The fight or flight response and your anxiety

When suffering from anxiety, whether it be a short anxiety attack or a more chronic anxiety disorder, the symptoms experienced are triggered by the fight or flight (or F&F) response.  This mechanism is vital for our performance and can save our lives from danger, but when this is triggered when there is no obvious danger the response itself can be frightful and disruptive.

Whilst circulating among the support groups one of the most common concerns regarding anxiety is the symptoms.  Advice I have read for coping with anxiety often object to the idea of understanding why or how these symptoms arise, but I believe that if sufferers understood how the F&F response works, and why, and explain why we experience the symptoms and what their benefits truly are then the anxiety could be greatly reduced.

The F&F response gives us extra energy, better focus and faster reflexes.  This enables us to fight the danger or run away from it, as well as looking out for the danger.  In the time of when we were hunter gatherers this protected us against other tribes and predators.  In the modern era it helps us to focus better on exams and deadlines, giving parents that extra energy to protect their children from danger and to prepare us for a fight. 

The adrenaline released, triggered by the Sympathetic Nervous System (thus triggering the F&F response) encourages the body to divert energy from different parts of the body to the musculo-skeletal system, circulatory system, respiratory system and the brain.  This response affects a very large amount of the body.  Below I will list different parts of the body, the symptoms caused and counter symptoms caused that is often experienced in anxiety:

Senses:

Dilated pupils = fuzzy vision and flashes.

Heightened hearing = ringing.

Sensitive to touch = over-reactive.

Breathing:

Increased rate and shallow = tingling in extremities, numbness, chest pain from hyperventilation, fuzzy vision, ringing in ears and imbalance.

Heart rate:

Quick and fierce = chest pain and palpitations.

Muscles:

Extra energy = spasms, twitches and shakes.

Sharpened reflexes = twitches and shakes.

Digestive and urinary:

Slowed down = nausea, flactuance and stomach ache.

Evacuating = soft or runny stools and frequent urination.

Cognitive:

Increased alertness and awareness = ‘doom and gloom’ (believing that one is going to die), sensitive to the environment (i.e. sudden movements and noises), fearful of unknown, negative thoughts and socially isolated.

It is important to remember that the F&F response and all the symptoms above are not harmful.  A response that is meant to save your life will not kill or harm you.  The symptoms, at the appropriate time, are there to help us.  When trying to calm the body down the best things to do are to take long, deep breaths (which then triggers the heart rate to reduce), remember that the symptoms are not harmful and that they will pass.  Reminding yourself that there is no danger is also important, and so are distraction techniques as the body naturally calms down.

Please do not use this as a diagnostic tool, if you believe a symptom is not typical to anxiety or is causing concern then speak to your doctor.

The importance of proper breathing

A lot of symptoms of panic attacks and anxiety are induced by shallow breathing.  Symptoms include dizziness, impaired senses, pins and needles and more.  Without medicalising this too much the reason for these symptoms are an imbalance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood, caused by hyperventilating and shallow breathing.

Some sufferers of panic attacks develop a habit of shallow breathing, which creates these symptoms during and in between attacks.  This is similar for anxiety sufferers, who practise shallow breathing during periods of high anxiety.  Once recognised the sufferer should begin practising proper, abdominal breathing which, in turn, can reduce anxiety and panic symptoms.

Before I move onto proper breathing I will give you a quick biology lesson on why proper breathing can reduce anxiety and panic symptoms.  Our nervous system is broken up into two systems:  peripheral and central nervous systems (PNS and CNS respectively).  The PNS is broken up into more systems, one being the autonomic nervous system (ANS) which is what controls the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems (SNS and PSNS respectively).  The diagram below should help with the ordering of these systems:

The SNS is what reacts during the fight-and-flight response.  This is what is responsible for your symptoms of anxiety, stress and panic.  When the threat has gone the PSNS is responsible for rest-and-digest and feed-and-breed, meaning it relaxes the body and takes it off guard.

When anxious or panicking in a situation that has no danger to us (like shopping) there is no use to us for a guard to be up, so to switch off the SNS and switch on the PSNS.  Although everything in the ANS is controlled subconsciously (like digesting our food and reflexes) we have an indirect control over our SNS and PSNS.  To reduce the symptoms of anxiety and panic proper, abdominal breathing can bring our heart rate down, resulting in other symptoms to reduce, i.e. sweating and dizziness, and eventually stop them.

Now you understand how important it is to practise proper breathing let me explain how it is done.  Proper breathing is deep, slow and rhythmic.  Whilst hyperventilating is concentrated in the upper chest proper breathing concentrates in the abdomen.  Breaths in cause the abdomen to expand outwards and retracts when breathing out.  Placing your hand on your abdomen you can tell if you are breathing properly.  Different organisations, groups and people give different breathing rates, some say breathe in for five seconds, out for seven, three in and three out or two in and five out.  I will not give a specific number as people have different lung capacities, one method could cause over breathing for some or it could cause under breathing for others.  Experiment to see how long you prefer.  Remember to pause during breaths.  Here is a step by step process:

• Relax and untense yourself, sitting somewhere quiet
• Breathe in, feeling your abdomen expand outwards
• Hold for a few seconds
• Breathe out, feeling your abdomen retract
• Hold for a few seconds – and start again

It is most beneficial when you practise proper breathing at home.  Set aside some time to practise your breathing, preferably somewhere quiet and comfortable, and practise for a few minutes.  Once the fundamentals have been learnt this can be done in front of the television or on the bus.  That way you prepare yourself for when you need to regulate your breathing and it has a higher chance of working.  Do not be disheartened if it does not work the first time, like many techniques it takes practise.  As this becomes second nature you will find symptoms like chest pains and dizziness will start to lessen and subside.