When your hands shake before you have to perform on stage in front of all the people, you rub your palms together or on your jeans to get rid of that sensation. Have you, though, wondered why that happens?

It could be because of anxiety that can be triggered by any reason, like in this case, it’s performance anxiety. The uncontrollable shaking anxiety cause is generally temporary and gets better usually once you are out of the stressful situation.

If the experience sounds familiar, know that you are not facing this alone. There are others as well. Almost 360 million people globally experience anxiety disorders as of 2021, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which is on average 4.4% of the world’s population.

While anxiety does cause trembling, how do you know if your hyperactive nervous system is to blame and not something else? Uncontrollable shaking anxiety causes a feeling that you can tell when it takes over. You will also notice the other symptoms of anxiety, such as tensed muscles, uneven breathing, or sweating.

You could notice these symptoms when you are emotionally overwhelmed, for instance, before exams or job interviews. The question “why” could arise. “What connection does anxiety have with me shaking?” You will find out the connection in the following sections and how you can stop trembling.

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Can anxiety cause shaking?

Yes, anxiety can lead to tremors. The reason is your autonomic nervous system takes over when you are having nervous thoughts and triggers the fight-or-flight mode to protect you from anything the brain perceives as a threat.

The stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline rush through your veins in stressful situations. Adrenaline is responsible for making your heart beat faster and sending more blood to your muscles for immediate survival. This sudden increase in energy to your muscles can physically appear as tremors.

Besides, adrenaline also increases the physiologic tremor that everyone has for biological reasons, like your beating heart or the activity of your muscles, but they are so subtle that you might not notice them usually. Only when you are anxious do they become visible because of your heightened sense of awareness.

Muscle tension is another reason behind the tremors. Your hands begin shaking when you hold a heavy object for a long time (isometric tremor). Similarly, anxiety keeps your muscles contracted for an extended period for defensive purposes and can cause trembling.

The uncontrollable shaking anxiety causes can be scary, but knowing that it is just how the body responds to danger can keep you prepared the next time. That alone, though, might not be enough. You need to know how to manage those symptoms as well.

How to stop shaking hands from anxiety?

To stop your hands or any other part of your body from shaking, you first need to calm your mind down. The body itself will relax, and the shaking, too, will stop. To stop the tremors immediately, you could try:

Breathing techniques

Your anxious state and your breathing are directly connected. You could tell by your uneven breathing patterns whenever you are nervous. You could try the 4-7-8 breathing technique to immediately relax. Breathe in through the nose for four seconds, then hold for seven seconds, and exhale for eight seconds through your mouth.

You could also try the box breathing technique to calm down. You need to breathe in for four seconds, then hold for another four, and exhale for four seconds. Repeat this until your breathing has come to a normal pace and you feel better.

Grounding techniques

You could try these to bring your attention to the present moment and distract yourself from the unhelpful thoughts. The 5-4-3-2-1 technique can be practiced anywhere. You could either mentally or verbally identify five things that you can see where you are, four things you can touch there, three things that are audible to you, two things that you can smell, and the one thing that can be tasted.

Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR)

PMR has been found to help with anxiety and the tension it creates in your muscles. PMR requires you to intentionally tense your muscles and then relax them. This helps your body differentiate between the two and turn down its fight-or-flight mode.

You focus, for a few seconds, on a particular muscle, but not to the point that it strains you, and then let go. It sends a message to your brain that the threat has left. Keeping a steady breathing throughout is important. You could inhale when the muscles tense and exhale when relaxing.

These strategies are helpful but are for the short term. For a long-term solution, you need to seek help from a professional, such as a psychiatrist, to understand why your worries reach the point where they cause tremors.

Depending on the source of your anxiety, your anxiety treatment will include therapy or medication, or both. For instance, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can help you identify your negative thoughts and change them into positive ones. They further change how you feel.

If your shaking is caused by social anxiety or performance anxiety, you could be recommended exposure therapy, a type of CBT, where you gradually, without overwhelming yourself, face the things that you are afraid of and gain confidence. If obsessive or compulsive behaviors are contributing to the anxiety response, treatment might involve general anxiety management or the use of specialized therapies, such as OCD treatment.

Help for tremors

Consider getting evaluated when:

Shaking becomes frequent or worse
You experience a panic attack
Tremors are affecting your daily life
You’re afraid or embarrassed of your symptoms

Not all shaking is caused by anxiety. Some of them could be due to neurological conditions, and a neurologist can provide you with better answers. Some other health conditions can also cause tremors. It is thus important to visit your general practitioner to know about further steps.

Overcoming anxiety tremors

The uncontrollable shaking anxiety causes can be a scary and sometimes frustrating experience, especially when it occurs in front of others, since they can make you vulnerable to others. What’s worse is that this fear of trembling hands itself can become the source of your anxiety.

These experiences, however, do not define your strength or you. They are, as mentioned earlier, your body’s natural response to stress. You can help your brain understand that not everything that it thinks to be a threat is harmful to you, and it does not need to panic.

It might not be easy to do it alone, but the good thing is you don’t have to. You can take help from an expert, such as an online anxiety psychiatrist. It is accessible as close to your home through an online platform like GABA Telepsychiatry. So, don’t wait for your symptoms to get worse. You deserve support just as much as anyone else struggling with anxiety.