What Causes Chest Pressure During Stress?

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsThe Connection Between Stress and Chest PressureComplicationsDiagnosisTreatmentCoping

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

The Connection Between Stress and Chest Pressure

Complications

Diagnosis

Treatment

Coping

Close

Chest pressure and pain are symptoms closely linked to stress, anxiety, or panic.When you are stressed or panicked, your body releases stress hormones that can cause all kinds of physical symptoms, and chest pressure or pain is one of them.

That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take chest pressure seriously, but that if you are an otherwise healthy adult experiencing stress, your stressful state may be causing the chest pressure.

The good news is that there are ways to manage your stress and anxiety symptoms, which can decrease your uncomfortable physical sensations.

How to Recognize and Cope With Panic Attack Symptoms

When you are under stress or experiencing anxiety, your body goes into “fight or flight mode,” which results in myriad physical, emotional, and behavioral symptoms. This is an automatic response that you may not even be consciously aware of, and it can happen whether the danger is real or appears to be real to you.

Under stress, the body releases hormones like adrenaline and cortisol, which have powerful effects on your body and mind. Everyone responds differently and experiences stress in unique ways. But one such response is that you may feel intense chest pressure or pain.

Besides chest pressure, other possible stress-related responses may include:

Experiencing a tight chest or pressure in the chest area is very common during times of stress or anxiety. In fact, a 2018 review found that anxiety is a factor in between 30% and 40% of emergency room visits where certain types of chest pain is the main symptom.

Risk Factors

Anyone can experience chest pressure as a result of stress. However, it’s more common in people who have anxiety disorders, and it’s most common in people who have panic attacks. In fact, chest pain or discomfort is one of the official symptoms of a panic attack. A 2019 study found that 28% of people who were hospitalized with chest pain and normal angiography (no signs of heart disease) were eventually diagnosed with panic attacks.

DSM-5 Criteria for Diagnosing Panic Disorder

Complications of Stress and Chest Pressure

Stress doesn’t just feel bad, but it can have negative health effects, especially if the stress is chronic. Stress can affect your muscular system, your respiratory system, your hormones, yourgastrointestinal tract, your nervous system, and even your reproductive system. Stress is linked to a suppressed immune system, and conditions like diabetes, obesity, depression, and chronic fatigue.

Although chest pressure isn’t always a sign of heart disease, stress can exacerbate heart conditions, and chronic stress may be a factor in the development of cardiac issues.

When to See a Doctor

If you are experiencing stress and chest pressure, it is possible that your stress is causing your chest pressure. However, you can’t self-diagnose this; at times, serious medical conditions cause chest pressure and pain.

If you have an underlying heart condition and experience chest pressure, you should seek emergency medical care, regardless of what you think is causing it. If this is your first episode of experiencing chest pressure or pain, you should pursue a medical evaluation to rule out a potential cardiovascular cause.

Usually, heart attack symptoms occur after physical exertion, not while you are at rest. Heart attack symptoms also usually worsen over time instead of resolving.The following are typical heart attack symptoms. If you have them, you should call 911 immediately:

Diagnosis of Stress and Chest Pressure

Besides heart disease, several medical conditions have chest pressure as a symptom, includingacid reflux, pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, and gallbladder disease.That’s why it’s important to see a healthcare provider if you are experiencing chest pain even if you believe it is just stress.

What Causes a Sense of Impending Doom?

Treatment of Stress and Chest Pressure

Medications

Stress is less likely to be treated with medication than anxiety disorders or panic disorders. However, acute episodes of stress may be managed with anti-anxiety medications. The following medications may be used to treat severe or chronic stress as well as anxiety disorders:

Psychotherapy

Therapy is a wonderful way to manage stress and anxiety and may help related chest pressure. There are several psychotherapeutic approaches that may help including:

How to Practice Exposure Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder

Coping With Stress and Chest Pressure

Stress triggers—like work stress, relationship stress, money stress, or stress about the state of the world—can’t always be avoided. But you have a say in how you manage stress. Making certain lifestyle changes can help you manage the stress you will inevitably face.

Lifestyle Changes

Try the following to help manage your stress levels during difficult times:

Caffeine, Stress and Your Health

Summary

The Benefits of Good Stress

A Word From Verywell

The Main Causes of Stress

11 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.McConaghy JR, Sharma M, Patel H.Acute Chest Pain in Adults: Outpatient Evaluation. American Family Physician. 2020;102(12):721-727.Chand SP, Marwaha R.Anxiety. StatPearls Publishing. 2022.McConaghy JR, Sharma M, Patel H.Acute Chest Pain in Adults: Outpatient Evaluation. American Family Physician. 2020;102(12):721-727.Chand SP, Marwaha R.Anxiety. StatPearls Publishing. 2022.Musey PI, Patel R, Fry C, et al.Anxiety Associated With Increased Risk for Emergency Department Recidivism in Patients With Low-Risk Chest Pain. American Journal of Cardiology. 2018;122(7):1133-1141. doi:10.1016/j.amjcard.2018.06.044Shakeri J, Tatari F, Vaezi N, et al.The prevalence of panic disorder and its related factor in hospitalized patients with chest pain and normal angiography. Journal of Education and Health Promotion. 2019;8:61. doi:10.4103/jehp.jehp_278_18American Psychological Association.Stress effects on the body.Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.Panic Attack vs. Heart Attack: How to Tell the Difference.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Heart Attack Symptoms, Risk, and Recovery.Harvard Health Publishing.Other conditions may be causes of chest pain: Heart disease not the only reason for that feeling of angina.Anxiety and Depression Association of America.Tips and Strategies to Manage Anxiety and Stress.

