A Battle of Nerves

Good morning or evening, dear readers, from here in Western Australia. 

Welcome to the latest post of the ‘The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Scotsman’. 

Tonight, I want to get a wee bit more technical than usual (bear with me, it won’t be that technical because I’m not that bright) about a subject I’ve been reading up on and had explained to me in words of one syllable, slowly, and even visually by means of a YouTube clip on the subject, by the experts in my corner, the Parasympathetic Nervous System.

In this post I’ll write (in lay terms) briefly about what it is, and over the next few posts I’ll discuss how it works to relieve anxiety and the impacts of stressful pressurised situations, and how we can learn to activate our parasympathetic nervous system to our advantage, to help us see off the demons and find space to heal. 

I found, from my experience of anxiety and unwanted panic attacks, that this was a useful topic to learn about. I hope it helps you too. 

What is the Parasympathetic Nervous System?

The parasympathetic nervous system is one of the two main branches of the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS). What is that? A network of nerves which run from the brain around the body and regulate involuntary bodily functions,( things that happen without you thinking about them) including those relating to our hearts pumping, lungs breathing,  digestive systems digesting curly wurlies and other areas, like your reproductive system. 

The second main branch, the other branch of the ANS, is the sympathetic nervous system.

Having done some research (again I would emphasise I am no expert or authority on this subject) I would describe these two parts of the ANS thus.

The sympathetic nervous system kicks in during the fight, flight or freeze response or as I think of it, the run like fuck reflex. In our primeval subconscious mind a  big ravenous sabretooth tiger of our long distant past is hot on our trail, and we need to find an extra sixth gear out of the new expensive trainers we’re wearing to somehow escape. 

This response was originally intended as a survival mechanism to allow us mammals to react quickly to life-threatening situations. Unfortunately, today the human body still has the same response to non-life-threatening stressors that cause high levels of anxiety. Honest, we aren’t going to expire because the Wi-Fi has conked out. 

The parasympathetic nervous system, on the other hand, works the other way, and is more about slowing down. Relax Mr Rabbit, munch on a Cadbury’s caramel (other chocolate confectionaries are available) chillax and get back to a place in your mind where all your biological bits and pieces are working calmly within reasonable norms. 

The parasympathetic nervous system is often referred to as the “rest and digest” or “feed and breed” system because it generally promotes relaxation, energy conservation, and activities that help the body recover and restore.

I suppose the autonomic nervous system could be described in this way. The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems act like the accelerator and brakes on a car. The sympathetic system is the accelerator, always ready to rev up and take us away fast and of danger. The parasympathetic system is the brakes, slowing us down and back to safety when danger isn’t present. 

Like most things in life, it’s about getting the balance right. Having both of these human operating systems working as well as they can is essential for our wellbeing. Either one working alone, without the other, wouldn’t be healthy. Extremes of either not being good for us. 

Conscious of the fact that I’m writing about a subject a wee bit out of my comfort zone I’ll leave it there for today, moving on in the next post to discuss how the parasympathetic nervous system can help to diminish and relieve our anxiety.

A wee thought for today gives a bit of clue as to where  the smart money lies with regard to gaining some element of control over our anxiousness. 

‘Deep breathing initiates the parasympathetic nervous system, the rest-and-relax state.’ (Aimee Molloy)