How Anxiety Affects Health and Longevity

A flat tire waylays your carefully-timed departure for a family road trip. Your laptop swallows hours of work with the deadline right around the corner. An innocent mistake in your math causes your bank account balance to dip down into negative numbers.

Everyday glitches like these are impossible to avoid: We all have bad days and we all have very, very bad days. Sometimes we have entire weeks or months that are truly awful. But most of the time, the impact on our daily life is temporary. The tire gets fixed, the work shows up miraculously when we restart the computer, we’re able to transfer enough from savings to avoid an overdraft fee and all is well.

However, life’s curveballs can have a significant effect on long-term health and well-being, depending on how we deal with them. How you react today can predict your chronic health conditions 10 years into the future. Research shows that overreacting, constantly worrying, and living in a state of perpetualanxietycan reduce life expectancy. If this describes your typical response to everyday setbacks and snafus, it may pay in the very, very long run to learn ways to lighten up and lower stress.

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A 2009 article published inAmerican Psychologystated that “there is growing evidence thatneuroticismis a psychological trait of profound public health significance. Neuroticism is a robust correlate and predictor of many different mental and physical disorders, comorbidity among them.“

For instance, for a study published in 2008, researchers at Purdue University followed 1,600 men, ages 43 to 91, for 12 years to examine how those with neurotic personalities fared over time. At the end of the study, only 50 percent of the men with high or increasing neuroticism were alive compared to 75 percent to 85 percent of the other group.

The Effects of Stress on Lifespan

So far, there are no clear-cut explanations for why people with neurotic personalities tend to have lower life expectancies than those who are better able to deal with life’s knocks.

There’s some evidence that neuroticism is related to high levels of cortisol, a hormone that’s secreted when someone is feeling threatened or stressed and experiences the flight-or-fight response. Too much cortisol has been shown to lower the immune system and affect heart health.

When we are in the fight or flight response (our bodies way of preparing us to survive), we have fast heart beat, high blood pressure, slower digestion. When our body remains in that state, in a state of chronic stress, it can cause health conditions like high blood pressure, stomach ulcers, and cardiovascular diseases.

Another factor in the relationship between neuroticism and lower lifespan may be that people who are constantly anxious, stressed, and depressed tend to engage in unhealthy habits. They’re more likely to smoke, abuse alcohol and other drugs, and have unprotected sex, any and all of which can lead to life-shortening conditions or accidents, such as an overdose or car wreck. These are all examples of unhealthy or maladaptive coping mechanisms.

Tips for Managing Stress to Extend Longevity

Regardless of whether you have what a doctor might diagnose as a neurotic personality, how youdeal with difficultyin your day-to-day life can impact your overall health and well-being. It makes sense, then, to do all you can to lower your stress levels and learn how ways to cope with unexpected frustration and inconvenience.

It’s also a good idea to have some calming tactics on hand to use when you feel anxiety or anger mounting in response to a specific situation.

Breathing exercises can help, for example, as can progressive muscle relaxation or a simple three-minute meditation to help you change your perspective. And if all else fails: Walk it off. Go outside and take a brisk stroll. The change of scenery may be all it takes to help you get a grip and deal with whatever situation you’re in without short-circuiting your ability to cope and potentially shortening your life.

The 7 Best Online Anxiety Support Groups

6 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Meier SM, Mattheisen M, Mors O, Mortensen PB, Laursen TM, Penninx BW.Increased mortality among people with anxiety disorders: total population study.Br J Psychiatry. 2016;209(3):216-21. doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.115.171975Meiri N, Schnapp Z, Ankri A, et al.Fear of clowns in hospitalized children: prospective experience.Eur J Pediatr. 2017;176(2):269-272. doi:10.1007/s00431-016-2826-3Mroczek DK, Spiro A.Personality change influences mortality in older men.Psychol Sci. 2007;18(5):371-6. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01907.xSmith TW, Mackenzie J.Personality and risk of physical illness.Annu Rev Clin Psychol. 2006;2:435-67. doi:10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.2.022305.095257Sharma M.Yoga as an alternative and complementary approach for stress management: a systematic review.J Evid Based Complementary Altern Med. 2014;19(1):59-67. doi:10.1177/2156587213503344Can exercise help treat anxiety?. Harvard Medical School. September 2019.Additional ReadingDaniel K. Mroczek, Purdue University, and Avron Spiro III. Personality Change Influences Mortality in Older Men.Psychological Science. May 2008. Volume 19, Number 5.Lahey, Benjamin B. Public Health Significance of Neuroticism.Am Psychol. May 2009 May-June; 64(4): 241-256.Smith TW, MacKenzie J. Personality and Risk of Physical Illness.Annu Rev Clini Psychol. 2006; 2: 435-467.

