How anxiety affects our physical and mental health
By Marina Rodríguez Conesa · 28 abril 2026
Anxiety also affects the body. Understanding that connection helps us recognise and address it.
If you've come this far, anxiety is probably not an abstract word for you. Maybe you feel it on your chest when you wake up in the morning. Perhaps it appears in the form of thoughts that do not stop, from a stomach that protests for no apparent reason, or from that feeling of always being on the edge although, objectively, nothing serious is happening.
You're not alone. And, above all, you're not broken.
In this article we want to tell you what happens to your body and mind when anxiety settles, and — most importantly — that there is a way out.
Anxiety is not the enemy
Before going into the matter, it is worth clarifying something: anxiety itself is not bad. It's a response your organism has been perfecting for thousands of years to keep you safe. It activates you, alerts you, prepares you to act. The problem is not that it exists, but sometimes it stays on when it is no longer necessary, or it is triggered in situations that do not represent any real danger.
When that happens persistently, start billing your health. And that's exactly what we're going to see.
What anxiety does to your body.
The heart hurts. Palpitations, tachycardia, or chest pressure are signs that your cardiovascular system has been on alert for too long.
The stomach is stirring. The bowel-brain axis is very real: anxiety often results in abdominal pain, irritable colon, nausea or heavy digestions.
Muscles grab. Chronic cervical tension, headaches, or physical tiredness without apparent cause often have much to do with sustained stress.
The defenses are down. Excess cortisol suppresses the immune system. If you have recently become ill easily or slow to recover, anxiety may be influencing.
The dream's gone. And without restful sleep, everything gets worse: humor, concentration, the ability to manage day-to-day.
What happens many times is that these physical symptoms generate a second layer of anguish: «What if something serious happens to me?» That question feeds more anxiety, which produces more symptoms, which generates more fear. A circle from which it is difficult to leave alone.
What Anxiety Does to Your Mind
On an emotional and cognitive level, living with chronic anxiety is exhausting. Not because you are weak, but because your mind takes months — or years — to work at a pace that is not sustainable.
Perhaps you recognize yourself in one of these experiences:
The head doesn't stop. You go over conversations, anticipate problems, find solutions to things that haven't happened yet.
You're having a hard time concentrating. You start things and you don't finish them. You get distracted easily, and that makes you more frustrated.
Little things drive you crazy. Not because you're impatient, but because you've been with the nervous system to the fullest.
You start to avoid it. Situations, people, commitments. At first it seems relief, but in the long run the world becomes smaller.
You're talking terrible to yourself. Anxiety and self-criticism go hand in hand.
“It’s not like you’re an anxious person. It is that you are responding in a way that makes sense given your story, your context and what you have lived.”
Anxiety always occurs in a context
This is where we want to share something that we firmly believe: anxiety does not come from nothing, nor is it just a matter of brain chemistry or "how you are". It always happens in a context.
Sometimes that context is a couple relationship that generates a lot of tension. Sometimes it's a family dynamic that you've been repeating all your life without realizing it. Sometimes it's a work environment that demands more than you can give. And almost always, when you look closely, there are patterns that repeat themselves: different situations, but the same feeling, the same reaction, the same result.
Understanding that context does not mean looking for guilt. It means understanding in order to change.
When does it make sense to ask for help?
You don't have to be at the worst moment of your life to go to therapy. But there are signs that it may be a good time to take the step:
You've been feeling this way for several weeks and it doesn't get better.
Anxiety is affecting your work, relationships, or everyday life.
You have physical symptoms that the doctor can't explain.
You're avoiding more and more things.
You feel that you manage discomfort with behaviors that don't do you well.
There are conflicts that repeat themselves over and over again without anything changing.
If you identify with any of these points, consulting a psychologist specializing in anxiety in Malaga can be the first step to get out of the loop.
How We Work Anxiety: Systemic Therapy Focused on Solutions
At our center we work from a systemic and solution-focused approach. This means, in practice, that we focus not only on the problem — what it is failing or why you have anxiety — but on what already works in you and how we can build from there.
Some questions that guide our work:
When does anxiety not appear? Those moments when you're okay, even if they're few, contain very valuable information. We're very interested.
What have you done so far that has helped you, even a little bit? Your own resources are the best starting point. We didn't get therapy empty-handed.
What would your life be like if anxiety took up less space? Having a clear picture of where you're going helps move much more than just focusing on where you're coming from.
At the same time, we look at the context: relationships, repeating patterns, the systems in which you live — family, partner, work — because anxiety is rarely kept alone. Sometimes the smallest change in relational dynamics brings enormous relief.
The process can be done in individual, couple or family format, depending on what makes more sense to you.
“You don’t need to understand perfectly why you have anxiety to start feeling better. Sometimes it is enough to take a small step in the right direction.”
One last note before you finish
Seeking psychological help is not giving up. It's exactly the opposite: it's deciding that you don't want to stay the same, that you deserve to feel better and that you're willing to do something about it.
If you are in Malaga and you think your time has come, we would love to join you. The first consultation is uncompromising, and the only goal is to understand how we can help you.
Write to us. The first step is the most important.
Marina Rodríguez Conesa
