Can Anxiety Cause Weight Loss? It Can for Some — Here’s How

There are two types of people in this world: those who reach for comfort food when anxious and those who lose their appetites completely. If you’re in the latter camp, you may find you lose weight when anxiety strikes.

So, can anxiety cause weight loss? It can. Anxiety can cause a loss of appetite, along with changes to eating and exercise habits and metabolism — all of which can lead to weight loss. Plus, weight loss is a potential side effect of anxiety medication.

Read on for when to be concerned and how to manage your anxiety to stop unintentional weight loss.

Possibly. Anxiety can cause weight loss for some people. For others, it can cause weight gain. It all depends on how your body reacts to it.

Anxiety can lead to weight loss due to:

• Loss of appetite

• Changes to eating habits

• Increased exercise and movement

• Elevated metabolism

• Gastrointestinal issues

• Sleep loss

• Medication side effects

Keep reading for details.

1. Loss of Appetite

Anxiety can cause a loss of appetite — so can feelings like sadness, grief, and depression, which you might feel alongside anxiety.

So, when anxious, you might find yourself eating less and, therefore, losing weight if this continues over time.

It’s unclear why anxiety affects our appetites so much, but stress hormones may have something to do with it.

Here’s the gist on stress hormones and hunger:

• When you’re stressed or anxious, your body goes into fight-or-flight mode.

• With this stress response, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is activated. The APA axis is the body’s communication system between the brain and the adrenal glands and pituitary glands, both of which produce hormones.

• In fight-or-flight mode, the activated HPA axis starts churning out stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline to help you deal with a stressor.

• Your heart rate and breathing get faster, blood flow is diverted away from your digestive tract to your muscles, your appetite is suppressed, and your body gets ready to fight or run away from danger.

• The fight-or-flight response is great when faced with, say, a grizzly bear. But it’s not so great when you’re trying to sit down to a nice meal.

It’s not just anxiety, either.

Can stress cause weight loss? It sure can. How does stress cause weight loss? Even if you’re not experiencing a full-blown anxiety disorder, stress can also result in appetite loss and other changes that can lead to weight loss.

2. Changes to Eating Habits

You may not always lose your appetite, but you might find anxiety changes your eating habits in some way.

Maybe you forget to eat, lose interest in foods you usually enjoy, or feel too uneasy or irritable to cook yourself a proper meal.

If you have an anxiety disorder like a phobia, social anxiety, or panic disorder, you might start skipping happy hour or eating out with friends less often.

This can lead to consuming fewer calories than you usually would and ultimately losing weight.

3. Increased Exercise and Movement

Whether it’s a short-term bout of anxiety or an ongoing anxiety disorder, you might turn to exercise to relieve some of your symptoms. Great thinking, BTW.

But if you’re working out more than usual and eating the same amount — or less — you might notice weight loss.

Beyond exercise, anxiety might cause you to:

• Fidget

• Tap your feet

• Pace around

These small increases in physical activity burn a surprising number of calories and could lead to weight loss over time.

4. Elevated Metabolism

Research on mice suggests that anxiety could increase basal metabolic rate (BMR) — how many calories your body burns at rest. As a result, it may increase thermogenesis (heat production in the body) and elevate your core body temperature, which can mean more calories burned at rest.

If you’re eating the same amount or less than usual, this combo would theoretically lead to your body burning more calories than you consume — and, therefore, weight loss.

5. Gastrointestinal Issues

Anxiety can cause gastrointestinal issues like:

• Nausea

• Upset stomach

• Diarrhea

• Stomach aches

You might find it difficult to eat (or keep food down) when you’re experiencing symptoms like these.

The same goes for stress and weight loss. Chronic stress is linked to gastrointestinal disorders like:

• Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)

• Stomach ulcers

• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

• Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

These disorders could affect your food intake and food choices — and, consequently, weight.

6. Sleep Loss

Unfortunately, anxiety and sleep problems — including insomnia — go hand in hand.

Sleep loss is linked to weight gain, as it can throw off your cortisol levels and increase cravings for unhealthy food. But you might find that missing out on shut-eye leads to weight loss for you.

When you’re not getting the sleep you need, you may feel too tired to cook full meals or experience appetite changes or stomach issues that lead to eating less.

7. Medication Side Effects

Anxiety medications can cause weight gain for some and weight loss for others.

For example, changes in appetite and weight loss are listed as potential side effects of fluoxetine, sold under the brand name Prozac​®.

