Emotional fever, also called psychogenic fever, is a condition in which the body temperature rises in the face of a stressful situation, causing a sensation of intense heat, excessive sweating and headache. This condition can be triggered in people who have generalized anxiety, mental disorders, physical diseases, such as fibromyalgia and even in children because of changes in routine, for example.
The diagnosis of emotional fever is not easy to find, however, it can be made by a general practitioner, neurologist or psychiatrist through the person's clinical history and the performance of tests that serve to rule out other diseases. In addition, the treatment of this condition usually consists of the use of medications to relieve stress and anxiety, such as anxiolytics. Find out which remedies are most used to relieve anxiety.
Main symptoms
Emotional fever is caused by stress and leads to an increase in body temperature, reaching a value above 37 ° C, and other symptoms may arise:
- Sensation of intense heat; Redness in the face; Excessive sweat; Fatigue; Headache; Insomnia.
These symptoms may not appear at the same time, however, if they appear and last for more than 48 hours it is recommended to seek medical attention quickly to check the causes, which can often indicate other types of diseases, such as infections or inflammation.
Possible causes
The emotional fever happens because the brain cells react to stress causing the body temperature to rise to over 37 ° C, reaching 40 ° C, and the blood vessels become more compressed causing redness in the face and an increase in heart rate.
These changes occur because of stressful everyday situations, such as public speaking, occasions of a lot of trauma, such as the loss of a family member, or they may arise due to psychological disorders such as post-traumatic stress, generalized anxiety disorder and even syndrome panic. See more what it is and how to identify panic syndrome.
The rapid and exaggerated rise in body temperature can also begin because of the stress and anxiety experienced by people who have diseases such as fibromyalgia and myalgic encephalomyelitis, better known as chronic fatigue syndrome.
Who can have emotional fever
Emotional fever can appear in any person, it can even develop in children, because of specific events of this age that generate stress, such as starting the daycare center and consequent separation from the parents for a period, or loss of a close relative and also due to other common childhood feelings that occur because of changes in your routine.
How the treatment is done
Emotional fever causes an increase in body temperature and is usually transient and disappears spontaneously, however, it can last for months if it is caused by continuous stress, and, in most cases, it does not improve with the use of medications such as anti-inflammatory drugs., like ibuprofen, and not with antipyretics, like sodium dipyrone.
Thus, after diagnosing this condition, the doctor will analyze the cause of emotional fever so that the most appropriate treatment is indicated, which consists mainly of the use of anxiolytic drugs, to relieve anxiety and stress, and antidepressants, to treat depression. It may also be recommended to follow up with a psychologist to do psychotherapy sessions in order to understand what makes the person feel stressed and anxious.
In addition, performing activities that involve relaxation and breathing techniques, such as yoga , and practicing meditation and mindfullness can help treat emotional fever, as they reduce stress and anxiety. Check out more on how to do some mindfullness exercises.
See also other ways to relieve stress and anxiety:
