What It Means to Be Paralyzed With Anxiety

One symptom of an anxiety disorder is feeling as if you are paralyzed with anxiety. This paralyzing anxiety may leave you feeling unable to move, speak, and think. Your arms and legs may feel heavy and immobile, you may be unable to form words, and you may struggle to process what is happening around you.

Zimbrean describes what emotional and physical paralysis can feel like and how they can impact your life.

Physically Paralyzed With Anxiety

While the experience can differ somewhat from one person to the next, the physical symptoms you experience when you feel paralyzed with anxiety can be particularly disconcerting.

You may experience physically paralyzing anxiety in the wake of a clear stressor, a major life change, a disaster, or a traumatic event. However, it can sometimes occur without you being aware of the cause. 

Impact of Being Physically Paralyzed by Anxiety

Being paralyzed with anxiety can have significant effects on your ability to function normally in different areas of your everyday life.

It can also cause you to believe that something is physically wrong with you. People sometimes seek medical attention in this case, undergoing several healthcare visits and medical investigations, which may not lead to any significant findings and may even put them at risk for adverse reactions. 

For instance, someone who suddenly cannot move and goes to the emergency room may be recommended to undergo a lumbar puncture procedure, which is invasive, painful, and unnecessary.  

Emotionally Paralyzed With Anxiety

In addition to the physical feelings of anxiety, you may also feel emotionally paralyzed by anxiety. This can make it difficult to cope with what you are feeling and can interfere with relationships and other areas of life.

An example is a person with agoraphobia, who due to anxiety becomes homebound and never leaves the house or needs a companion to do so. 

A more literal version of emotionally paralyzing anxiety is severe anxiety that takes over all your other emotions, making you unable to react to either good or bad events that may happen. 

Impact of Being Emotionally Paralyzed by Anxiety

Emotionally paralyzing anxiety can be more subtle, causing people around you to perceive you as aloof, inappropriately afraid, or preoccupied.

It can affect other areas of your life such as social interactions, intimate relationships, or work performance, causing them to suffer. In some cases, people are so anxious that they avoid going for their healthcare appointments, and their health can suffer as well.

Other Characteristics of Paralyzing Anxiety

When you are paralyzed with anxiety, you may also exhibit several other physical, cognitive, and behavioral symptoms. Some of these include:

• Avoiding any situation that may trigger feelings of anxiety
• Feeling unable to make decisions, a phenomenon sometimes known as decision paralysis
• Social withdrawal and isolation
• Problems concentrating and thinking clearly
• Muscle tension that makes moving difficult
• Negative thoughts
• Shaking, trembling, and numbness
• Rapid, shallow breathing, 
• Nausea and stomach upset
• Rapid heart rate

Treatment for Paralyzing Anxiety

Zimbrean shares some treatment options and coping strategies that can help you deal feeling paralyzed by anxiety.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT can teach you to break the relationship between the emotion of the anxiety and the particular behavior that is getting in your way, such as the inability to move or do things that cause anxiety. 

Medication

Medications may sometimes be necessary to reduce the severity of your anxiety and prevent the recurrence of anxiety attacks. Benzodiazepines work quickly, which is why they are typically used to relieve anxiety symptoms in the short term. Antidepressants can help people who require long-term treatment but usually take a few weeks to begin working.

Coping When You Feel Paralyzed With Anxiety

In addition to seeking professional treatment, Zimbrean also explains that there are a number of self-help techniques that can help ease feelings of paralyzing anxiety. Some of these tactics include the following:

Identify Your Triggers

Identifying the factors that trigger your anxiety can be helpful. However, this is not always possible; sometimes, it is not always easily removed even if the element is identified. 

Utilize Mindfulness Practices

Meditation and mindfulness techniques can help you focus on the present and keep the anxiety at bay. Mindfulness is a practice that involves nonjudgmental awareness of a person's sensations, thoughts, and consciousness in the present moment.

A 2018 study found that mindfulness-based interventions for anxiety were comparable to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in terms of efficacy.

Care for Your Health

Maintaining your health and undergoing regular health check-ups can help rule out physical health conditions. This makes it easier for healthcare providers to determine that the symptoms you are experiencing are due to anxiety. This is not always easy, as it is often counterintuitive that an emotional condition may cause a physical reaction. 

A Word From Verywell

Anxiety can paralyze you physically or emotionally. Emotionally paralyzing anxiety can take a toll on your work and relationships, whereas physically paralyzing anxiety can affect your ability to perform daily tasks and in some cases, lead to lengthy medical investigations or risky procedures.

You can seek treatment for your anxiety and more specifically for the paralysis you are experiencing. Treatment can take the form of therapy, medication, and mindfulness exercises. While it can seem daunting, it's important to take steps and seek professional help.