Episode 269: Anxiety Bytes: How Do Anxiety Symptoms Become Chronic?
Join Kelli and Erica as they answer a question from one of our lovely listeners about how anxiety symptoms becomes chronic.
To tune into the episode, listen on iTunes or Spotify.
Show Notes
Kelli and Erica answer a listener’s question:
“I would like to know if it is common for people to experience anxiety symptoms that can last for days or weeks? I am always reading how anxiety symptoms can come and go, or shift quite rapidly, but there seems to be a lack of information on symptoms that can stick around for long periods of time. In my experience with anxiety over the last 5 years, I’ve noticed some symptoms can stick around longer than others, almost like my mind fixates on it and I can’t move past it. I LOVE your podcasts by the way, I have been a regular listener from Melbourne, Australia for the last 4 years.”
So, why do we experience chronic symptoms? Three words: HPA axis dysregulation. HPA stands for hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal. The HPA axis modulates a vast array of physiological processes, like our fight or flight response. Typically, the HPA axis is a negative feedback loop, meaning that when our corticosteroids increase to a certain threshold due to stressors, the hypothalamus slows or shuts down production of those corticosteroids.
However, the HPA axis can become dysregulated, becoming overactive in the face of trauma, anxiety, worrying, constantly burning the candle at both ends, etc. In a sense, we get stuck in survival mode.
Survival mode impacts our entire body. Being stuck in fight or flight mode causes all manner of chronic physical systems, like IBS, headaches, muscle tension, nausea, racing heart, etc. Cortisol also causes us to be chronically hypervigiliant and hyperreactive, causing us to become more sensitive to physical sensations when they do appear. It’s easier to feel fearful or reactive of the physical symptoms, perpetuating the anxiety cycle further.
This cycle is largely what underpins those struggling with chronic pain as well. So, that’s why so much of our work becomes about supporting the nervous system. When we support our nervous system, it recalibrates in a way that the HPA axis can becomes regulated and stop firing on all cyclinders all the time.
