Tachycardia due to stress

Introduction

Tachycardia can be triggered by stress and is a warning signal that stress should definitely be reduced. Tachycardia is a normal stress reaction and is not dangerous in itself, as long as it does not last long. It can be examined by a physical examination by a doctor, an ECG and a blood test. It must be ruled out that tachycardia occurs within the scope of cardiac arrhythmia and not only under stress. The best therapy for tachycardia due to stress is to avoid too many stressful situations.

Definiton

The heart normally pulsates at about 60 to 80 beats per minute, which is on average about once per second. If the heart beats faster, i.e. more than 80, or even 100 beats, this can be very uncomfortable for the person affected. This process is then called tachycardia or, in medical terminology, tachycardia.

Tachycardia can be caused by a variety of circumstances – as a natural reaction to something or by a variety of illnesses. A natural circumstance that can lead to a very fast heartbeat is stress. This is part of the body’s response to the complex stress reaction. Although this reaction can occur in everyone, tachycardia can become a burden for some people – especially if you are constantly under stress and your heart is beating at an increased rate.

Causes

The stress reaction is a reaction of the body to a stressful situation, which is intended to increase the energy of the body in the short term and enable the person to perform better. The sympathetic nervous system is activated, a part of the so-called vegetative nervous system, which cannot be consciously directed and controls deeply rooted, intrinsic functions. In the Stone Age, this was supposed to enable people to fight or flee – today it enables us to quickly master tasks at work or to achieve top performance in sports.

The stress reaction releases various messenger substances and hormones such as adrenaline, noradrenaline or cortisol, which are responsible for the various effects of stress on the body. For example, stress upregulates the metabolism, muscles become more efficient, breathing accelerates and the pupils become larger. The stress reaction also affects the cardiovascular system: blood vessels near the heart become narrower and the heart starts beating faster.

By racing the heart, the body tries to improve the supply of oxygen and nutrients. So tachycardia is actually a normal reaction of the body to stress. If a person is constantly under stress, this can be no problem on the one hand, but on the other hand it can also become a serious strain, for example if you feel your heartbeat increase.

This is then called palpitations. Some people can handle stress better than others, which is why palpitations are not a problematic symptom for every person who is often under stress. However, the severity of the symptoms varies from person to person. You can read more information here

  • Stress
  • Tachycardia causes
  • High pulse at rest