How Stress and Anxiety Affect Your Nervous System

Stress occurs when your body perceives a threat, triggering a physical response called anxiety. Your heart beats faster. Your blood pressure rises. Your palms sweat. Your muscles tense in preparation to either fight or flee the danger.

While these physical responses could be lifesaving if, say, you encounter a predator in the wild, chronic stress could lead to an anxiety disorder, heart disease and other serious mental and physical illnesses.

Anxiety disorder is an umbrella term encompassing everything from generalized anxiety to panic to post-traumatic stress. These disorders are the most common mental health complaint in the United States, affecting about 17 percent of the adult population at some point. But equally important are the physical impacts of chronic stress, which may include insomnia, digestive disorders, a weakened immune system, hair loss, heart disease and more.

Stress becomes chronic when it persists for weeks or months, which is common in modern life when the problems that cause stress are persistent — like debt, long-term illness, family and work issues or being unhoused. A recurring argument, substance misuse, parental divorce or incarceration of a family member could all be repeated stressors.

Your Nervous System

The nervous system is how your body communicates with itself. It is complex, but the main parts are the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) and the peripheral nervous system (the nerves that transmit signals to and from the brain and the rest of the body).

The peripheral nervous system is sub-divided into two parts. The first is the somatic nervous system, which, among other things, controls voluntary movements by sending signals from the brain to the limbs: “I want to move my foot,” for example. The other is the autonomic nervous system, which controls the body’s involuntary functions — heart and respiratory rates, for example.

Within the autonomic nervous system is the sympathetic nervous system, a network of nerves that activate the fight or flight response when the brain perceives danger. This response speeds up your respiratory and heart rates to deliver more blood to parts of the body that may need more oxygen to get you out of danger.

When your brain perceives a threat, it triggers the necessary psychological and physical reactions needed to respond or adapt. If those stressors continue in the long term, that respond/adapt reaction may become exhausted, causing adverse reactions like anxiety and high blood pressure.

Signs of Anxiety and Chronic Stress

These are the most common symptoms of anxiety, the body’s response to stress:

• Increased heart rate/heart palpitations
• Increased blood pressure
• Rapid breathing/shortness of breath
• Sweating/cold sweaty hands
• Trembling
• Muscle tension, shaking
• Chest pain or pressure
• Lightheadedness or dizziness
• Numbness or tingling
• Abdominal distress
• Dry mouth

When stress becomes chronic, your body may present longer-lasting symptoms, including:

• Insomnia or memory impairment
• Persistent feelings of anxiety or panic attacks
• Severe irritability or mood swings including feelings of hopelessness
• Misuse of alcohol, drugs, food or screens
• Thoughts of suicide

All of these are serious conditions that signal your body needs relief from chronic stress. The good news is chronic stress can be successfully managed with or without prescription drugs.

Managing Chronic Stress

If you are experiencing chronic stress, your primary health care provider can discuss a range of effective treatment options and recommend the best for you based on the severity and duration of your symptoms and your willingness to try different therapies.

You can often avoid medicine entirely by making these lifestyle changes:

• Getting enough sleep
• Eating a nutritious diet
• Reducing intake of caffeine, alcohol and sugar
• Increasing physical activity
• Practicing relaxation techniques, including meditation, breathing exercises and yoga
• Identifying known stress triggers and creating effective, manageable strategies to address them
• Disconnecting from phones and other electronic devices

Additionally, your healthcare provider may discuss the benefits of psychotherapy in reducing chronic stress. And last but not least, millions of people find relief from chronic stress and its symptoms through several classes of medicines, which your psychiatrist or primary care provider can discuss with you.

No matter which therapy works best for you, managing chronic stress will bring you psychological relief in the immediate term and improved physical health in the long term.