Can Anxiety Attacks Make You Pass Out?

Common anxiety symptoms include dizziness and lightheadedness. In fact, many people worry about fainting with anxiety, due to fears about potentially embarrassing themselves or losing control of their bodies. But can anxiety make you faint? While anxiety attacks can cause overwhelming and uncomfortable feelings, the truth is that most people who are having anxiety attacks don’t faint.

In this article, we’ll go over why anxiety attacks can make you feel faint, as well as what to do to manage this sensation.

Can Anxiety Actually Cause Fainting?

The short answer is that anxiety can cause fainting, but it’s not common. While dizziness and feeling faint are anxiety symptoms, most people do not faint. In fact, fainting usually happens because your blood pressure drops, and anxiety typically increases your blood pressure. 

The Science Behind Anxiety and Fainting

When you feel anxious, your nervous system kicks into high gear. This triggers a fight-flight-or-freeze response. This releases hormones like adrenaline, which increase heart and breathing rates. It can also make the body more sensitive to changes in the inner ear’s balance system, causing dizziness. More blood is sent to the limbs, preparing the body to flee from the potential threat. This means that less blood is getting to the brain, which can cause feelings of lightheadedness. 

When you’re feeling anxious, you’re also more likely to be aware of how your body is feeling. For example, some people experience a brief moment of dizziness or a “head rush” when standing up too quickly. If they’re not feeling anxious, then they might acknowledge this but continue with their day. But if they’re feeling anxious, then they might focus on this sensation, which can make it feel stronger. 

Common Reasons People Faint During Anxiety

While passing out from an anxiety attack is rare, the vasovagal response, specific breathing changes, or low blood sugar can cause this to happen.

Vasovagal Response

A vasovagal response happens when your body has a reflex response to a strong emotion. Your vagus nerve becomes overactive, which causes your heart rate and blood pressure to drop. This sudden drop can cause fainting because your brain isn’t getting enough blood flow.

People who have vasovagal responses often have a trigger, such as a specific phobia. This might include needles or seeing blood. People can also have vasovagal responses from emotional stress or physical strain, such as standing too long. 

While a vasovagal response can feel scary, it’s generally not a cause for concern. Instead, fainting is a way for your body to restore proper blood flow to your brain by having your head move in line with your heart. You can often prevent or stop this response by lying down with your feet up or tensing the muscles in your arms and legs to help blood flow better to the brain. 

Blood Sugar and Breathing Changes

When we’re experiencing anxiety, we tend to hyperventilate, meaning that we’re breathing too quickly. This can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in our blood, causing our blood vessels to constrict or narrow. This narrowing can reduce blood flow to the brain, resulting in fainting.

Individuals with blood sugar issues, like diabetes, can also experience low blood sugar. Low blood sugar can cause symptoms like fainting and anxiety, as well as shakiness and confusion.

What to Do if You Feel Faint During an Anxiety Attack

Feeling faint during an anxiety attack can feel really overwhelming, which can make you feel even more anxious. If you are feeling faint during an anxiety attack, the goal is to keep yourself safe and then begin working on trying to slow your breathing.

Immediate Coping Strategies

1. Find a safe place to sit or lie down. This will help prevent falling if you do faint. If possible, lie down and elevate your legs. This helps blood flow to the brain, which can prevent fainting.
2. Breathing quickly can make you feel faint. Instead, try to focus on taking slow, deep breaths. A good way to do this is to inhale through your nose for 4 seconds, hold it for 7 seconds, and then exhale through your mouth for 8 seconds. It can also be helpful to loosen any restrictive clothing around the neck or chest to help make it feel easier to breathe.
3. Try a grounding exercise. Focus on where your body touches the chair or the ground. You can also fix your gaze on a specific point in front of you. This can help calm yourself and reduce dizziness.
4. Engage in positive self-talk. For example, “I feel dizzy, but I’m lying down and am safe” or “Anxiety can make me feel faint, but I’ve never fainted before.”
5. Think about when you last had something to eat or drink. Dehydration and low blood sugar can make feelings of dizziness and anxiety more intense. 

When to Seek Medical Attention

In most cases, people recover from passing out quite quickly. However, if you’ve never fainted before, it’s always a good idea to see your doctor for a check-up to rule out any medical conditions.

In rare cases, fainting may be a medical emergency. If you or a loved one are experiencing any of the following symptoms, it’s best to call 911 to get help:

• Chest pain
• Shortness of breath
• Severe headache
• Pounding heart
• Difficulty moving
• Signs of dehydration, like little urination and reduced skin elasticity
• Staying unconscious for more than a minute
• Injuring yourself when fainting
• Having a history of heart issues
• Uncertainty about whether the loss of consciousness is due to fainting or another medical event, like a seizure

Prevention and Management

If you are experiencing dizziness and feelings of faintness from anxiety, then long-term anxiety management can help reduce the intensity and frequency of these physical sensations. 

Breathing Techniques

Because hyperventilation can cause symptoms like dizziness and lightheadedness, slow, deep breathing helps balance oxygen and carbon dioxide levels. If you’re having a panic attack, then breathing exercises might not relieve all of your symptoms. But they can make them more manageable, so that you’re able to recover from the panic attack more quickly. Regularly practicing breathing techniques, even when you’re calm, can help prevent future panic attacks. It also makes it easier to take slow, deep breaths when you feel anxious or overwhelmed. Some breathing techniques include:

• 4-7-8 Breathing: Breathe in through your nose for four seconds, hold it for seven seconds, and then exhale through your mouth for eight seconds. 
• Box Breathing: Inhale for four seconds, hold it for four seconds, exhale for four seconds, and then hold it for four seconds. Repeat this cycle.
• Belly Breathing: Focus on your breath, inhaling deeply and feeling your belly expand. Exhale slowly, releasing all the air in your belly. Some people find it helpful to place a hand on their abdomen to feel the rise and fall of their belly as they breathe.

Long-Term Anxiety Management

Managing anxiety long-term can involve a combination of talk therapy and medication. Common types of therapy used to treat anxiety include:

• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): A type of therapy that focuses on the relationship between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. In sessions, you’ll learn skills like recognizing and changing unhelpful thoughts.
• Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT): DBT teaches coping skills. These skills focus on mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. They can help manage strong emotions, such as anxiety.
• Exposure therapy: A type of CBT that involves gradual and systematic exposure to feared stimuli to reduce the emotional response.

A therapist can also help create a plan to incorporate healthy habits, such as eating balanced meals, getting regular exercise, and getting enough quality sleep, into your life. Together, these strategies can help manage anxiety.

If you’re ready to get started, professional resources include:

• 988: You can call or text 988 for immediate support from trained crisis counselors.
• National Institute of Mental Health: Resources for finding treatment or a healthcare provider and information about mental health conditions.
• Anxiety and Depression Association of America: Access to free online peer support communities.
• Virtual Crisis Clinics: A virtual crisis clinic, such as Willow Health, offers assessment, customized treatment plans, and ongoing care.

References

Cleveland Clinic. (2025, March 4). Vasovagal syncope: Symptoms, causes & treatment. Retrieved [Date of access], from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23325-vasovagal-syncope

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Banushi, B., Brendle, M., Ragnhildstveit, A., Murphy, T., Moore, C., Egberts, J., & Robison, R. (2023). Breathwork interventions for adults with clinically diagnosed anxiety disorders: A scoping review. Brain Sciences, 13(2), Article 256. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci13020256

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Torborg, L. (2018, April 13). Mayo Clinic Q and A: When does fainting require medical attention? Mayo Clinic News Network. Retrieved from https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-q-and-a-when-does-fainting-require-medical-attention/