Stress and the nervous system

The brain is engaged in a constant control and feedback loop with the body, even when you perceive yourself to be completely idle, even when you are sleeping. It does this by communicating through the nervous system, which can be divided into sub categories including the central, (brain and spinal cord), and the peripheral (autonomic and somatic). Stress enters into this system most clearly through a subdivision of the autonomic nervous system known as the sympathetic nervous system. 

The acute effects of stress on the sympathetic nervous system

The sympathetic nervous system is most famous for controlling the fight or flight response. Under perceived stress or duress, it switches the body into survival mode; the body responds by allocating the greater majority of its resources to dealing with the perceived threat: the most direct way it does this is by increasing the chemicals of cortisol and adrenaline in the brain; physical symptoms include shallower breathing, an uptick in heart rate, blood glucose levels increasing, among others. 

What happens when stress persists

One incident involving the fight or flight response is not harmful, but if your sympathetic nervous system is constantly or repeatedly being activated in response to the various shades of stress, it can take a toll. Think about how draining it is to be stressed out for a whole day then multiply this infinitely. Your body simply wears down under the stress and its associated symptoms- the other systems in the body begin to suffer because of overactivity of the nervous system. 

Chiropractic improves the body and brain’s relationship with stress

We need to calm the storm of stress that is constantly wracking your body. While there are many ways of going about this, we believe that one of the first and most essential ways of doing this by treating the conduit of the nervous system- the spinal cord. By ensuring its proper alignment, we ensure that the nervous system can clearly and efficiently communicate. In this way, you begin to regain some control over the turmoil that stress causes.