How Stress and Anxiety Can Worsen Essential Tremors

How Stress and Anxiety Can Worsen Essential Tremors

Everyone experiences stress occasionally. News alerts, deadlines, responsibilities, lack of sleep, or health concerns can all make the body feel worn out and on edge. For people living with essential tremor, stress and anxiety can negatively impact more than just the mood — they can also worsen the symptoms one experiences when it comes to shaking.

Many individuals with essential tremor notice that their hands shake even more than usual when they find themselves dealing with emotional situations, public speaking, social gatherings, or times when they find themselves under pressure from themselves the most. Stress doesn’t cause essential tremor under normal circumstances, but it really does increase the severity and frequency of tremors as they happen.

Knowing how anxiety relates to tremors plays a large role in helping to maintain a healthy emotional state and, therefore, greatly improves one’s quality of life in regard to how one experiences and manages their symptoms throughout the course of their daily life.

Understanding Essential Tremor

Most commonly known for shaking of the hands, essential tremor is a neurological condition that causes involuntary movement. The tremor typically reveals itself in actions that require holding or gripping something, or drawing and writing.

Worldwide, it is one of the more common movement disorders and has the capacity to reveal itself in people of all ages, though more commonly in older adults.

Essential tremor differs from Parkinson’s disease in that, in essential tremor, shaking occurs when the body is in action, whereas with Parkinson’s, shakiness occurs when the body is at rest.

Common Symptoms of Essential Tremor

The symptoms of essential tremor will start slowly and, over time, reveal themselves in the form of noticeable shaking.

Signs of Essential Tremors

Essential Tremors lead to an uncontrollable shaking of the hands during most activities and can also lead to difficulty in writing legibly and an uncontrollable shaking when eating or drinking. Some people also suffer from shaking of their head and voice, which also leads to problems when performing tasks that require fine motor skills. Essential Tremors can also cause people to shake more with added stress or with fatigue. When focused, some people can show mild shaking; however, severe shaking can make people feel as if they are unable to perform everyday activities.

How Stress and Anxiety Cause Tremors and Why they Might be Related

Stress or anxiety can make people have breathing problems and lead their bodies to be alert. This can worsen the symptoms of Essential Tremors. When someone is experiencing anxiety, the shaking of their hand can worsen when:

• They are speaking to a large crowd or an audience.
• They are in a situation not knowing what their fate will be (like in an interview).
• They are upset (this can sometimes be related to some sort of anger/sadness).
• Someone is dealing with pressure to perform within their job, and they haven’t been able to sleep well.
• This can also be related to their personal worries.

Shaking can get worse even when someone is expecting a stressful event.

How Anxiety Interferes With Life

Because of the Essential Tremors, some people become self-conscious due to the shaking of their hands, and they try to avoid being in crowds. Over time, these symptoms can create a vicious cycle:

• Tremors happen, and people feel embarrassed.
• This leads to anxiety.
• The anxiety causes further tremors.

This cycle can also lead people to not feel confident and can affect their relationships. This can also affect their performance at their job and can lead to emotional distress. A lot of people can also feel anxiety when they are social, because they feel like they are being judged or because they feel like they are not understood. Essential Tremors are caused by anxiety; however, in most people, when their anxiety is controlled, tremors can also decrease because of the way that some cases are related to some form of depression or anxiety.

Some things known to trigger tremors are:

• Excess caffeine consumption
• Poor sleeping habits
• Physical exhaustion
• Alcohol withdrawal
• Certain medications
• Emotional distress

To some degree, managing these things can help reduce the severity of tremors.

How is Essential Tremor Diagnosed?

Essential Tremor doesn’t have a concrete test to diagnose it. It is typically done when physicians see certain symptoms, analyze a patient’s medical history, and perform a physical neurological exam.

Medical Evaluation

If your doctor is a neurologist, he is likely to ask you questions about:

• The time when you first noticed/timed your tremors?
• Do you tend to shake when you are at rest? Or when you are moving?
• Do you have family members with tremors, or is there a history of it in your family?
• What is your lifestyle like? What kinds of stress/hardships do you have in your life?

Neurological Examination

When you see neurological doctors, be prepared to be assessed on:

• Your coordination
• Your sense of balance
• The strength of your muscles
• Your walking pattern
• The severity of your shakes

Blood Tests and Imaging

Blood tests might be necessary to exclude any thyroid disorders, vitamin deficiencies, or any issues with your metabolic processes.

Managing Stress to Reduce Tremors

It can be true that in some instances it is impossible to avoid stress; there are certainly ways to manage it that can help you gain better control over your tremors.

Relaxation Techniques

Nervous system overactivity can be calmed by rest. Here are a few good ways to rest:

• Deep breathing
• Meditation
• Yoga
• Mindfulness

These things can be good to calm your body in order to slow tremors.

Regular Physical Activity

Exercise is good for both the body and the mind. Stretching, swimming, or even going for a brisk walk can be good not only for your mood but also for reducing your stress level.

Better Sleep Habits

Improving sleep habits to follow a regular sleep schedule can help keep symptoms of tremors in check and calm the body.

Reducing Caffeine Intake

Caffeine can be neuro stimulatory and make you shake even worse.

Emotional Support

Living with tremors can be difficult. Family, support systems, and mental health professionals can help manage the emotional difficulties.

Medical Treatment for Essential Tremor

Your doctor may recommend treatment for your tremors if they interfere with your daily tasks.

Medications

In many patients, certain medications may reduce the severity of tremors.

Therapy

Improving hand coordination and the ability to perform tasks can be achieved through occupational therapy.

Advanced Treatments

In such cases, treatment options like Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) or MR-guided Focused Ultrasound may be considered.

When Should You See a Doctor?

In the following cases, you should definitely consult a doctor:

• Your tremors begin to be more persistent and/or severe
• You find it increasingly more difficult to perform daily tasks
• Your condition deteriorates more rapidly
• Your tremors are suddenly accompanied by stiffness
• You begin to have problems with balance
• Your anxiety begins to negatively impact your mental health

An early diagnosis can rule out some other interfering nervous system diseases and may help provide timely treatment.

Conclusion

Essential tremor symptoms are worsened notably by anxiety and stress. While they are not the primary cause of essential tremor, they worsen the tremor, as well as confidence, social life, and emotional well-being.

Improvement of symptoms can ideally be done by controlling anxiety and stress, and by emotional support and medical treatment. Patients often start to have better control over their symptoms when they make lifestyle changes to manage their stress. If tremors worsen to the point of regularly disrupting daily tasks, a Neurologist’s appointment for an accurate diagnosis and treatment may be required.

FAQs

1. Can stress directly cause essential tremor?
Stress has not been attributed to the causative factors of essential tremor, although for those who have the condition, enhanced trembling may occur.

2. Why do my hands shake when I’m nervous?
When you’re anxious, your body’s nerves are heightened, and stress causes your hands to shake.

3. Does managing stress help with hand shaking?
Yes, when people manage their stress with meditation, sleep, exercise, or relaxation activities, their hand trembling may diminish in certain individuals.