"Is it Just Anxiety?"
Why POTS is Frequently Misdiagnosed (and How to Tell the Difference)
For many Australians living with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), the road to a diagnosis is paved with the same three words: "It’s just anxiety."
According to the 2025 Australian POTS Registry, the average person waits 5.8 years for an accurate diagnosis. During that time, a staggering 64% of patients are initially told their symptoms are psychiatric.
At Northground, we focus on the intersection of neurobiology and psychology. We know that while POTS and Anxiety can look similar, they are happening in two different departments of the nervous system.
The Great Mimicker: Why Doctors (and everyone) Can Get It Wrong
On paper, a POTS flare and a panic attack share several "red flags":
Tachycardia (racing heart)
Shortness of breath
Trembling or "internal tremors"
Lightheadedness
A sense of "doom" or urgency
The difference isn't in what is happening, but why it’s happening. Anxiety is typically a top-down process (thoughts triggering the body). POTS is a bottom-up process (the body’s posture triggering a heart rate surge, which then alerts the brain).
The Trauma of Being Misdiagnosed
Being told "it's in your head" when your body is clearly struggling is a form of medical trauma.
Not only does POTS in and of itself create a whole system and consistently distressing and disabling issues - but overtime, our mind and bodies can then create further fuel for the fire.
This fuel is called Interoceptive Hypervigilance—where your brain becomes "locked" into monitoring every heartbeat, waiting for the next "glitch." Which itself is an activated, alarmed state.
This is where somatic therapy becomes vital. We aren't here to treat an "anxiety disorder"; we are here to:
Provide wrap-around support to your body and nervous system to enhance the medical management of your POTS; and
Help your brain process the stress of a chronic illness and retrain your Insular Cortex to recognise the difference between a POTS surge and a genuine threat.
In other words - somatic therapy helps you re-connect with your body, to learn to nurture (not fear) its signals in a gentle and graduated way.
At Northground, we provide a POTS-affirming space where your physical symptoms are validated and your nervous system is supported.
Ready for support? Book an intake session to begin mapping your autonomic nervous system.
