The body has a very primitive and basic survival instinct built in called the sympathetic nervous system (SNR). This is the group of physiological reactions set off by the brain that occur in the face of danger. It is commonly known as the fight-or-flight response, but it is more appropriately called the fight-or-fight-or-freeze response, because freezing up is also one of the survival mechanisms that can be stimulated by this brain response.

The effects of the sympathetic nervous response involve the release of epinephrine after a series of reactions that begin in the part of the brain called the amygdala. Cortisol is then released, triggering several physiological reactions you feel in your body. Heart rate acceleration, flushed skin, digestion inhibition, constriction of blood vessels, and muscle tightness are all effects of this response.

Some or all of these symptoms are commonly associated with stress, frustration, anger, or depression, exhaustion, or despair. You have felt this at times with sweaty palms, tightness in the chest, or feeling hot in the face. A cognitive effect is a narrowing of our field of mental focus. Whatever triggers the response takes center stage in our mental awareness. We become hyper-focused on whatever threat or danger we’ve perceived.

As a result of the sympathetic nervous response, we can sense a threat to our life and have a much better chance of either escaping it or fighting it off. We have the bodily phenomenon for a very specific purpose—so we can survive. The problem enters when we allow the SNR to be triggered when we aren’t actually in danger. This response is primitive because it does not have a complex way of sorting out the differences between real and perceived threats.

Perceived danger is at the root of most psychological disorders. Some conceptualizations of psychological disease ultimately pin all anxiety-related disorders on the fight-flight-or-freeze response, and depressed or mood-related disease on the freeze response. Our systems either speed up or slow down depending on the sympathetic nervous response and its reaction to a perceive threat.

Given that our cognitive ability is affected when we perceive danger, mindfulness can have a significant impact on managing sympathetic nervous response. If we spend most of our day perceiving problems to react to, we focus on them and lose our perception of other things happening. Since mindfulness ultimately turns down our SNR, it helps us to be aware of more that is happening both around and inside us.

To learn more about the sympathetic nervous system and mindfulness, contact me to schedule a free phone consultation. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Source: Adapted from the book The Mindful Catholic