Nowadays, work schedules and life have become hectic. With the increasing workload, people are facing immense stress. Stress doesn’t always come alone. It brings many other issues which affect our health in some way or the other.
Be it a panic attack due to anxiety or be it chest pain1, the main reason behind it will always be stress. Therefore, finding a few moments of serenity and peace is crucial in this fast-paced life. If you are bored and stressed with your hectic life, it’s time to take a break. Explore Tripaneer, as this platform recognizes the importance of well-being and offers a solution by organising various yoga, wellness, meditation, and mindfulness retreats across various locations in the USA.
1. What is Chest Pain?
When you start feeling any pain or discomfort around your chest it can be termed as Chest Pain. Always remember that chest pain is not limited to your chest only! Rather, this pain may spread to other parts of your upper body, like your neck or jaws. Chest pains may be either quite sharp or dull. Whenever this chest pain occurs, it may feel like some tightness or achiness.
There is no certain time duration for chest pain to happen. It can last for a few minutes and also affect for hours. There are some rare cases where it lasted more than 6 months and more.
Chest pain mostly makes you feel worse during exertion and feels better while resting. You can’t specify the area around your chest where it’s hurting as it may be a larger area or a general one. Your chest pain can be felt in the left side, middle part or right side of your chest.
It is always advised that you give proper medical attention to a person suffering from chest pain. Chest pain may result in a heart attack and other serious issues. Although it’s a very common issue, it’s unrelated to the heart.
1.1 What Causes Chest Pain?
You can never ignore chest pain. But the thing is, chest pain happens due to various reasons. Although it is mainly heart-related, it also occurs due to problems in the lungs2, esophagus3, ribs4, nerves, etc. It is important to note that some of these reasons are very serious and life-threatening.
2. What is the difference between Chest Pain and Heart Attack
First, it is very important to know that Chest pain may happen for various reasons, but Heart Attack is the result of cardiac arrest. Chest pain can also happen due to a heart attack, which may put a lot of pressure on your heart, causing a burning sensation or tightness. But the chest pain that happens from breathing and coughing feels like a sharp pain that is not due to a heart attack.
Chest pain caused by a heart attack often occurs in the center of the chest and also spreads to your left arm or neck. However, chest pain caused by any other reason may not spread to any other region due to its impact on a small spot. Most heart attacks last longer, given their constructive nature, whereas sudden chest pain caused by any other reason may last for a few minutes only.
3. Anxiety and Stress
Anxiety can be explained as a feeling of worry, uneasiness or fear. What triggers anxiety is stress, but every time, anxiety is not triggered by stress.
Stress can be understood as specific demands imposed upon your brain or body. It may be triggered by any event or thing that makes you feel nervous and frustrated.
If you notice, there are some similarities between Anxiety and stress. They are irregularities in digestion, tension in muscles, issues in sleeping/ not having a sound sleep, anger issues, and difficulty in concentrating.
One thing you need to understand is that stress or anxiety is not a disease but just a state of mind that makes you feel a certain way. It is evident from the current scenario that at some point, most people feel anxious and stressed. Some doctors suggest that sometimes stress and anxiety help motivate you to complete unfinished tasks that should be done. But every time, it’s not the way out.
Although stress and anxiety might not be a disease, if left untreated, it can make you feel much sicker. Not only this, it will start interfering in your life and will take a severe toll on your mental and physical health.
3.1 What causes Stress and Anxiety?
Anxiety and Stress are just like other forms of mental illness. Anxiety or Stress has nothing to do with weakness, poor upbringing or character flaws. However, some factors trigger stress and anxiety in the human body.
- Chemical Imbalance: Unrelentingly dealing with a lot of work and emotions can cause chemical imbalances. These chemical imbalances affect your mood, which causes mood swings. Experiencing chest pain, such as chemical imbalances over a long time, gives rise to stress and anxiety.
- Factors related to Environment: Often trauma or overcoming a traumatic event becomes a major reason behind stress and anxiety.
- Hereditary: Although stress is not hereditary, anxiety disorders do run in families as a medical history.
4. How Stress Causes Chest Pain?
Our body may react to stress and anxiety in numerous ways. When you experience stress, your body releases some hormones, often known as stress hormones. These stress hormones are otherwise known as adrenaline and cortisol5; there are hormones as well.
These hormones pump your blood so much that it makes your heart run faster within a few seconds. This makes you feel uncomfortable, and you start feeling your heart aching. After that, you may feel your mouth getting dry, you are all sweaty, and it will be tough to concentrate.
