Originally Posted by glenntaj

--neuorpathy,as in "damage to nerves",is, in my view, very unlikely to be caused by anxiety; the mechanisms by which that would conceivably occur do not seem to have sufficient connection.



I don't doubt, though, that anxiety can be at the root of, or exacerbate, symptoms of parastheses, tingling, etc., that can be confused with those of neuropathy. But, of course, the same can be said for a lot of conditions that produce those kind of symptoms--calcium deficiency, peripheral artery disease, conditions of the central nervous system, hypoglycemia--in that these are not caused by peripheral nerve problems per se, but can cause symptoms that feel like such problems.



I also don't doubt that anxiety can make neuropathy, or these neuropathy like symptoms, worse, at least perceptually. What especially contributes to this, though, is the tendency of far too may laypeople and physicians to very quickly go to a "mental" explanation for such symptoms that seem to have no directly discernable cause. There are a lot of studies out there that indicate that while a certain percentage of neuropathies remain idiopathic, full investigations into cause can cut way down on that percentage, but often, due to time, knowledge limit and cost/insurance considerations, such full investigations are not undertaken.