When Your Body Sounds the Alarm: Responding to Physical Symptoms Under Stress

By Ben Gaibel, LCSW

If you’ve ever felt muscle tension during a demanding week, nauseous before a hearing, or unable to shake a persistent headache during trial prep, you are not alone. These symptoms may have a clear medical explanation, working with your doctor is essential to determining whether this is the case. Other times, the body is signaling that stress levels have been running too high for too long. It can be challenging to determine what’s driving physical symptoms while stressed, and that uncertainty can become its own source of stress. 

This article explains how stress can produce physical symptoms, why reactive thinking can amplify them, and practical ways to help you respond to these moments with more clarity and less fear.

Psychosomatic Stress

Many people hear the word “psychosomatic” and think it means made up, or all in your head. However, the term describes a well-documented reality: psychological states can cause or worsen physical symptoms, and those symptoms are entirely real.[1]

Breaking down the term, psyche relates to the mind, and soma relates to the body. Sometimes stress directly creates physical ailments, and other times it intensifies physical symptoms that were already present. In either case, the physical discomfort is genuine regardless of the cause. 

When we experience chronic stress, the sympathetic nervous system (the part of our nervous system responsible for the fight-or-flight response) stays activated for extended periods. This system is designed to help us respond to immediate threats, but when it remains on overdrive, it takes a toll.[2] The stress hormones released contribute to shallow breathing, slower digestion, increased heart rate, and tight muscles. While this is normal for short-term events, chronic activation could lead to headaches, back pain, chest tightness, dizziness, digestive issues, high blood pressure, insomnia, and other challenging symptoms.[3] Stress related to unresolved trauma, grief, or depression may also contribute to physical symptoms without an obvious connection.[4]

The Worry Loop

Legal professionals are trained to anticipate risk and prepare for worst-case scenarios. This skill can serve clients well but can backfire when something feels physically wrong. A moment of dizziness becomes “What if something is wrong with my heart?” A wave of nausea becomes “What if this is going to get worse?”

When unfamiliar physical sensations appear, the mind immediately searches for an explanation, often landing on the worst possibility, especially under stress. That interpretation alone can be enough to put the body on high alert.[5] This worry activates the same stress response that may have caused the symptom in the first place. Anxiety can trigger physical symptoms, and the symptoms can magnify anxiety, which can turn into a vicious cycle.[6]

Breaking the Cycle

If you are caught in this loop or are simply noticing physical symptoms popping up during times of stress, here are some steps that can make a meaningful difference.

Recognize the pattern without judgment: Awareness of the cycle is an important first step. When physical symptoms appear, it’s common to try to ignore them or react with self-criticism. Recognizing the pattern with openness and curiosity, rather than judgment, means noticing what is happening without blaming yourself. Acknowledging the challenging nature of the experience and responding with acceptance and self-compassion can reduce the sense of threat that fuels the stress cycle. This might look like taking a few slow, deep breaths and acknowledging, “This is really hard right now, and my mind may be running ahead of the facts.” From there, you can choose the next step that feels the most grounding in the moment, such as moving your body, taking a brief break from screens, or returning your focus to the task in front of you.

If you notice the mind jumping to worst-case scenarios about physical symptoms, it can help to recognize that anxiety may be shaping the thoughts that arise in response to those sensations. You don’t need to block or fight the thoughts, rather notice them as mental activity under stress. Acknowledging that the thoughts formed in these moments may not be fully accurate can reduce their power and help prevent them from triggering more stress-related symptoms.

Attend to the basics: sleep, movement, nutrition, and hydration: When stress runs high, these fundamentals often slip. Inadequate sleep, movement, nutrition, and hydration can intensify physical symptoms when the body lacks these basic needs. Ongoing fatigue might be a sign to protect your sleep schedule. Muscle tension may point to a need for more daily movement. Irritability or brain fog may be cues to focus on consistent nourishment and hydration. Notice which of these basic needs feels most depleted and give it some extra attention.

Talk it through with someone you trust: When anxiety has taken over, it can be difficult to think clearly. Talking with a trusted friend or partner can offer perspective and help you feel less alone. Bringing concerns into conversation can help clarify whether medical attention is needed and prevents worries from escalating in isolation. 

Seek appropriate care: Seeing a medical professional can help rule out serious conditions and provide reassurance when physical symptoms are causing unnecessary worry. Staying current with annual physicals and screenings can be empowering by allowing you to be proactive. It’s common for busy professionals to neglect medical appointments. Keeping up with routine care and getting evaluated as needed can help address issues before they become more serious.

It’s valuable to recognize if stress-related symptoms persist over time, or if you’re frequently caught in cycles of health-related worry. It may suggest your current pace is not sustainable, or unresolved stress, trauma, or depression is contributing beneath the surface. In these cases, a mental health therapist can help address potential root causes rather than solely focusing on the physical symptoms.

Conclusion

In a field that rewards pushing through, it’s easy to treat physical warning signs as either something to ignore or a potential catastrophe. A more helpful frame is that symptoms are information: sometimes they require medical attention, and sometimes they are a signal to slow down, attend to your basic needs, and explore ways to best manage stress levels.

If you notice this pattern repeating, consider taking one small step this week: add some more movement into your day, talk it through with someone you trust, or schedule a routine medical or mental health appointment you’ve had on your radar. By listening to your body’s messages with awareness and self-acceptance, you can respond with less reactivity and find a pace that’s more sustainable over time.

For more well-being related strategies visit the Colorado Lawyer Assistance Program (COLAP) website at www.coloradolap.org or contact us at info@coloradolap.org or (303) 986-3345 to request a confidential, free well-being consultation.

About the author: Ben Gaibel is a Clinical Coordinator for the Colorado Lawyer Assistance Program (COLAP). He is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) with nearly 20 years of experience in behavioral health, including extensive work in oncology social work. Ben has been teaching Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) since 2001 and has specialized expertise in stress reduction, resilience, and wellness education, with a focus on helping professionals manage work-related stress, secondary trauma, and burnout.

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[1] Cleveland Clinic. (2024). Psychosomatic disorder: What it is, symptoms, and treatment. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21521-psychosomatic-disorder

[2] Harvard Health Publishing. (2024). Recognizing and easing the physical symptoms of anxiety.

[3] Yaribeygi, H., Panahi, Y., Sahraei, H., Johnston, T. P., & Sahebkar, A. (2017). The impact of stress on body function: A review. EXCLI Journal, 16, 1057–1072. https://doi.org/10.17179/excli2017-480

[4] Van der Kolk, B. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Penguin Books.

[5] Harvard Health Publishing. (2020). Always worried about your health? You may be dealing with health anxiety disorder. https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/always-worried-about-your-health-you-may-be-dealing-with-health-anxiety-disorder

[6] Harvard Health Publishing. (2024). Recognizing and easing the physical symptoms of anxiety. https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/recognizing-and-easing-the-physical-symptoms-of-anxiety