Doctors often refer to this situation as a ” fight-or-flight response.” This response often helps you escape such a situation and seek treatment immediately.
Such stress may help in situations like danger, when a predator is chasing you, but that’s a rare situation. But it’s never good for you when it’s due to any argument, fear, work deadline, etc. You will also be amazed to know that stress and anxiety may result in chest pain by tightening your chest muscle, rapid or shallow breathing, and spasms in the esophagus.
What people don’t realize is that stress can often put a lot of strain on your heart, which directly triggers chest pain. Well, this can happen in various ways, such as:
- For those who already have coronary arteries blocked, high blood pressure and heart rate due to stress are making the heart go beyond its capacity. This often leads to an angina attack or a heart attack.
- Stress hormones like cortisol can cause spasms in the arteries that supply the heart.
- Stress and Anxiety cause irregularities in heart rate, which is otherwise known as atrial fibrillation or premature contractions.
- There is an odd stress condition that can suddenly cause the heart muscle to become weak and inflamed. This may not be a heart attack but will imitate one. This condition is also known as broken heart syndrome.
4.1 Possible Symptoms of Stress and Anxiety-Induced Chest Pain
You will find it rare that the anxiety symptoms are the same from person to person. And on even rare days, you will find that the symptoms are different in the same person from what they previously were. The thing is, it becomes quite challenging to identify and understand anxiety-induced chest pain as it presents itself in a variety of ways.
Anxiety-related chest tightness varies from person to person. A below-average population may experience chest pain regularly but for others, it may be sudden and unexpected. The symptoms of such cardiac chest pain or anxiety chest pain can be understood as:
- Very sharp pain in the chest region
- Frequent and Persistent Chest Pain
- Twitch in muscles
- Spasm in the chest region
- Feeling numb in the chest area
- Burning Sensation
- Shooting or stabbing pressure on the chest
- Dull Ache
It is important to note that if you don’t have any history of anxiety or chest pain then you better be cautious. What happens is most people think they are having a heart attack and then rush to the hospital. According to research in 2018-19, approximately 25 to 50 per cent of people who rush to the emergency department with low-risk chest pain were experiencing moderate to severe anxiety.
Even if you visit the hospital for such reasons and don’t find any specific cause for your chest pain, then try consulting with your doctor regarding anxiety.
Relaxation Techniques for Fight-or-Flight Symptoms
Stress and anxiety can manifest physically in various ways, with chest pain being a notable symptom that often alarms individuals.
This discomfort arises when the body’s ‘fight or flight’ response is activated, which can increase heart rate, elevate blood pressure, and tighten chest muscles.
Additionally, anxiety can exacerbate this sensation through hyperventilation or rapid breathing, further intensifying chest pain or discomfort.
Relaxation techniques such as deep-breathing exercises, mindfulness meditation, and progressive muscle relaxation can help mitigate the immediate physical manifestations of stress and anxiety, including chest pain.
Regular physical activity is also beneficial, releasing endorphins, improving mood, and reducing stress levels.
Dr. Christopher Johnson, Owner, Thrive Naturopathic
Mindful Deep-Breathing for Chest Pressure
Stress and anxiety can manifest physically through a feeling of pressure or tightness in the chest area, often mistaken for a heart attack.
It’s a physical manifestation of the body’s response to stress, where an increased heart rate, blood pressure, and muscle tension can lead to discomfort and emotional distress.
To cope with these symptoms, I recommend mindful deep-breathing exercises. This technique helps calm the mind and body by bringing awareness to the present moment.
Deep breathing slows down the heart rate and reduces muscle tension. Through this practice, we can develop a more resilient response to stress and anxiety while reducing the severity of its physical manifestations.
Bayu Prihandito, Founder, Psychology Consultant, Life Coach for Men, Life Architekture
5. Can a Panic Attack also cause Chest Pain?
Chest pain is considered to be one of the common symptoms which causes Panic attacks. From 20 to 70% of people who experience a panic attack, most of them are associated with chest pain. Many of them who rushed to the emergency departments with such pain were experiencing panic disorder. So, what you may be experiencing as chest pain may be a panic attack or panic disorder.
Understanding the Biopsychosocial Impact on Chest Pain
Taking a biopsychosocial framework toward health has been important as we know that factors such as stress and anxiety impact our experience of an illness and also how that illness is perceived and occurs in the body.