Paroxetine, sold under the brand name Paxil®, is another common anxiety medication. It, too, can cause a loss of appetite and weight loss, but more commonly, paroxetine causes weight gain.

You might also experience gastrointestinal issues like vomiting, indigestion, and diarrhea from anxiety meds, which could affect your appetite and eating habits.

Not sure if anxiety is causing your weight loss? Look out for other symptoms of anxiety like:

• Anxious thoughts that may be hard to control, interfere with daily life, or worsen over time

• Dizziness

• Shortness of breath

• Pounding or fast heartbeat

• Unexplained aches and pains

• Shaking or trembling

• Nausea or stomach upset

Another sign of anxiety is avoiding activities you used to do. This could include food-related activities like cooking or meeting friends for dinner.

Different mental health disorders come with different symptoms too.

For instance, if you have generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), you might experience:

• Compulsive worrying

• Trouble sleeping

• Restlessness

• Difficulty concentrating

• Irritability

• Feeling easily fatigued

• Headaches, stomach aches, or muscle aches

If you have panic disorder, you might experience symptoms of a panic attack. And if you have a phobia, you might experience intense fear around the thing you have a phobia of.

These symptoms could interfere with your usual eating habits in some way or another.

Weight fluctuations are normal, so don’t panic if you lose a pound or two (or gain any, for that matter). That said, you should reach out to a healthcare provider if you’re continuously losing weight without trying.

You should also contact a medical provider if you:

• Lost 10 pounds or five percent of your body weight without dieting over the past six to 12 months or less

• Have other symptoms in addition to weight loss

Your provider can help you find the root cause of unexplained weight loss — whether it’s anxiety or not — and recommend the best course of action to help.

There are some steps you can take to feel more in control of your anxiety and stop unintentional weight loss.

Here are some interventions to try:

• Prep meals ahead of time or buy meal delivery services or ready-made meals. The goal here is to take all of the effort out of cooking so you can reach for an easy meal when anxiety symptoms feel overwhelming.

• Set reminders to eat. This can help on busy days. If you don’t feel hungry, try eating a small snack or a few bites of a meal at regular meal times.

• Eat smaller, more frequent meals. If you can’t stomach a full meal, spread your food intake across the day instead. If you’re struggling to get enough nutrients in, prioritize high-calorie nutritious snacks, like nuts, over simple carbohydrates that might spike your blood sugar.

• Relaxation techniques. Try soothing your anxiety with techniques like meditation, mindfulness, breathing exercises, guided imagery, and yoga. Check out our guide to calming anxiety for more tips.

• Therapy. Speaking with a therapist can help you work through anxious thoughts and learn coping techniques to manage them. There are many types of therapy to explore, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and exposure therapy.

• Anxiety medication. If you have an anxiety disorder, medication might improve your symptoms. Anxiety medications include beta-blockers, antidepressants, and benzodiazepines. If you’re already on medication and find it’s affecting your appetite, seek medical advice about switching it up.

Anxiety and weight loss don’t have a straightforward relationship. Anxiety can cause weight gain, but it can also cause weight loss. And it’s not just anxiety.

Can stress make you lose weight too? It sure can.

How can anxiety cause weight loss? Here’s the TL;DR:

• Anxiety can cause weight loss in a few ways. With this mental health condition, you might experience appetite loss, gastrointestinal issues, or a change in eating, exercise, or sleep habits.

• How can stress cause you to lose weight? Pretty much in the same ways as anxiety — appetite changes, disrupted habits, and a mind that’s too distracted or uneasy to prepare food.

• To manage it, make mealtimes as easy as possible. Try eating smaller, more frequent meals, buying ready-made meals, or signing up for a meal-delivery service. If you can’t eat much, focus on eating nutritious snacks.

• Reach out for help. Whether you’re reaching out to friends, family, a therapist, or another healthcare provider, asking for support is a solid first step in improving your mental health.

Mental health is critical to overall well-being. Chronic stress or anxiety can affect your body’s ability to function normally. We know it can feel intimidating to ask for help, so we make getting mental health support as easy as possible.

If you’re experiencing anxious thoughts or other symptoms of an anxiety disorder, our online mental health services might be a good place to start. You can begin with a free virtual assessment with a licensed healthcare provider to see if anxiety medications might be right for you.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. The information contained herein is not a substitute for and should never be relied upon for professional medical advice. Always talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits of any treatment. Learn more about our editorial standards here.