it’s an earthquake (because we DID once have an earthquake when I was in the shower!). (I just have to look at the shower door; if it’s not rattling in the runners, it’s not an earthquake, just my imagination!)
Of course you probably know that the vestibular system is very closely linked (physiologically) with the sympathetic nervous system (the fight-or-flight response). That’s why anxiety can make you dizzy, and vice versa.
Nancy
— End quote
Thanks for the info Nancy. One of the articles available here mentioned anxiety was connected to balance but the way it was written made it seem more like a proposed theoretical model rather than some proven knowledge. If you know of other links then I would be interested in them. http://mvertigo.cloudapp.net/t/migraine-anxiety-related-dizziness-mard/451
My balance is sometimes on a hair trigger in the way it responds to sudden anxiety. I find the term “anxiety” is a bit too broad because it can be used to refer to several different things. For example, getting startled by someone banging on the door seems different to having a chronic worry about paying the bills.
-Wexan