6 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Meier SM, Mattheisen M, Mors O, Mortensen PB, Laursen TM, Penninx BW.Increased mortality among people with anxiety disorders: total population study.Br J Psychiatry. 2016;209(3):216-21. doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.115.171975Meiri N, Schnapp Z, Ankri A, et al.Fear of clowns in hospitalized children: prospective experience.Eur J Pediatr. 2017;176(2):269-272. doi:10.1007/s00431-016-2826-3Mroczek DK, Spiro A.Personality change influences mortality in older men.Psychol Sci. 2007;18(5):371-6. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01907.xSmith TW, Mackenzie J.Personality and risk of physical illness.Annu Rev Clin Psychol. 2006;2:435-67. doi:10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.2.022305.095257Sharma M.Yoga as an alternative and complementary approach for stress management: a systematic review.J Evid Based Complementary Altern Med. 2014;19(1):59-67. doi:10.1177/2156587213503344Can exercise help treat anxiety?. Harvard Medical School. September 2019.Additional ReadingDaniel K. Mroczek, Purdue University, and Avron Spiro III. Personality Change Influences Mortality in Older Men.Psychological Science. May 2008. Volume 19, Number 5.Lahey, Benjamin B. Public Health Significance of Neuroticism.Am Psychol. May 2009 May-June; 64(4): 241-256.Smith TW, MacKenzie J. Personality and Risk of Physical Illness.Annu Rev Clini Psychol. 2006; 2: 435-467.

Meier SM, Mattheisen M, Mors O, Mortensen PB, Laursen TM, Penninx BW.Increased mortality among people with anxiety disorders: total population study.Br J Psychiatry. 2016;209(3):216-21. doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.115.171975Meiri N, Schnapp Z, Ankri A, et al.Fear of clowns in hospitalized children: prospective experience.Eur J Pediatr. 2017;176(2):269-272. doi:10.1007/s00431-016-2826-3Mroczek DK, Spiro A.Personality change influences mortality in older men.Psychol Sci. 2007;18(5):371-6. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01907.xSmith TW, Mackenzie J.Personality and risk of physical illness.Annu Rev Clin Psychol. 2006;2:435-67. doi:10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.2.022305.095257Sharma M.Yoga as an alternative and complementary approach for stress management: a systematic review.J Evid Based Complementary Altern Med. 2014;19(1):59-67. doi:10.1177/2156587213503344Can exercise help treat anxiety?. Harvard Medical School. September 2019.

Meiri N, Schnapp Z, Ankri A, et al.Fear of clowns in hospitalized children: prospective experience.Eur J Pediatr. 2017;176(2):269-272. doi:10.1007/s00431-016-2826-3

Mroczek DK, Spiro A.Personality change influences mortality in older men.Psychol Sci. 2007;18(5):371-6. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01907.x

Smith TW, Mackenzie J.Personality and risk of physical illness.Annu Rev Clin Psychol. 2006;2:435-67. doi:10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.2.022305.095257

Sharma M.Yoga as an alternative and complementary approach for stress management: a systematic review.J Evid Based Complementary Altern Med. 2014;19(1):59-67. doi:10.1177/2156587213503344

Can exercise help treat anxiety?. Harvard Medical School. September 2019.

Daniel K. Mroczek, Purdue University, and Avron Spiro III. Personality Change Influences Mortality in Older Men.Psychological Science. May 2008. Volume 19, Number 5.Lahey, Benjamin B. Public Health Significance of Neuroticism.Am Psychol. May 2009 May-June; 64(4): 241-256.Smith TW, MacKenzie J. Personality and Risk of Physical Illness.Annu Rev Clini Psychol. 2006; 2: 435-467.

Daniel K. Mroczek, Purdue University, and Avron Spiro III. Personality Change Influences Mortality in Older Men.Psychological Science. May 2008. Volume 19, Number 5.

Lahey, Benjamin B. Public Health Significance of Neuroticism.Am Psychol. May 2009 May-June; 64(4): 241-256.

Smith TW, MacKenzie J. Personality and Risk of Physical Illness.Annu Rev Clini Psychol. 2006; 2: 435-467.

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Press Play for Advice On Reducing Worry#

Can You Worry Yourself to Death?#

The Effects of Stress on Lifespan#

Tips for Managing Stress to Extend Longevity#

Press Play for Advice On Reducing Worry

Can You Worry Yourself to Death?

The Effects of Stress on Lifespan

Tips for Managing Stress to Extend Longevity