Why do I sweat when I'm anxious?
Anxiety switches on your body's alert mode, which turns on sweat glands in your palms, feet, armpits and face to get you ready to cool down during effort. It can start before you have moved at all.
Try the practice nowWhat happens in your sweat glands
Alert mode is built for running from a threat, so it gets your body ready to cool down during physical effort before you have moved at all. Your nervous system switches on sweat glands across your skin, especially on the palms of your hands, the soles of your feet, your armpits and your face.
Sometimes this shows up as cold sweats. Cold sweats happen because alert mode switches on your sweat glands and narrows the blood vessels in your skin at the same time, so the sweat sits on cool skin.
Sweat from the armpits during stress also comes from different glands than regular heat sweat. Once normal bacteria on the skin break that stress sweat down, it smells stronger than the sweat you get from warm weather or exercise.
Why it builds in social moments
When you feel dampness on your palms before a handshake or sweat on your face during a meeting, your attention goes straight to who might see it. Worrying that other people will notice the sweat raises your alarm further, which tells your body to produce more sweat.
Sweating from anxiety is not dangerous, and it settles as the alert state settles.
The same sensations labeled anxiety, including warm skin and damp hands, can also be read as excitement or anticipation. Placing your attention on a pleasant sensation, like cool air on your hands, is the opposite of a panic spiral.
Why it happens on calm days
After weeks of anxiety the body can stop switching between rest mode and alert mode and stay in alert mode. Because the body holds that state, sweating can show up on days you do not feel anxious. This state is trainable with daily practice.
Try the Physiological Sigh right now
- Take a full breath in through the nose into the back of your chest and ribcage.
- When it feels full, top up with an extra sip of air through the nose.
- Then let it all go in a completely relaxed exhale, with an audible sigh if you like.
- Do three in a row, pausing for a moment after each to let it settle.
When to check with a doctor
- You sweat with chest pain, breathlessness or feeling faint (call emergency services).
- You have drenching night sweats, a fever or weight loss without trying.
- You have diabetes and sweat with shaking, hunger or confusion (signs of low blood sugar).
- You sweat with a racing heart at rest, weight loss or feeling hot all the time.
- It started with a new medicine.
- You sweat heavily most days and it gets in the way of your life.
Practice with the Stateshift app
Common questions
How can I worry less about people seeing me sweat?
Wearing breathable clothes, putting antiperspirant on at night and keeping a spare shirt in your bag make dampness easier to manage.
Could heavy daily sweating be something other than anxiety?
Heavy sweating on most days, without heat, exercise or a clear trigger, can be hyperhidrosis. Hyperhidrosis is a common condition and it is treatable with help from a doctor.