In this article we are going to talk about two sets of anxiety physical symptoms. The first set will look into nausea and vomiting, while the second set will look into dizziness, lightheadedness and faintness. 

Nausea and Vomiting

We will begin by a general definition of those terms. Nausea as defined in Wikipedia is: "Is the sensation of unease and discomfort in the stomach with an urge to vomit."

Vomiting, on the other hand, is defined and explained by Wikipedia as follows: "is the forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose. Undesired vomiting may result from many causes, ranging from gastritis or poisoning to brain tumors, or elevated intracranial pressure. The feeling that one is about to vomit is called nausea. It usually precedes, but does not always lead to vomiting." 

We can see from the above two definitions how nausea and vomiting are closely related. In short nausea can bring the urge to vomit and the vomiting can - but not necessarily so - occur. 

Both Nausea and Vomiting are controlled by the central nervous system. While nausea is controlled by a part of the nervous system that controls involuntary bodily functions, vomiting is a reflex that is controlled by a part in the brain that is called the vomiting center. Nausea and the possibility of vomiting can be stimulated by several triggers such as a certain smell or taste. Anxiety, certain pains or motions, inflammations in the body, poor blood flow or irritation can as well play a role in activating nausea and vomiting.

In general if the reason for nausea and/or vomiting is psychological which is mainly anxiety related, then creating a peaceful environment and relaxing can be a good relief.

If Nausea and Vomiting are constant, this may indicate some serious illness and in some cases, if it is prolonged, it can become dangerous as it leads to dehydration. Otherwise and in most cases Nausea and vomiting do not indicate a serious illness.

Ones mind has a powerful effect on someone's experience with nausea and vomiting. A peaceful environment and relaxation can relieve some nausea and vomiting. If smell or some of the other triggers that we talked about earlier was the cause of nausea or vomiting then the first that you need to do is move away from the object that was the original cause and then apply a cold wash cloth to the mouth. This can help in calming the nausea feeling and stopping the vomiting.

It is necessary to stop such nausea and vomiting especially if the original cause is anxiety. Such symptoms can create an anxiety vicious circle as it feeds the anxiety with more anxiety.

Dizziness - Lightheadedness - Faintness

Wikipedia defines dizziness as a number of subjective symptoms, which the patient may describe as feelings of lightheadedness, floating, wooziness, giddiness, confusion, disorientation or loss of balance. Medical terms include vertigo, disequilibrium, pre-syncope or syncoptic episode.

In general the feeling of dizziness makes the person feel a difficulty in maintaining balance. This feeling or sensation is usually accompanied by a feeling or an actual fainting. Usually a persistent light-headed feeling without other symptoms is often due to anxiety rather than anything else. 

When trying to understand the reasons behind dizziness, it is important to give your doctor a complete description of your symptoms. It has also been shown that when small headache accompanies dizziness, it is nearly always the cause of anxiety.

Furthermore, studies have shown that severe dizziness are often accompanied by palpitations or sweating. In previous articles we have discussed palpitations and sweating in detail, each in a separate article, as physical symptoms of anxiety. When such severe dizziness is accompanied by such symptoms it is often described as dizziness, while in fact it - as we said - a form of anxiety.

We hope that we were able to give a good explanation about those two sets of anxiety physical symptoms.

We will continually introduce material for you to better understand what is Anxiety. We will continue our research and bring you more information to cover as many aspects as possible of anxiety. Meanwhile you can check the list of materials and tools that we gathered for you to tackle and solve anxiety for yourself and others at: 

1- BusinessFountains Store: This is the main area of Anxiety Material that we are collecting.

2- Anxiety Self Help Library: This section mainly includes anxiety related audio books and other audio materials. Audio books are very useful when you don't have time to read a book. For more audio book listings and categories you can go to our Audio Book Section.

3- Our channels for providing you with more anxiety information and solutions are increasing. It will be completely inappropriate to add links to all those sections in our articles. You can check out all our anxiety information channels at our Anxiety Centre by clicking on the red banner below.