For instance, anxiety can increase hypervigilance for signs of ill health (e.g., chest pain) which, given the increased attention when it is present, can increase the intensity of the pain signals.
Additionally, stress and anxiety lead to psychoneuroimmunological changes in the body which can promote, cause, and worsen chest pain.
One example is when you have the combination of shortness of breath alongside muscle tension in the chest (both common symptoms of stress and anxiety) which can cause chest pain.
Additionally, hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline are released to ready the body for action which causes a cascade of other changes including changes in inflammatory markers that can worsen pain.
Also, worrying about chest pain (worrying being a common component of anxiety) can lead to an increase in the likelihood of central sensitization, eventually leading chronic pain to perpetuate itself within a person.
Regarding coping mechanisms, when you can engage in problem-solving (that is when an issue is within your control) problem-solving can be a very effective strategy.
That being said, many sources of anxiety in modern times are not within our control (e.g., worry about possible illness, concern about other’s impressions, etc.).
In those cases, other strategies can be helpful including asking yourself what advice would you give a loved one if they were in this situation.
Take a moment to experience your anxiety or stress, acknowledge it, and proceed in a manner that aligns with your goals, values, and beliefs in a meaningful way.
Trying to determine what the perceived threat is in a situation can be helpful, as sometimes our minds perceive threats that are not readily there. Seeking help from a trained expert can also help obtain guidance on how best to address your stress and anxiety.
Dr. Garry Spink, Psychologist, Spink Psychology
6. How do you relieve chest pain caused by stress?
To relieve chest pain caused by stress, you have to find a remedy for the source of the stress. Fortunately, some very easy techniques can be used to manage stress.
6.1 Deep Breathing
Taking deep breaths with the diaphragm is a much more effective way of reducing stress. Deep breaths help reduce heart rate and breath rate, which eventually helps stop panic or anxiety attacks.
Although numerous methods exist for breathing exercises, there is a simple one. Put one hand on your chest and the other on your belly. Then, start taking slow, deep breaths through your nose. During this, allow your tummy to push the hand off it, but the hand on your chest should not dislocate.
Then calmly exhale through your pursed lips and allow the hand on your belly to move inwards, pushing all the air out. Repeat this method ten times daily to keep stress away.
Mindfulness Techniques for Anxiety Relief
I frequently teach about mindfulness in my therapy sessions, and it works wonders for treating anxiety and stress-related symptoms. Anxiety causes one to either worry about the future or dwell on the past.
Mindfulness helps people stay in the present moment, and people who practice anchoring to the present moment can reduce their symptoms of stress and anxiety, which is likely to help relieve chest discomfort induced by feelings of anxiety.
Here are some examples of mindfulness techniques, focusing on one’s breathing, incorporating progressive muscle relaxation, paying attention to the five senses, and deliberately slowing down.
Mindfulness techniques, such as those mentioned above, can easily be integrated into everyday routines to manage stress and anxiety, which is very likely to reduce anxiety-related chest pain.
Gayle Weill, LCSW, a Psychotherapist
6.2 Limiting Alcohol, Smoking and Caffeine Habits
Many people are in the wrong conception that smoking, drinking alcohol and caffeine intake will help them in dealing with anxiety. But little do they know that it will only make things worse for them. But it is highly suggested to limit or restrict either alcohol, smoking or caffeine habits. You can also analyze the particular substance that is triggering your anxiety and stress.
6.3 Meditation
One can also try meditation exercises or other relaxing activities like journaling, visualizing or counting. These exercises can give effective results by calming your mind and expelling all the anxious thoughts.
Meditation is a tried and tested method for relieving stress. Only a few minutes of meditation can expel all the stress brewing within you and help you rejuvenate your inner peace.
Addressing Anxiety: Mindfulness and Cognitive Strategies
The emotional and cognitive states of anxiety are almost always accompanied by tightness in the chest, among other physical symptoms. This leads to an escalating cycle where physical symptoms exacerbate emotional symptoms, which in turn exacerbate the physical symptoms.
This snowball effect can lead to a full-on panic attack.
In-the-moment coping mechanisms to address intense anxiety and help to relieve tightening of the chest involve a combination of mindfulness and cognitive strategies.
Both strategies have been proven over and over to be effective in reducing symptoms of anxiety.
One mindfulness practice is belly breathing. Belly breathing helps to improve emotional regulation for three reasons: (1) Diaphragmatic breathing stimulates the vagus nerve sending a signal to the mid-part of the brain (a primary seat of anxiety) thus creating an activation of the parasympathetic (rest/digest) nervous system.
