Last Updated on January 2, 2023 by Mike Robinson
The relationship between extrasystoles and anxiety is often frequent and, in some cases, may be bi-directional. That is, anxiety can be a cause of extrasystoles and vice versa.
An extrasystole is a type of ventricular contraction. It is a disorder of the heart rhythm and is characterized by producing a beat ahead of the normal heart rate.
This alteration results only from a symptom, so that its appearance does not have to determine the presence of cardiac pathology. However, before your presence requires a thorough medical examination to rule out this possibility.
Extrasystoles and Anxiety
The extrasistole causes a “jump” in the heartbeat that are usually very unpleasant for the person. The experimentation of these palpitations can motivate an increase of the anxiety of the person and originate an anxious state.
This article explains what the extrasistole is and discusses what relationship it keeps with anxiety. In addition, it is reviewed how the anxiety can originate this symptom and in what way the extrasistole can increase the nervousness of the person.
Extrasystoles as cause of anxiety
Although the most common relationship between anxiety and extrasystoles is determined by a causal effect from the first to the second, sometimes the roles can be reversed.
That is, just as an anxious state can provoke the testing of extrasystoles, changes in the heart rate can motivate the development of an anxious state.
This fact is mainly explained by the anguish that the extrasystoles usually produce. Detecting changes in heart rate often triggers the alarm signal due to the possibility of suffering a major heart condition.
Thus, it is common for people with extrasystoles to be nervous when they experience their cardiac manifestations. Likewise, frequent experimentation of extrasystoles may motivate the occurrence of recurrent anxiety states and increase the danger of developing an anxious disorder.
What is extrasystoles?
The extrasystoles is a disorder of the heart rhythm that causes palpitations. That is, this condition causes a heartbeat advance of the person.
The condition of extrasystoles is a rather common condition. Many people can detect at one point in their life an increase in their heartbeat.
In fact, suffering from extrasystoles does not imply the presence of an organic disorder, although its detection is mainly to rule out the existence of a pathology of the heart.
This condition arises when a stimulus starts outside the specific electrical conduction mechanism that generates the heartbeat.
Specifically, when the origin is located in the atria (upper cavities of the heart) is called atrial extrasystole. When the origin occurs in the ventricles (lower cavities of the heart) it is ventricular extrasystole.
Causes of extrasystoles
Extrasystoles are premature cardiac contractions, that is, beating ahead. Many people present extrasystoles at some point in our lives, but most of them are asymptomatic and go completely unnoticed.
Anxiety is one of the factors that can cause, directly, the testing of extrasystoles. However, this is not the only cause of heart rhythm disorder. In fact, the extrasystoles can be caused by multiple factors of different nature.
Firstly, it must be taken into account that extrasystoles can be cardiopathic manifestations, being the most dangerous condition of the condition and requires a thorough treatment and control.
However, extrasystoles can also occur in healthy hearts, a fact that is not too uncommon.
In these cases, the main causes of this condition are the consumption of different drugs such as alcohol, cocaine , tobacco or coffee, anxiety states , cardiac somatization or intense sports.
Anxiety as the cause of extrasystoles
The anxiety is one of the factors that can cause premature. In fact, the relationship between both disorders is often quite frequent.
In this sense, it is necessary to take into account that anxiety, despite being a psychological alteration, originates both cognitive symptoms (referring to thinking) and physical and behavioral manifestations.
In the case of physical manifestations, some of the most common are palpitations, although other symptoms such as muscle tension, increased respiratory rate, sweating or dry mouth may also be experienced.
The palpitations caused by anxiety originate due to an increase in the person’s heart rate. In fact, it is often very common that in times of high anxiety the heart rate will trigger.
This fact is mainly due to the increase of the activity of the autonomic nervous system that motivate the anxious states.
This means that anxiety does not only affect regions of the brain that are responsible for processing conscious activities, but also affects structures that perform automatic activities.
By affecting these brain regions, a large number of physical functions may be altered and thus cause changes in the body’s physical activity, including the testing of extrasystoles.
The anxiety-extrasystoles loop
This loop originates only when the two causal conditions are satisfied. That is, when the extrasystoles is caused by anxiety, and when the experimentation of these alterations in heart rate generate anxious state.
In these cases, the experimentation of extrasystoles can lead to increased anxiety of the person, which results in an increase in cardiac symptoms, thus generating a loop that is difficult to leave. This fact originates mainly due to the functioning of anxious states.
These are usually initiated in thought, through the generation of cognitions with nervous contents. Subsequently, anxious thinking leads to a continuation of physical manifestations.
Also Read: Childhood fears: types, characteristics and most common
These physical manifestations (among which the extrasystoles can be found) are usually captured by the brain, which interprets them as a warning signal. At this signal of alarm, the psychological state responds with an increase of nervousness, fact that motivates an even greater increase of the physical symptomatology.
