Can Anxiety Cause Diarrhoea?

Have you ever noticed that when you are anxious or stressed, your stomach seems to react too? It can range from butterflies in the stomach, to nausea, to needing to go back and for to the toilet. Anxiety doesn’t just affect how you think and feel, it affects your digestive system too. One common, and sometimes embarrassing, symptom is diarrhoea. So how can anxiety cause diarrhoea?

Many people have had the experience of needing to pee when they are nervous or anxious. I can remember before my driving test years ago. I was back and for to the toilet, constantly feeling like I needed to go (to the point where I think my instructor was getting nervous about whether I’d be able to sit in the car for the test!). It’s not uncommon to need a nervous wee before an exam, test, interview, presentation or other key event.

However, for some other people, their anxiety affects their gut and manifests in the other way, with diarrhoea. There are things you can take that might help ease your stomach (and let’s not get started on that pesky advert with the song about heartburn, upset stomach and diarrhoea). However, the root cause of your stomach issues may well be anxiety because of how it impacts upon your body.

It can also create a spiral of worry. You feel anxious and experience diarrhoea. And this then makes you even more anxious about leaving the house because what if it strikes when you are out. You may even have avoided some situations because you weren’t sure there would be a clean toilet handy if you needed it. And you probably don’t want to have to explain to other people why you need to keep heading off to the toilet all the time. There is the risk you’ll be out and need to go urgently but you worry about not making it.

If you’ve ever experienced an upset stomach before a big event, presentation or stressful situation, then you know how anxiety can affect your gut. If you struggle with more generalised anxiety, the stomach issues can be debilitating.

So let’s take a look at how anxiety can cause diarrhoea and what you can do to calm both your mind and your gut.

 

Why Anxiety Can Lead To Diarrhoea

Your brain and digestive are closely linked. When you feel anxious, you may find all the symptoms, and your focus, go straight to your gut.

When your mind senses danger, whether real or imagined, it triggers the fight or flight response. Stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol are released and blood flow is redirected. Your digestive system is downgraded in times of danger or stress. In evolutionary terms, if you needed to survive then you wanted all your energy and blood going to your muscles. Digesting food was not important in these moments.

These changes impact upon your stomach and can lead to nausea, crams or constipation. For others, their anxiety goes the opposite way. You may experience diarrhoea and an urgent need to go to the toilet.

Perhaps the most likely reason that means that anxiety can cause diarrhoea is because of how the stress response affects your digestive system. During anxiety, your body diverts energy away from non essential areas, like your digestion. There’s no point using energy to digest food if that means you don’t have enough energy in your muscles to keep yourself safe from the threats and danger. This change can mean food moves through your intestines quickly, leading to looseness in your gut and diarrhoea.

I’ve also come across a school of thought that suggests that, when faced with a predator, emptying your bowels over yourself would make you seem much less appetising to them.

Stress and anxiety can also cause the muscles in your stomach to tense up. This can contribute to some anxiety-related toilet urges.

And, as always with anxiety, you can start to overthink and become hyper-aware of the sensations you experience. You worry that you may get diarrhoea and you worry when you have it. It feels uncomfortable and concerning. You feel more anxious and this can upset your stomach even more. You then start to worry about going out and going places in case it happens when you are out. There are so many potential risks about social embarrassment, things going wrong or being caught out.

As always with physical symptoms, if you are concerned then you should contact your GP for advice and reassurance. If anxiety is the cause, then it is certainly something you can learn to manage and get a handle on.

 

Calming Anxiety That Causes Diarrhoea

As with all anxiety, calming the physical feelings and your thinking will ease what you experience. In addition to anxiety hypnotherapy, I always teach people how to calm their own anxious feelings and how to interrupt negative thoughts. This means you can cut off anxiety before the spiral begins, meaning your digestive system does not react as it has been. You find yourself feeling more calm, confident and on control.

If anxiety has been causing you diarrhoea and other digestive issues then there any many things you can proactively do to take back control and start feeling calmer.

For example, you can calm anxious feelings through practising slow and steady breathing. When you feel anxious, you breathe shallower and faster. This then triggers your anxiety response and the more the anxiety rises, the more your digestive system can be affected. Slow, steady breathing helps calm anxiety and reduce the physical stress response. You breathe out longer than in and this fires off your natural relaxation response.

As you relax, your breathing can get deeper and shallower and this helps your body relax. Try breathing in for a count of four, holding for a count of two and then gently breathing out for a count of six. This helps your body return to a sense of calm and eases physical stress reactions.

There’s more about this here: Controlled Breathing To Calm Anxious Feelings

It’s also beneficial to take some time each day to relax so that you are managing your daily stress levels. In our busy lives, taking some time out to recharge often falls off the bottom of the to do list (if it even made it onto the list). Go for a walk outside or pause and listen to some music for a while. Or you can listen to a self hypnosis audio, for example, you could use one of my effective hypnosis downloads.

I help many people who struggle with IBS that gets worse through stress and anxiety. However, we should all be looking after ourselves and avoiding things that triggers stomach irritability. Eat healthily, stay hydrated, be mindful of caffeine and alcohol and avoid things that can make digestive issues worse.

When you feel anxiety related diarrhoea, remind yourself that what you are experiencing is a common anxiety symptom. You are medically safe and it will calm down. The more you reassure yourself, the more you can interrupt the anxiety and allow your body to calm down.

There are many methods for challenging anxious thoughts in the articles on this website, or you may wish to check out the grounding techniques in this article: Grounding Techniques for Anxiety

 

Anxiety Hypnotherapy Ely, Newmarket, Online

The more you learn how to calm your anxious thoughts and feelings, the less anxiety related diarrhoea will strike. As it reduces, you can relax and get on with the things you want to be doing.

Many of my anxiety clients come to me after struggling with the physical symptoms of anxiety, such as stomach discomfort, nausea or diarrhoea. It becomes a cycle of anxious thoughts leading to unwanted digestive issues, leading to even more anxiety. Through hypnotherapy and other strategies, we can help you to reduce your underlying anxiety so that your stomach is calm and you feel relaxed. As your mind relaxes, those uncomfortable physical symptoms reduce, or even disappear completely.

Anxiety can cause diarrhoea. It’s a common and natural bodily reaction to stress and anxious thoughts and feelings. It’s unpleasant, inconvenient and worrying. However, by learning how to calm your mind and body, you can take back control, ease digestive issues and feel more relaxed, comfortable and confident as you go about your day.

Book your free consultation to learn more, or find out about how I help people overcome anxiety here: Anxiety Hypnotherapy

To your health and happiness,

Dan Regan

Anxiety Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

 

Find out more about anxiety hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket: Anxiety Hypnotherapy

Could you use some help with your anxiety? Struggling with anxiety, stress, worry and fear and need some help? Find out how I can help with a Complimentary Anxiety Hypnotherapy Strategy Session. Learn more here: Appointments

Find out what hundreds of other people have said after their anxiety hypnotherapy sessions with Dan: Hypnotherapy Testimonials

And check out these popular and powerful hypnosis downloads that can start helping you right away with anxiety, confidence and more: Hypnosis Downloads