This results in lowered heart rate and respiration and decreased tightness in the chest; (2) breathing from the belly allows for full lung capacity. Oxygen is a good thing; (3) belly breathing is a mindfulness practice in that it gives a person something to focus on (their belly and the practice itself) that is in the present moment which also works to decrease anxiety by calming the mid-part of the brain and activating the prefrontal cortex.
A cognitive strategy to reduce anxiety is thought-stopping. A foundational understanding within the technique is that whatever you think, you are likely to continue thinking.
So, if a thought is anxiety-driven, I am more likely to continue into the rabbit hole of more anxious thoughts. Thought Stopping interrupts this process. To use this technique, recognize an unhelpful thought and then replace that thought with a more helpful thought (simple, but not easy).
For example: an unhelpful automatic thought could be, “My chest is tight, I can’t handle this” which is then replaced by the more helpful thought, “I have skills to deal with this” or “Right here, right now I am ok.”
Also, overall lifestyle changes can create significant improvements in overall levels of stress and anxiety. For example, healthy eating and sleeping habits, regularly moving your body, setting healthy boundaries at work and in your private life, and building a social support network.
Rachel Baker, Clinical Social Worker, RBC Counseling
6.4 Sleep
Sleep may be the only thing that comes to your mind when you are facing some intense stress or panic attack. Sleep helps you relax your mind which is already under a lot of pressure which is triggering anxiety and stress.
Getting sound sleep to keep your stress in check becomes important. Research has found that sleep deficiency is one of the key reasons for anxiety, stress, depression and panic attacks. A person should complete his sleep quota of 7 to 9 hours.
6.5 The Triple 3 Rule
So, if you don’t know, there is a 3-3-3 rule method by which you will be able to manage your stress and anxiety. Okay, you can apply this 3-3-3 rule anytime you feel anxious or stressed, but for that, you must be able to stop thinking and acknowledge the anxiety. And then the trick goes like this:
- Simply look around yourself and start naming 3 things that you find peaceful, happy, or exciting.
- Then, carefully listen to the noises in your surrounding environment. Take note of 3 different sounds and examine how loud they are.
- The next thing is your body. Try to move your body in any way possible. Like choose three different parts of your body and try to adjust them. You can move your head from side to side or try touching your nose with your tongue or try touching each finger with the help of your thumb.
Following the Triple 3 rule is to distract your mind from the ongoing stress and create a sense of control over yourself.
6.6 Emotional Intimacy
Every person in this world wants to have someone who can stand by in hard times. But nowadays, in relationships, there is a need for emotional intimacy more than physical intimacy. Physical intimacy may give the sense that someone is there, but a lack of emotional intimacy in a relationship worsens things.
Emotional intimacy becomes so much more important during moments of anxiety and stress. It is normal for a person to become anxious but if the person doesn’t get such intimacy, it will make him hopeless. The person will start feeling the world falling around him.
If there is some emotional intimacy, it will give a person hope that things can be fixed. It will relieve the stress and anxiety of the person and make things better for him.
7. Conclusion
Chest pain due to anxiety and stress has become a lot more common these days. The growing hectic style of living and sense of comparison has led us towards our destruction. With all the growing competition, we humans have forgotten to be happy. All we desire is to have some and more, and that will only bring stress and anxiety when we fail in that.
As this subject is more subjective, it can’t be cured, but we can get some relief from such stress and anxiety if we practice a healthy style of living. It is very immature to think that living a healthy life is the unachievable concept, but if we try, we can!
Guest Author: Saket Kumar
Sources:
- Fass, Ronnie, and Guy D. Eslick. “Chest pain.” Practical Gastroenterology and Hepatology: Esophagus and Stomach: Esophagus and Stomach (2010): 165-175. ↩︎
- Ciet, Pierluigi, et al. “Magnetic resonance imaging in children: common problems and possible solutions for lung and airways imaging.” Pediatric radiology 45 (2015): 1901-1915. ↩︎
- Castell, Donald O., and Joel E. Richter, eds. The esophagus. John Wiley & Sons, 2011. ↩︎
- Weaver, Ashley A., Samantha L. Schoell, and Joel D. Stitzel. “Morphometric analysis of variation in the ribs with age and sex.” Journal of anatomy 225.2 (2014): 246-261. ↩︎
- Powell, Trevor, and Simon Enright. Anxiety and stress management. Routledge, 2015. ↩︎
Last Updated on by Saket Kumar
