Can Grief Cause Anxiety and Panic Attacks?

I’m Halle Thomas, an anxiety therapist for millennial professionals in Boulder, Colorado, Denver, Colorado, and Portland, OR. I know what it’s like to wonder if grief can cause anxiety or panic attacks. With so much overlap between the physical and emotional experiences of grief and anxiety, it can be difficult to tell them apart at times. In my practice, I work with millennial professionals who are experiencing anxiety, and want to learn a holistic approach to addressing it.

When you experience grief, you might be surprised by all of the physical sensations that come with it: a racing heart, chest pains, digestion problems, headaches, and more. Notice how some of those physical sensations are also common with anxiety? That’s not a coincidence.

So, can grief cause anxiety and panic attacks? The short answer is yes. Grief can cause anxiety and panic attacks for some folks in some situations. We’ll get into the nuance of the relationship between grief and anxiety in this post, so you can better understand your experience.

Understanding Grief, Anxiety, and Panic Attacks:

Before we go any further, let’s define some terms. Grief: deep sadness or anguish following a significant loss, (usually related to a death, but can be connected to any loss that is significant)

Anticipatory grief: distress and sadness that occurs before a loss (like when a significant person has a terminal illness, or when you’re expecting a significant ending)

Disenfranchised grief: distress that is hidden or grief that is not fit society’s expectations (such as grief following the end of a relationship, a miscarriage, the death of a pet, or job loss)

Anxiety: a feeling of tension or unease combined with physical sensations like an increased heart rate, sweatiness, and muscle tension

Panic attack: an episode of intense fear that is paired with physical reactions (like shaking, shutting down and being unable to speak, hyperventilating, and more)

With these definitions in mind, we can start to piece together the relationship between grief, anxiety, and panic attacks.

Why Grief Causes Anxiety

After a major loss, you might have to adjust multiple areas of your life. From where you live and where you work, to who you spend time with and how often you talk to certain people. Losses bring with them countless changes that you might not have been prepared for—and even if you were prepared, the reality of said changes can still be anxiety-inducing.

If you were involved with the care of someone who was dying, you might also feel anxious about what to do with more room in your schedule. While caring for a dying person can be deeply meaningful for some people, it can also provide a distraction from one’s feelings since they are busy doing so many caregiving tasks. It’s common for some people to feel anxious about feeling emotions they would rather not feel once their schedule is no longer filled with tasks.

Anticipatory Grief Can Activate Anxiety

In a situation where you are experiencing anticipatory grief, anxiety may be part of your experience too. If you have a loved one who is dying, you might wonder if you’ll be able to say everything you want to before they die. You might also experience anxiety about what will happen to your life after your loved one dies.

As another example, if you are moving to an new city after accepting a new job, you might experience anxiety related to leaving your current location. How will you stay connected to your current friend group? What will it be like to find new medical providers in your new city? What if you don’t end up liking your new city? These are common questions that come up when someone is grieving an upcoming change.

The Relationship Between Traumatic Losses and Anxiety

First, what is trauma? The Center for Health Care Strategies defines trauma as “a pervasive problem that results from an incident or series of events that are emotionally disturbing or life-threatening with lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional, and/or spiritual well-being.”

In the context of loss, this could include (but wouldn’t be limited to):

• A death that occurs unexpectedly

• Witnessing a natural death process without having education about what is normal during active dying

• Losing someone to an act of violence

• An incident that threatens your sense of safety

• Losing your social connections due to cancellation

When you experience trauma, “apprehension about it happening again and re-experiencing distress” can bring on anxiety and in some people, panic attacks.

Why Grief Can Cause Panic Attacks

When you combine the nature and context of your loss with your genetics, other life stressors, previous traumatic events, and changes in your brain function, panic attacks can occur (Mayo Clinic, 2024).

Panic attacks can include some of the following symptoms:

• Rapid heart rate

• Shaking

• Difficulty breathing

• Sensation of impending doom

• Nausea

• Chest pain

• Dizziness

• Tunnel vision (or feeling like you’re blacking out)

• Tingling in different areas of your body (such as in your arms and legs)

• Difficulty speaking

While some folks have panic attacks with symptoms that are easily visible to another person, some folks may experience panic attacks that are less visible.

In my practice, I sometimes refer to these as “quiet panic attacks.” My clients describe these as panic attacks where they shut down and feel trapped within their body. They might stop speaking, feel intense nausea, and feel like what’s happening isn’t real.

I point this out because it’s important to know that your experience of a panic attack counts, even if you have not heard it talked about or seen depicted in media.

Next Steps

If you’ve been looking for anxiety therapist in either Colorado or Oregon, you can reach out to me for a free intro call for grief anxiety therapy. During our call, we’ll double check that I’m a good fit for you, and move forward with setting up your first appointment. From there, we can start untangling the relationship between your grief and anxiety.

Hi! I’m Halle, your Anxiety Therapist.

I work with anxious millennial professionals who are fed up with the cycle of overworking and burnout.

If you live in either Colorado or Oregon, I’d love to work with you! Book your free intro call to get started!