The Interplay Between the Nervous System and Anxiety

In this short episode, Beth attempts to explain the impact of the nervous system on anxiety levels. She describes the speeding up (the sympathetic process) and the slowing down, a compensatory mode (parasympathetic) and how it relates to the fight flight and freeze responses that we have. Sometimes our nervous systems speed up because we encounter real danger or situations we fear and sometimes we have anxious thoughts or fears that cause us to go into fight or flight. Beth talks about how we can unknowingly put ourselves into panic mode or fear mode because of our thoughts and associations. She explains how our nervous systems try to prepare for danger by being hypervigilant, and how this relates to social anxiety. Some techniques can help us put our nervous systems in a calmer state. Other people may also try to read our facial expressions and nonverbal cues to try to figure out whether we are safe or not. A few client examples that relate to these concepts, including the emotional labels that we put on our heightened nervous system states.

Remember trauma nervous system.

Non-verbal communication Training

How does your body respond to dangers?

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