Anxiety symptoms are a complex interaction of mind and body

Anxiety symptoms have 3 components:
 
1. The Cognitive component:

These would be feelings of
nervousness, fear, dread
or apprehension and worry about uncertain danger
or feelings of impending doom
or uneasy feelings.

2. Chemical/Neurological/Physiological:

Your body's response to the "cognitive" component of fear, apprehension and worry is to prepare itself for the "uncertain danger" that you have sensed, by the initiation of something called the fight or flight response.

When the body senses danger, your autonomic nervous system, which is responsible for maintaining normal balances of chemicals in your body, is stimulated to release additional chemicals as a response to brain signals.

These chemicals then cause physiological changes which prepare your body for "combat" or sudden action.

3. Physical Symptoms experienced:

The fight or flight response can cause the following :

• increased blood pressure
• rapid/increased heart beat
• sweating
• pupillary dilation
• trembling
• pale skin
• dry mouth
• faster breathing
• chest pains
• desire to urinate

These symptoms present themselves in varying intensities in different types of attacks such as panic attack, obsessive compulsive disorder(OCD, social phobias , specific phobias, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD).
 
The part of our brain which is responsible for creating and perpetuating the inappropriate "fear response" to certain situations is called the amygdala.

Learn more about the amygdala and how poor nutrition can play a role in exacerbating these symptoms.