How does stress affect your five senses?
Answers
How stress Affects Touch
Sensory abnormalities related to touch are common, although often the person suffering from them doesn't realize that it's a sensory problem. Anxiety can cause numbness and tingling, especially in the limbs, and some people experience burning sensations on their skin. Anxiety may also cause people to experience hot or cold sensations in their body, especially when they come into contact with objects or environments that are of different temperatures.
Many people also develop an increased sensitivity to pain and discomfort, and others experience a positive touch in a negative way, such as when you hold hands with someone. We’re not sure how exactly anxiety alters the link between touch-receptors in your skin and your brain; but often the frustration and irritability that accompany anxiety can make all of these experiences and sensitivities that much worse.
How stress Affects Hearing
Anxiety may also cause sensory problems related to hearing. There is some evidence that anxiety is associated with auditory hallucinations (such as hearing voices), although these are fairly uncommon, according to a 2016 paper on the topic.
However, anxiety can make harmless (but irritating) issues like tinnitus worse. It can also make it more difficult to pay attention to what's going on around you, due primarily to distractions but also the way anxiety overwhelms the mind. This might mean that you fail to hear something; or perhaps that you mishear it. It can also make the noises you hear around you seem harsher and more grating.
How stress Affects Vision
Vision is often affected by anxiety. The adrenaline released by anxiety dilates the pupils, and when the pupils are dilated you may experience any number of symptoms:
Brighter lights and light flashes.
Blurry vision.
Tunnel vision.
Some people with anxiety report seeing specks in their vision, or double vision. However, it’s not clear at this point whether anxiety actually causes these problems.
How stress Affects Taste
Taste can also be affected by anxiety to some extent. There is some evidence (discussed in the 2012 paper referenced below) that stress changes the sensitivity of taste buds, perhaps also altering the way that signals travel between your taste buds and brain.
You might, for example, experience a metallic or salty taste. It should also be noted that anxiety can cause excess salivation and acid reflux - both of which may also causes changes to your tastes. Anxiety may also cause you to become more sensitive to certain types of tastes.