The fight or flight response in the nervous system’s reaction to threat. In the short term it can be helpful, lifesaving even. But in the modern world, where threats tend to require a longer term, cognitive reaction, this primal response can be more harmful than helpful.
Fight, Flight, and Freeze
The technical term for the fight or flight response is “sympathetic arousal”. The sympathetic nervous system is the one responsible for action. Its opposite is the parasympathetic system, which is involved with digestion, rest, and healing. To put it simply, when the nervous system recognises a threat, it diverts energy from the digestive system and towards muscles to help us escape. This explains why you might feel sick or need the bathroom in response to bad news or challenges like exams or interviews. Of course, this response is unhelpful when the “threat” is work or school. Especially when this stressor can last for hours, days, or longer. The sympathetic nervous system isn’t meant to be engaged like this for long periods, and the impact can be widespread.
Lasting Stress
Two body systems are particularly impacted by ongoing sympathetic arousal:
Respiration
You might think that given the purpose of the fight or flight response, breathing would be a priority. But stress often leads to a negative impact on breathing. Tension in the abdominal muscles and diaphragm limits the efficiency of breathing, over engaging the muscles around the tops of the shoulders as the body tries to improve respiration.
Digestion
Diversion of blood from the digestive system means food is processed more slowly than it should be, which can make you feel unwell. You might feel nauseous or lose your appetite, especially if this state continues for a while.
IBS symptoms can be triggered by stress. They include bloating, cramping, nausea, diarrhoea, and constipation. You can imagine that the slowing down of the digestive system could be responsible in part for some of these.
Fight or Flight and Pain
We know that pain is complicated, and stress is a factor that can impact what you feel. Stress is actually a predictor for chronic pain: prolonged or recurrent sympathetic arousal is associated with more lasting and complex pain. Pain is a protector, so it makes sense that it would be more easily triggered when the nervous system already thinks you need protecting. Treatment aims to turn down the volume of the pain dial.
Although your osteopath can’t remove the triggers that caused you stress in the first place, we can work with you to counteract the physical manifestation of it. Treatment to relax the muscles that are overworking to reduce pain and tension will unpick some of your problems. You might even find that with the tension reduced, you feel like you have a bit more capacity to manage the stressors. We can provide exercises to help get your breathing back on track, and work directly on the diaphragm to relieve some digestive symptoms. Of course, if you stress is in part caused by pain, such as a migraine or arthritis, maybe we can help on more level than one.
