Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsPhysically Paralyzing AnxietyEmotionally Paralyzing AnxietyOther SymptomsAnxiety TreatmentsHow to Cope
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Physically Paralyzing Anxiety
Emotionally Paralyzing Anxiety
Other Symptoms
Anxiety Treatments
How to Cope
Close
One symptom of ananxiety disorderis feeling as if you are paralyzed with anxiety. This paralyzing anxiety may leave you feeling unable to move, speak, and think. Your arms and legs may feel heavy and immobile, you may be unable to form words, and you may struggle to process what is happening around you.
Anxiety can paralyze you both physically and emotionally, explainsPaula Zimbrean, MD, a psychiatrist at Yale Medicine.
Zimbrean describes what emotional and physical paralysis can feel like and how they can impact your life.
Physically Paralyzed With Anxiety
While the experience can differ somewhat from one person to the next, the physical symptoms you experience when you feel paralyzed with anxiety can be particularly disconcerting.
Anxiety can cause multiple physical symptoms, and one of them is the sensation of being unable to move physically, to the extent where you feel like you cannot walk or move your arms and legs.—PAULA ZIMBREAN, MD, YALE MEDICINE
Anxiety can cause multiple physical symptoms, and one of them is the sensation of being unable to move physically, to the extent where you feel like you cannot walk or move your arms and legs.
—PAULA ZIMBREAN, MD, YALE MEDICINE
You may experience physically paralyzing anxiety in the wake of a clear stressor, a major life change, a disaster, or atraumatic event. However, it can sometimes occur without you being aware of the cause.
Being paralyzed with anxiety can have significant effects on your ability to function normally in different areas of your everyday life.
The immediate impact of physically paralyzing anxiety is the inability to perform certain everyday tasks,work-related assignments, or social activities.
It can also cause you to believe that something is physically wrong with you. People sometimes seek medical attention in this case, undergoing several healthcare visits and medical investigations, which may not lead to any significant findings and may even put them at risk for adverse reactions.
For instance, someone who suddenly cannot move and goes to the emergency room may be recommended to undergo a lumbar puncture procedure, which is invasive, painful, and unnecessary.
One study found that there were an estimated 1,247,000 emergency department visits each year for anxiety-related symptoms.
How to Deal With Crippling Anxiety
Emotionally Paralyzed With Anxiety
An example is a person withagoraphobia, who due to anxiety becomes homebound and never leaves the house or needs a companion to do so.
A more literal version of emotionally paralyzing anxiety is severe anxiety that takes over all your other emotions, making you unable to react to either good or bad events that may happen.
Emotionally paralyzing anxiety can be more subtle, causing people around you to perceive you as aloof, inappropriately afraid, or preoccupied.
It can affect other areas of your life such as social interactions,intimate relationships, or work performance, causing them to suffer. In some cases, people are so anxious that they avoid going for their healthcare appointments, and their health can suffer as well.
What You Can Do to Cope With Anxiety
Other Characteristics of Paralyzing Anxiety
When you are paralyzed with anxiety, you may also exhibit several other physical, cognitive, and behavioral symptoms. Some of these include:
What Is Analysis Paralysis?
Treatment for Paralyzing Anxiety
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBTcan teach you to break the relationship between the emotion of the anxiety and the particular behavior that is getting in your way, such as the inability to move or do things that cause anxiety.
CBT is considered a first-line treatment for anxiety. It is effective in treating different anxiety-related disorders, including panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder).
Medication
Medications may sometimes be necessary to reduce the severity of your anxiety and prevent the recurrence of anxiety attacks.Benzodiazepineswork quickly, which is why they are typically used to relieve anxiety symptoms in the short term.Antidepressantscan help people who require long-term treatment but usually take a few weeks to begin working.
Benzodiazepines are usually used only as a short-term treatment due to the increased risk for dependence and tolerance with long-term use.
Coping When You Feel Paralyzed With Anxiety
In addition to seeking professional treatment, Zimbrean also explains that there are a number of self-help techniques that can help ease feelings of paralyzing anxiety. Some of these tactics include the following:
Identify Your Triggers
Identifying the factors thattriggeryour anxiety can be helpful. However, this is not always possible; sometimes, it is not always easily removed even if the element is identified.
Utilize Mindfulness Practices
Meditationandmindfulnesstechniques can help you focus on the present and keep the anxiety at bay. Mindfulness is a practice that involves nonjudgmental awareness of a person’s sensations, thoughts, and consciousness in the present moment.
A 2018 study found that mindfulness-based interventions for anxiety were comparable to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in terms of efficacy.
Care for Your Health
Maintaining your healthand undergoing regular health check-ups can help rule out physical health conditions. This makes it easier for healthcare providers to determine that the symptoms you are experiencing are due to anxiety. This is not always easy, as it is often counterintuitive that an emotional condition may cause a physical reaction.
Other tactics that can be very helpful when you feel yourself becoming paralyzed with anxiety include deep breathingand grounding techniques.Regular exercise can also be a highly effective tool for managing anxiety.
How to Know Which Antidepressant Is Best for You
A Word From Verywell
Anxiety can paralyze you physically or emotionally. Emotionally paralyzing anxiety can take a toll on your work and relationships, whereas physically paralyzing anxiety can affect your ability to perform daily tasks and in some cases, lead to lengthy medical investigations or risky procedures.
You can seek treatment for your anxiety and more specifically for the paralysis you are experiencing. Treatment can take the form of therapy, medication, andmindfulness exercises. While it can seem daunting, it’s important to take steps and seek professional help.
How to Cope With Extreme Anxiety
8 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.
Cleveland Clinic.Anxiety disorders: types, causes, symptoms, and treatments.
Livermore JJA, Klaassen FH, Bramson B, et al.Approach-avoidance decisions under threat: The role of autonomic psychophysiological states.Front Neurosci. 2021;15:621517. doi:10.3389/fnins.2021.621517
Curtiss JE, Levine DS, Ander I, Baker AW.Cognitive-behavioral treatments for anxiety and stress-related disorders.Focus (Am Psychiatr Publ). 2021;19(2):184-189. doi:10.1176/appi.focus.20200045
Tiberewal P, Looi J, Allison S, Bastiampillai T.Benzodiazepines for the long-term treatment of anxiety disorders?.Lancet. 2021;398(10295):119-120. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00934-X
Hofmann SG, Gómez AF.Mindfulness-based interventions for anxiety and depression.Psychiatr Clin North Am. 2017;40(4):739-749. doi:10.1016/j.psc.2017.08.008
Magnon V, Dutheil F, Vallet GT.Benefits from one session of deep and slow breathing on vagal tone and anxiety in young and older adults.Sci Rep. 2021;11(1):19267. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-98736-9
Aylett E, Small N, Bower P.Exercise in the treatment of clinical anxiety in general practice - a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC Health Serv Res. 2018;18(1):559. doi:10.1186/s12913-018-3313-5
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