11 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.McConaghy JR, Sharma M, Patel H.Acute Chest Pain in Adults: Outpatient Evaluation. American Family Physician. 2020;102(12):721-727.Chand SP, Marwaha R.Anxiety. StatPearls Publishing. 2022.McConaghy JR, Sharma M, Patel H.Acute Chest Pain in Adults: Outpatient Evaluation. American Family Physician. 2020;102(12):721-727.Chand SP, Marwaha R.Anxiety. StatPearls Publishing. 2022.Musey PI, Patel R, Fry C, et al.Anxiety Associated With Increased Risk for Emergency Department Recidivism in Patients With Low-Risk Chest Pain. American Journal of Cardiology. 2018;122(7):1133-1141. doi:10.1016/j.amjcard.2018.06.044Shakeri J, Tatari F, Vaezi N, et al.The prevalence of panic disorder and its related factor in hospitalized patients with chest pain and normal angiography. Journal of Education and Health Promotion. 2019;8:61. doi:10.4103/jehp.jehp_278_18American Psychological Association.Stress effects on the body.Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.Panic Attack vs. Heart Attack: How to Tell the Difference.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Heart Attack Symptoms, Risk, and Recovery.Harvard Health Publishing.Other conditions may be causes of chest pain: Heart disease not the only reason for that feeling of angina.Anxiety and Depression Association of America.Tips and Strategies to Manage Anxiety and Stress.

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.

McConaghy JR, Sharma M, Patel H.Acute Chest Pain in Adults: Outpatient Evaluation. American Family Physician. 2020;102(12):721-727.Chand SP, Marwaha R.Anxiety. StatPearls Publishing. 2022.McConaghy JR, Sharma M, Patel H.Acute Chest Pain in Adults: Outpatient Evaluation. American Family Physician. 2020;102(12):721-727.Chand SP, Marwaha R.Anxiety. StatPearls Publishing. 2022.Musey PI, Patel R, Fry C, et al.Anxiety Associated With Increased Risk for Emergency Department Recidivism in Patients With Low-Risk Chest Pain. American Journal of Cardiology. 2018;122(7):1133-1141. doi:10.1016/j.amjcard.2018.06.044Shakeri J, Tatari F, Vaezi N, et al.The prevalence of panic disorder and its related factor in hospitalized patients with chest pain and normal angiography. Journal of Education and Health Promotion. 2019;8:61. doi:10.4103/jehp.jehp_278_18American Psychological Association.Stress effects on the body.Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.Panic Attack vs. Heart Attack: How to Tell the Difference.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Heart Attack Symptoms, Risk, and Recovery.Harvard Health Publishing.Other conditions may be causes of chest pain: Heart disease not the only reason for that feeling of angina.Anxiety and Depression Association of America.Tips and Strategies to Manage Anxiety and Stress.

McConaghy JR, Sharma M, Patel H.Acute Chest Pain in Adults: Outpatient Evaluation. American Family Physician. 2020;102(12):721-727.

Chand SP, Marwaha R.Anxiety. StatPearls Publishing. 2022.

Musey PI, Patel R, Fry C, et al.Anxiety Associated With Increased Risk for Emergency Department Recidivism in Patients With Low-Risk Chest Pain. American Journal of Cardiology. 2018;122(7):1133-1141. doi:10.1016/j.amjcard.2018.06.044

Shakeri J, Tatari F, Vaezi N, et al.The prevalence of panic disorder and its related factor in hospitalized patients with chest pain and normal angiography. Journal of Education and Health Promotion. 2019;8:61. doi:10.4103/jehp.jehp_278_18

American Psychological Association.Stress effects on the body.

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.Panic Attack vs. Heart Attack: How to Tell the Difference.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Heart Attack Symptoms, Risk, and Recovery.

Harvard Health Publishing.Other conditions may be causes of chest pain: Heart disease not the only reason for that feeling of angina.

Anxiety and Depression Association of America.Tips and Strategies to Manage Anxiety and Stress.

Meet Our Review Board

Share Feedback

Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!What is your feedback?HelpfulReport an ErrorOtherSubmit

Was this page helpful?

Thanks for your feedback!

What is your feedback?HelpfulReport an ErrorOtherSubmit

What is your feedback?