Anxiety attack symptoms that directly relate to the heart include chest pain or discomfort, as well as heart palpitations. While these symptoms cannot cause damage to your heart, evidence suggests that if left untreated anxiety can lead to behaviors that can contribute to heart disease.
Increased Heart Rate
During an anxiety attack your heart will begin to beat more quickly. Many people experience palpitations and even claim to hear their heartbeat through their ears. Although many mistakenly believe a heart attack is imminent when this occurs, the good news, according to the anxietynetwork.com, is that the heart can beat quickly and continuously for a long period of time without causing any damage.
Elevated Blood Pressure
During a panic or anxiety attack your heart will beat faster, which will cause your blood pressure to rise. Although this sudden rise may lead you to feel faint, anxietynetwork.com points out that this cannot happen because in order to faint a sudden drop or lowering of blood pressure must occur.
Heart Disease
There is a connection between anxiety and an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, according to an article published in the December 2008 issue of the "Journal of the American College of Cardiology." The study's researchers concluded that those suffering from anxiety were more likely to engage in activities that could aggravate cardiovascular disease, such as smoking and inactivity, from which they concluded that anxiety can contribute to cardiovascular disease while not directly causing it.
