Quote Originally Posted by mojo
This manifested in me having extreme shivers and cold sweats which involved painful muscle spasms.
I'm no expert, obviously, but this seems like anxiety induced panic attacks. Real, physical consequences of mental anguish. At least you had reason for this... a lot of people suffer from this for no apparent reason.

It's definitely distinct from depression, while the two can certainly be related. I have suffered from depression in the past, but rarely anxiety, and never extreme. The worst anxiety I've felt is agitation, perhaps feeling flustered.

In fact, arousal is kind of the extreme opposite of what I was experiencing.
I assume he means "arousal" in the context of "evoke". Arousal isn't the best word because of its more familiar use, but it's not an inaccurate use of the word.