Can Anxiety Kill You?
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Anxiety disorders are the most common type of mental health disorders worldwide. While symptoms of anxiety, like shortness of breath, increased heart rate, chest pain, and panic attacks may feel life-threatening, you cannot die from anxiety itself, even though anxiety attacks and panic attacks in particular can fill a person with a sense of impending doom and fear. That said, anxiety symptoms that are left unaddressed over the long term have the potential to cause or contribute to potentially life-threatening physical illnesses like heart disease. Understanding these risks can help you know when to take action to address symptoms of anxiety.
Can you die from anxiety or panic attacks?
If you’ve had or heard about panic attacks, you may wonder: Can a panic attack actually kill you? Can you die from anxiety? The answer: The anxiety symptoms that may be most likely to make you feel like you’re going to die are panic attacks, but they can't actually kill you. However, they can feel this way because, according to an article published by John Hopkins Medicine, panic attack symptoms can feel like you're having a heart attack, potentially including:
- Physical symptoms like a choking sensation
- Overwhelming anxiety
- Feeling faint
- Muscle tension
- Excessive sweating
- Intense chest pain
- Shortness of breath
- Dizziness
- A sense of dread or imminent danger
- A feeling or fear of losing control
- An intense fear of dying
The mental and physical symptoms of panic attacks can come on suddenly and last up to 20 minutes—sometimes even longer, which can feel like a lifetime, especially if you’re not sure what’s happening and/or your symptoms are severe. Despite how real these anxiety symptoms feel, panic attacks—unlike actual heart attacks—are not actually life-threatening. They can be distressing and disruptive though, so seeking support for panic attacks from a licensed provider who specializes in anxiety disorders and/or panic attacks is generally recommended.
Can symptoms of anxiety hurt me?
The secondary effects of this anxiety response can include poor sleep, loss of appetite, and potentially harmful self-medication in the form of alcohol or drugs. Over the longer term, unaddressed chronic stress and anxiety may put a person at increased risk of substance use disorders, behavioral addictions (gambling, online shopping, etc.), a weakened immune system, and health problems like high blood pressure, heart disease, arthritis, type two diabetes, heart attacks, and obesity. They may also make you more likely to develop mental health conditions like diagnosable anxiety disorder(s) and depression. That’s why addressing causes of stress and anxiety and implementing healthy habits and coping mechanisms can be crucial for your overall well-being.
How can I cope with severe anxiety?
Feeling anxiety from time to time is a part of life, but anxiety that is severe, persistent, and/or interferes with daily functioning may indicate an anxiety disorder. Although you can't die from the feeling of anxiety itself—even though symptoms like panic attacks can feel life-threatening—anxiety can significantly impact quality of life, mental health, and physical health, particularly over the long term. This means that finding healthy ways to manage and cope with your anxiety can be important for your overall health.
There are many strategies that may help you reduce anxiety and its physical and psychological symptoms, such as panic attacks and persistent worry. For example, relaxation techniques (such as progressive muscle relaxation, visualization, and deep breathing exercises) and meditation may help decrease the responses of the sympathetic nervous system. Practicing healthy lifestyle habits like exercising regularly and getting enough sleep may also help by improving mood and equipping you to cope with a panic attack, tension, anxious thoughts, and other anxiety symptoms more effectively.
That said, clinical anxiety symptoms are unlikely to resolve on their own without professional treatment, which is why meeting with a therapist is often recommended. A robust body of research suggests that talk therapies, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, may help relieve symptoms of anxiety. In cognitive behavioral therapy sessions, a person with anxiety works with a therapist to identify and adjust thought patterns that make them feel anxious and cultivate healthy coping mechanisms. Medication may also be recommended in conjunction with therapy in some cases.
Getting support in managing anxiety disorders
Again, reaching out for professional support and anxiety treatment is typically recommended if you’re living with an anxiety disorder. If you want to meet with a therapist in person, you might ask your doctor for a recommendation, contact your insurance company for a list of covered providers, or search for clinicians in your area. If you’d feel more comfortable meeting with a therapist online, you might explore a platform like BetterHelp. You can get matched with a licensed counselor and meet with them via phone, video call, and/or in-app messaging from anywhere you have an internet connection.
A growing number of peer-reviewed studies suggest that online therapy platforms can help individuals better understand and manage symptoms of anxiety disorders, from panic attacks to persistent worry. For example, a 2020 study reports that individuals who engaged in online therapy for depression and anxiety experienced “sustained and clinically meaningful improvements” in their symptoms.
Takeaway
While feelings of anxiety can seem intense and even life-threatening in the moment—such as during a panic attack—anxiety itself won’t kill you. That said, untreated anxiety and stress have the potential to cause serious health problems over time that could affect longevity, such as causing increased risk of high blood pressure, obesity, heart attacks, and type two diabetes. Since it’s generally not possible to avoid anxiety altogether, meeting with a mental health professional online or in person to address and learn to cope with panic attacks and other anxiety symptoms is usually the first step toward feeling better and improving overall health.
FAQs
Can I control anxiety?
Symptoms of anxiety or a panic attack might be caused by an event that triggers "danger" in the mind. To help control this anxiety, you can take calming breaths to reframe your mindset back to the present and off your negative thoughts or experiences that are causing you to feel this way. Basically, the point is to reset the way your brain is thinking about and processing external sources. Other types of anxiety coping mechanisms for you include meditation, talk therapy, and medication. You can also research content online (like this article) that gives you advice on how to manage symptoms of anxiety.
Is anxiety life long?
While some adults may develop an anxiety diagnosis well into their adulthood, someone else may have been struggling with symptoms of anxiety since they were a child. However, once you have been diagnosed with anxiety or anxiety attacks, it's possible to manage your symptoms with the help of support systems like a therapist, medication, or a calming coping mechanism. Though there's no cure for anxiety and it usually doesn't go away on its own, but techniques or activities can help you manage your anxiety levels in a way that does not affect your day-to-day activities.
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