Physical health · Sanctum

Dizzy, racing heart on standing

Light-headed or faint when you stand. Heart pounding for no reason, brain fog, worse in heat or when you have not drunk enough. You have probably been told it is anxiety, more than once.

This is the picture of dysautonomia, where the automatic system that manages heart rate and blood pressure runs unsteadily, and it shows up notably more often in neurodivergent people. It is real, it is physical, and it is frequently mistaken for panic because the sensations overlap.

Because it gets labelled anxiety and sent back to mental health, the physical pattern, the standing, the heat, the dehydration, never gets recognised, and people are left managing something they have been told is all in their head.

We take the dizziness and the racing heart seriously as part of the picture, not as anxiety by default. None of this is a diagnosis, and we are not here to replace your other doctors. It is what we explore with you.

Written by Dr Asad RaffiConsultant Psychiatrist · Founder & Medical Director