Why does fear cause chest tightness?

In life, there are many situations that can make us feel scared, such as watching a horror movie in a cinema, or being alone in a claustrophobic dark space, which can cause serious fear. When we feel fear, not only does our breathing become more rapid, but we also feel chest tightness. So, from a medical perspective, what causes this?

The onset of neurosis is usually related to adverse social and psychological factors, and unhealthy qualities and personality traits often constitute the basis of the onset of the disease. The symptoms are complex and diverse. The typical experience is that patients feel they cannot control psychological activities that they think they should be controlled, such as anxiety, persistent tension, fear, nagging worries, self-perceived meaningless delusions, obsessive thoughts, etc. Although the patient had a variety of physical discomforts, clinical examination failed to reveal any organic lesions. Patients are generally able to adapt to society, and their behavior generally remains within the scope permitted by social norms and can be understood and accepted by others, but their symptoms hinder their psychological or social functions. Patients feel distressed and powerless about their symptoms and often urgently request treatment. Their self-awareness is intact or completely intact. Neurosis is also one of the most common diseases in outpatient clinics.

Clinical manifestations

The symptoms of neurosis are complex and varied. Some include headaches, insomnia, and memory loss; others include palpitations, chest tightness, and feelings of fear. Its characteristic is that the emergence and changes of symptoms are related to mental factors. For example, some patients with gastrointestinal neurosis suffer from diarrhea whenever they are emotionally stressed.

1. Clinical symptoms of autonomic dysfunction

(1) Mental fatigue associated with mental excitability is manifested by increased associative recall, decreased mental workload, physical weakness, fatigue, etc.

(2) Emotional symptoms include worry, irritability, tension, etc.

(3) Sleep disorders mainly manifest as insomnia.

(4) Head discomfort, tension headache, feeling of heaviness or tightness in the head, etc.

(5) Visceral dysfunction: bloating, intestinal rumbling, constipation or diarrhea; palpitations, chest tightness, shortness of breath, limb weakness, fatigue, feeling of impending death; low fever; positive skin scratch sign; irregular menstruation in women, spermatorrhea and impotence in men, etc.

2. Clinical symptoms of cardiac and gastrointestinal autonomic nervous system dysfunction

Cardiac autonomic dysfunction, also known as cardiac neurosis, is a syndrome mediated by the autonomic nervous system of the cardiovascular system and influenced by mental factors. The main clinical symptoms are precordial pain, palpitations, shortness of breath or hyperventilation, and a sense of impending death. In addition, there are also symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, sweating, and insomnia.