Can Chiropractic help Anxiety?
Chiropractic is know for it’s successes with neck and lower back pain, but can it help with mental health issues like anxiety. For most people chiropractic wouldn’t be the first stop if they were struggling with anxiety. First we need to understand the nervous system before we can understand how chiropractic might affect anxiety.
The two sides of our nervous system
Our nervous system is divided into to two main categories, the sympathetic and the para-sympathetic.
- Sympathetic Nervous System – more commonly know as the “fight or flight” part of the nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system in our alarm system. It’s job to is make sure that we survive a threat. Obviously a very important part of our nervous system, but it can be over-excited and keep us in fight or flight.
- Para-Sympathetic Nervous System – more commonly known as the “rest and digest” part of the nervous system. The para-sympathetic nervous system is responsible for healing.
Important – you can’t be in both the sympathetic and the para-sympathetic nervous system at the same time. In other words, you can heal and fight at the same time.
In order to be healthy you need to have a balance between the sympathetic and the para-sympathetic sides of your nervous system. Unfortunately i our world, we spend more time in the sympathetic nervous system which prevents us from accessing the para-sympathetic (rest and digest) side of our nervous system.
What effect does pain have on anxiety?
If we are in pain, we are vulnerable. If we were in the wild and had an injury our bodies would know that we are more vulnerable to attack therefore we need to be be more vigilant and there be ready for “fight or flight.” When we are in the fight or flight part of our nervous system our body releases stress hormones like cortisol. Cortisol is a steroid that prepares you for action, if the cortisol is not utilized to fight or flight it can lead to symptoms of anxiety.
Can Posture effect anxiety?
When we sit or stand in poor posture, we round our upper back. Our brains see this as a defensive posture because you’re using your back as a shield to protect your vital organs. Even being in a poor posture for a little as two minutes can increase your cortisol levels which can lead to anxiety. The Ted talk below does a great job explaining how posture can influence stress and cortisol levels.
Can nutritional deficiencies lead to Anxiety?
It is believed that nutritional deficiencies can lead to anxiety. Many of us have nutritional deficiencies that go undiagnosed because they aren’t great tests for these deficiencies or the testing is too expensive and not covered by insurance. At Compass we use the Health Appraisal Questionnaire to determine if there are any deficiencies that need to be addressed.