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When stressed, you may feel anxious, sweaty, or get frequent headaches.

But can stress cause lightheadedness?

Yes, Stress Can Cause Lightheadedness

Stress can absolutely cause lightheadedness.

Young Asian woman sitting on the bed feeling sick and suffering from headache, a glass of water and medicine on the side table

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Lightheadedness can feel like a general fuzzy lightness in your head, possibly even throwing off your balance.

What Causes a Sensation of Lightheadedness?

Dizziness is brought on by dysfunction of the bodys sensory system called the vestibular system.

This system controls balance and movement.

Our vestibular system is disrupted when our body releases stress hormones like cortisol.

Our body naturally releases these hormones intending to ensure werespondto stressors efficiently, ultimately working towards keeping us safe.

However, when these hormones are stressed, they can interfere with the typical functions of our sensory system.

As a result, you might end up feeling dizzy and disoriented.

What Are the Long-Term Effects of Stress?

Stress is a serious issue.

Beyond causing lightheadedness, it can cause other issues that warrant attention.

Consider what is stressing you out.

Is it a relationship?

Take an honest look at what keeps you up at night and see what action you could take.

Perhaps there areboundariesyou can set in a relationship.

It may be time for you to reach out to your internet to explore new job opportunities.

Practice mindfulness:Too many thoughts going on at once can keep you stressed.

you could keep your mind from wandering off to other thoughts by staying focused on the present moment.

Try Meditating: Meditation is a mind-body practice with origins in Eastern traditions.

It utilizes techniques to soothe the nervous system, like deep breathing, visualizations, and repeating encouraging mantras.

It is clinically proven to decrease the side effects of stress, includinganxietyanddepressionsymptoms.

Empowering yourself with knowledge about stress is a great starting point for improving your overall well-being.

While there arestress management tacticsyou can employ, you canenlist the help of a therapist.

National Institute of Health.Dizziness Can Be a Drag.

2021;59(11):9-13. doi: 10.3928/02793695-20211013-01

Yoo H, Mihaila DM.

Neuroanatomy, vestibular pathways.

Treasure Island, FL: StatPearls Publishing; 2022.