Can anxiety cause weight loss?

Author: Malcolm Cremin  |  Last update: Saturday, December 20, 2025

Because of the continuous stress hormone release with anxiety, a person's metabolism can significantly speed up. This increase in metabolism means the body burns more calories at rest, leading to a greater energy deficit and can lead to rapid weight loss.

Can anxiety cause rapid weight loss?

Anxiety can lead to weight loss in several ways. Firstly, the physiological changes caused by anxiety can increase a person's metabolic rate, leading to more calories being burned. Secondly, anxiety can affect a person's eating habits.

How much weight can you lose due to stress?

On average, it's not uncommon to lose 10 to 15 percent of your overall body weight due to anxiety and the chronic stress it causes. Always talk with your doctor if you've lost a lot of weight in a hurry. There are medical conditions that can cause sudden weight loss.

Why do you lose weight when you are stressed?

The stress hormones that our bodies release can speed up our metabolism, causing us to burn calories faster and lose weight too quickly. In more extreme cases, prolonged stress may lead to depression, which can also cause weight loss.

How to reverse stress weight loss?

How to avoid weight loss (or gain) from stress
  1. Exercise: That means moving your body more, by walking or doing whatever you enjoy most.
  2. Get regular sleep: Sleeping for 7-9 hours per night is ideal.
  3. Eat at regular intervals: Yes, even if your appetite is less than robust.

Can stress or anxiety cause weight loss?

What does a cortisol belly look like?

Cortisol belly simply looks like abdominal fat, and there is no way to identify it by appearance. More important than its appearance is what cortisol belly can do to your health. Visceral fat is considered particularly dangerous because of its location near vital organs and its metabolic activity.

Can overthinking cause weight loss?

Can overthinking lead to weight loss? The answer is yes. One reason is that overthinking, which triggers stress, can affect the digestive system. In addition to decreased appetite, digestive system disorders include nausea, triggering acid reflux, or causing diarrhea or constipation.

What illness causes rapid weight loss?

mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) problems with digestion, such as coeliac disease or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) other health conditions, such as an overactive thyroid, type 2 diabetes or heart failure.

What is a stress belly?

Stress belly refers to abdominal fat caused by increased cortisol levels, overeating, sluggishness, and other effects of stress. Stress belly is not a medical diagnosis. The condition contributes to overall weight gain and obesity and can cause medical issues.

How does stress make your face look?

Stress hormones break down the collagen and elastin in skin and interfere with rejuvenation, which can speed up the aging process causing more fine lines and wrinkles.

What anxiety medication helps you lose weight?

The SSRI fluoxetine (Prozac) and the SNRI duloxetine (Cymbalta) can lead to a decrease in appetite and slight weight loss during the first months of treatment. Bupropion (Wellbutrin), which works by blocking norepinephrine and dopamine, may also have this effect.

What are the symptoms of chronic stress?

What are the symptoms of chronic stress?
  • Aches and pains.
  • Insomnia or sleepiness.
  • A change in social behavior, such as staying in often.
  • Low energy.
  • Unfocused or cloudy thinking.
  • Change in appetite.
  • Increased alcohol or drug use.
  • Change in emotional responses to others.

What tests are done for unexplained weight loss?

Your health care provider may order blood and urine tests that can give information about your general health. You may have other tests based on these results. Imaging scans to look for hidden cancers are not usually done unless some other clue in addition to weight loss points in that direction.

What is considered severe anxiety?

Severe anxiety occurs when the body's natural responses to anticipated stress exceed healthy levels. The symptoms—a racing heart, changes in breathing, and headaches—can hinder your ability to carry out day-to-day tasks. Long-term or recurrent severe anxiety can be a sign of an anxiety disorder.

How do you flush cortisol out of your body?

Stressed? 10 Ways To Lower Your Cortisol Levels
  1. Eat a whole-food, plant-based diet. ...
  2. If needed, add supplements. ...
  3. Take deep breaths. ...
  4. Reduce your caffeine intake. ...
  5. Get adequate sleep. ...
  6. Exercise regularly. ...
  7. Write in a journal. ...
  8. Indulge in hobbies.

What does cortisol face look like?

The swelling can make your face look round and puffy. Moon face is a common side effect of corticosteroid use and a symptom of certain health conditions. Although harmless, the condition can affect your self-esteem. The medical term for this is moon facies, but other people call it cortisol face.

What happens to your stomach when you stress too much?

Stress can cause a wide range of GI symptoms, including bloating and loose stool. When you're stressed, the nervous system sends signals to your gut and intestines, triggering the muscles involved in digestion to go into a “fight or flight” response.

When is weight loss a red flag?

But many health care providers agree that a medical evaluation is called for if you lose more than 5% of your weight in 6 to 12 months, especially if you're an older adult. For example, a 5% weight loss in someone who is 160 pounds (72 kilograms) is 8 pounds (3.6 kilograms).

What cancers cause weight loss?

Some types of cancer can also make it harder for your body to absorb nutrients (called malabsorption). Weight loss may be more common in lung cancer and upper gastrointestinal cancers such as pancreatic, stomach and esophageal cancer.

Why am I losing weight and tired all the time?

Causes for Unexpected Weight Loss

Other symptoms include trouble sleeping and muscle weakness which may cause you to feel tired more often. Mental health conditions (depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder): The symptoms of these mental health conditions can also cause involuntary weight loss.

Is losing weight a symptom of anxiety?

When anxiety becomes chronic, this response stays active, causing physical symptoms like increased heart rate, rapid breathing, and heightened alertness. Another physical symptom of anxiety can be unexplained changes in body weight, including unexplained weight loss.

Can dehydration cause weight loss?

1) The technique of weight loss through dehydration is not actually a weight loss technique. It is merely a way to enhance one's performance in a sport activity. If your aim is to lose weight and you are not a sports personality, you should never ever consider this option.

Can GERD cause weight loss?

Once people have GERD and the condition becomes chronic, weight loss may occur due to eating- and appetite-related complications.

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