Managing Stress and Anxiety with Chiropractic Care
By Dr. Tim Fargo, Chiropractor
There is almost no one today who is not negatively impacted by stress and anxiety, even if only on an occasional basis. For many stress, and the depression and anxiety that are created by it, can have debilitating consequences. It would be far too simplistic for me to say that the total solution to stress and anxiety is to come and get adjusted. That would be too simplistic because stress and anxiety are the net consequence of the brain and nervous system processing physical, chemical, and mental stimuli. It is also true that every individual has a different threshold for handling these various stresses.
The bottom line is that when the combined influence of physical, chemical, and mental stresses exceeds a person’s stress threshold, mechanisms in the brain are brought into play which can lead to the experience of stress, anxiety, and depression. The human body has been around for countless millennia. During that time, it has developed mechanisms to survive stressful circumstances. There is one particular mechanism in the brain called the “fight/flight response”. Another term for this phenomenon is the “stress response”. When the brain and nervous system perceives that there is a threat to survival, then this stress response is activated. Such threats to survival can be physical, chemical, mental, or all of the above. To use an analogy, the nervous system is like a 5 gallon bucket; it only holds 5 gallons of water (stress in this example). When more than 5 gallons is poured into the bucket it overflows. When more stress flows into the brain and nervous system than it has the capacity to handle, it also overflows, and the stress response is engaged.
It would be one thing if we were being chased or fighting for our lives. Under such circumstances the stress response is very positive and gives us the strength and speed to survive the situation. The problem is that the stresses we encounter in modern life tend to be chronic and unrelenting. Under such circumstances, the stress response is in a state of continuous activation. Some of the unfortunate consequences of chronic stress response activation are things like: increased blood pressure, increased cholesterol, increased heart rate, increased insulin production, decreased cellular immunity, and increased sensitivity to sensory stimuli. Other consequences of chronic stress response activation are a decrease in both melatonin and serotonin production. The net effect is that people under chronic stress have difficulty sleeping, experience feelings of anxiety and also depression.
So, where does chiropractic fit into this equation? The misalignments that people have in their spines, in combination with mental and chemical stresses, create a constant flow of negative body messaging into the brain which stimulates the stress response. Conversely, when we adjust people, we increase positive messaging from the body into the brain. This positive body messaging is called “proprioception”. This is one of the reasons why, if you are depressed or anxious, exercise can have a very beneficial effect on how you feel emotionally. Moving the body increases the positive messaging into the brain and quells the stress response. On the other side of the coin, adjusting people reduces negative messaging into the brain and also quells the stress response. The net impact of chiropractic care is that it reduces the stress response and people feel better.
It has been my experience that many patients experience a feeling of relief or even, sometimes, a feeling of elation after being adjusted. Many patients recount that their feelings of stress and anxiety are dramatically impacted by chiropractic adjustments. This is simply because the adjustment changes brain chemistry. If you, a family member, or a friend are feeling the negative impact of stress and anxiety in your life, then talk to one of the doctors at Chiropractic Health and Wellness in Edina and we can get you on the road to a lower stress life.
