Understanding Anxiety and Panic

Anxiety and panic are more than just mental states—they have a deep connection to our body’s nervous system. When we feel anxious or overwhelmed, it’s not just our minds racing; our bodies are responding as if we’re in danger, triggering intense physical reactions. Understanding the connection between our mind and body, especially through the lens of the nervous system, can help us regain control in the face of anxiety and panic.

The Mind-Body Connection: Your Nervous System in Action

Our brains and bodies are in constant communication, and the nervous system plays a central role in how we experience anxiety and panic. The autonomic nervous system, which controls functions like heart rate, breathing, and digestion, has two key parts: the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) (Porges, 2007).

• Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS): This is the part responsible for the fight or flight response. When your brain detects a threat, real or perceived, the SNS kicks in, flooding your body with stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. This increases your heart rate, speeds up your breathing, and gets your muscles ready for action.

• Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS): In contrast, the PNS is responsible for “rest and digest” functions. It works to bring your body back to a state of calm after a perceived threat has passed, slowing your heart rate, relaxing your muscles, and helping you feel safe again.

The trouble comes when our bodies trigger the SNS in everyday situations—like giving a work presentation or going to a crowded event—where there isn’t an actual threat. This activation can lead to chronic anxiety, and when it reaches an intense peak, it can lead to panic attacks.

Fight, Flight, or Freeze: How Your Body Responds to Anxiety

The fight, flight, or freeze response is your body’s way of dealing with perceived danger. These responses evolved to help us survive, but in modern life, they can be triggered by stressors that aren’t actually life-threatening (McEwen, 2007).

• Fight: You may feel a surge of anger or aggression, a need to take control or confront whatever is causing the anxiety. Physically, you may clench your fists, feel tension in your muscles, or breathe rapidly.

• Flight: Your body prepares to flee from the danger, and you might feel an overwhelming urge to escape or avoid a situation. You might experience a racing heart, shallow breathing, or restlessness.

• Freeze: Sometimes, anxiety leads to feeling stuck, as if you can’t move or respond. This response can cause feelings of numbness, difficulty speaking, or a sense of disconnect from your surroundings.

When these responses are triggered regularly by everyday stress, they can start to feel uncontrollable. However, understanding these responses and learning how to engage your parasympathetic nervous system can help you manage them.

Diaphragmatic Breathing: A Tool to Calm Your Nervous System

One of the simplest and most effective ways to calm the nervous system and shift from a fight/flight response to a state of relaxation is through diaphragmatic breathing. Also known as belly breathing, diaphragmatic breathing engages the parasympathetic nervous system, signaling to your body that it’s safe to relax (Jerath, Edry, Barnes, & Jerath, 2006).

How Diaphragmatic Breathing Works

When you breathe deeply into your diaphragm (the muscle just below your lungs), you activate the vagus nerve, which plays a key role in calming your body. Shallow, rapid breathing, often associated with anxiety and panic, keeps the body in a state of alertness, so it’s important to retrain yourself to breathe deeply and slowly (Zaccaro et al., 2018).

Practical Steps for Diaphragmatic Breathing

1. Find a Comfortable Position: Sit or lie down in a comfortable position. Place one hand on your chest and the other on your belly.

2. Inhale Slowly Through Your Nose: Breathe in deeply through your nose for about four seconds, focusing on expanding your diaphragm (your belly should rise, not your chest). This allows your lungs to fill fully with air.

3. Hold for a Moment: Hold your breath for about two to four seconds. This short pause allows your body to fully absorb the oxygen.

4. Exhale Slowly Through Your Mouth: Breathe out slowly through your mouth for about six to eight seconds, focusing on deflating your belly. This longer exhale helps stimulate the parasympathetic response.

5. Repeat: Continue this cycle for at least five to ten minutes, or until you feel your body calming down.

Practical Tip: Whenever you start to feel anxious, try diaphragmatic breathing. Over time, practicing this technique regularly can help retrain your body to respond more calmly to stress .

Long-Term Benefits of Understanding Your Nervous System

Once you understand how your nervous system works, you can begin to take proactive steps to manage anxiety and panic in the long term. Some additional practices to support your nervous system include:

1. Regular Exercise: Movement helps regulate your nervous system and releases endorphins, which promote a sense of well-being.

2. Mindfulness and Meditation: These practices help you stay present and reduce the overactivation of the sympathetic nervous system.

3. Journaling: Writing about your thoughts and feelings can help identify triggers for your fight/flight/freeze responses, offering you more control over your emotional reactions.

4. Sleep and Nutrition: A healthy lifestyle supports nervous system regulation, improving your body’s ability to recover from stress.

Using the Mind-Body Connection to Manage Anxiety

By understanding how anxiety manifests in your body through the fight, flight, and freeze responses, and learning techniques like diaphragmatic breathing, you can take control of your mind-body connection and calm your nervous system. Anxiety doesn’t have to dominate your life—when you recognize the signals your body is sending, you can respond with compassion and practical tools, ultimately leading to more peace and balance.

Additional Resources

To take your mind-body connection work further, biofeedback tools can provide real-time insight into how your body is reacting to stress. These apps can measure your body’s stress levels and guide you in activating your parasympathetic nervous system:

• HeartMath: Tracks heart rate variability (HRV) to provide feedback on your stress levels and help you practice calming techniques.

• HeartPeace: Offers real-time feedback on HRV and guides you toward achieving a relaxed state.

• Kardia: Monitors heart rate and breathing, providing guided exercises to help bring your body into a state of calm.

References

Jerath, R., Edry, J. W., Barnes, V. A., & Jerath, V. (2006). Physiology of long pranayamic breathing: Neural respiratory elements may provide a mechanism that explains how slow deep breathing shifts autonomic nervous system balance. Medical Hypotheses, 67(3), 566-571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2006.02.042

McEwen, B. S. (2007). Physiology and neurobiology of stress and adaptation: Central role of the brain. Physiological Reviews, 87(3), 873-904. https://doi.org/10.1152/physrev.00041.2006

Porges, S. W. (2007). The polyvagal perspective. Biological Psychology, 74(2), 116-143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2006.06.009

Zaccaro, A., Piarulli, A., Laurino, M., Garbella, E., Menicucci, D., Neri, B., & Gemignani, A. (2018). How breath-control can change your life: A systematic review on psychophysiological correlates of slow breathing. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 12, 353. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2018.00353