The fight or flight response is a natural physiological reaction to a stressful or terrifying circumstance.

The sympathetic nervous system is activated when a threat is perceived, triggering an acute stress reaction that prepares the body to fight or flee.

Pain and stress are only supposed to warn the body for a brief period of time, and the body is only meant to deal with them for that time.

However, when stress is prolonged, it becomes harmful and negative, as does pain.

When the body remains in the fight or flight state for an extended amount of time, it can overwork the body and cause issues.

Sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system

The autonomic nervous system is a specific part of the body’s overall nervous system that is responsible for unconscious automatic body functions such as heart rate, digestion, and blood pressure.

The autonomic nervous system consists of two parts: The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.

When we need to be alert, the sympathetic nervous system, often known as the flight or fight reaction, is triggered.

It’s a survival mechanism that tells us there is a perceived threat.

When exposed to stressors the sympathetic nervous system is activated. 

This results in increased heart rate and blood pressure making the blood flow to your muscles. 

One of the primary hormones released during the stress response is cortisol.

In a typical situation, cortisol is produced to maintain proper blood flow to the body’s important organs, as well as to control blood glucose and inflammation. 

Cortisol stops inflammation from causing widespread tissue and nerve damage.

However, when cortisol is produced in excess for long periods of time, it does the exact opposite of what it should, causing inflammation and aggravating the stress and fear response.

The parasympathetic nervous system has the opposite response acting as a brake, relaxing and slowing the body down. This allows the body to rest and recover from the state of flight or fight.

When you’re constantly in a flight or fight mode, the brain reduces hormone receptor sensitivity and the parasympathetic nervous system becomes considerably less effective.

The autonomic nervous system’s equilibrium between these two sections is crucial.

You’ll be able to adapt to challenges and optimize your performance when they’re balanced out.

Stress and chronic pain

When you’re consistently stressed, your body suffers physically since it’s not designed to cope with being in this tense state for an extended period of time.

Chronic pain is maintained in part by the organism’s maladaptive physiological reactions to a recurring stressor.^[1]

Chronic pain constantly stimulates the neurological system, which detects, sends, and receives pain signals, and by doing so, it literally changes the structure of the nervous system, making it more active and sensitive.

Also, the fear of being in pain, as well as the avoidance and anticipation of suffering, produces stress, which eventually causes pain.

Chronic pain and chronic stress alter how your brain and nervous system function, a condition known as central sensitization, in which your nervous system is constantly in overdrive. This is a never-ending loop in which pain generates stress and stress causes pain, and so on.

Stress management

Stressors that aren’t life-threatening don’t always have an obvious on/off switch.

Work, bills, kids, your marriage, finances and health are some of the biggest non-life-threatening stressors.

The way you interpret these things can have an impact on your body’s reaction and contribute to anxiety disorders.

Stress management is critical to overall health.

The goal is to break the loop and substitute dysfunctional behaviors.

Treatment should center on breaking the pain cycle, lowering pain-inducing behaviors and beliefs, and assisting patients in not just understanding their pain and how it works, but also in overcoming it and living a healthy life. It’s not an easy journey, and there’s no quick fix.

However, by learning how to manage your pain and break the loop over time, you can reclaim that lost quality of life and no longer feel constrained by your disease.

Conclusion

The stress response is a fully natural biological reaction designed to protect you in the most reasonable way possible.

Understanding the source of your pain and focusing on the science underlying this cycle provides you with an advantage in the struggle against pain, helping you see where you can shift your focus and positively change things with new coping mechanisms.

Remember that you don’t have to do this alone; there are many therapies and resources available to help you.