Is anxiety potentially dangerous?

Is anxiety potentially dangerous?

Charles Triay (General Practicioner) gives expert video advice on: What is anxiety?; How can anxiety be controlled?; Is anxiety potentially dangerous? and more...

Anxiety, per say, is not a dangerous condition. That means to say that anxiety, although it can produce fairly dramatic symptoms, such as panic attacks, hyperventilation, and the problems associated with hyperventilation, the symptoms are not dangerous, and usually with very simple measures to control the acute anxiety or panic attack, they can be relieved. Having said that, anxiety can worsen other underlying disorders, which could then become potentially dangerous. For example, if a patient suffers from ischemic heart disease, the increased heart rate or increased blood pressure associated with the adrenaline release from an acute anxiety episode may well induce a heart problem. But that is an indirect affect and you need to have other underlying disorders, which would create a potential danger.