Tag: #fightorflight

Performance Anxiety and the Autonomic Nervous System

The autonomic nervous system is divided into two parts -the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous systems – which are both located in the spinal cord. Both of these are self-regulated, meaning that we can’t control what they do. The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system are basically exact opposites of each other when it comes to their function.

The sympathetic nervous system, commonly known for its “fight or flight” reaction, exists to help prepare your body for emergency or stressful situations that might require a rapid response. When it’s triggered by a stimulus, the sympathetic nervous system responds by dilating your pupils, increasing your heart rate, making you breathe faster, and causing you to sweat, among other things. These responses may not feel pleasant, but they allow your body to react more quickly and appropriately in an emergency.

On the other hand, the parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for relaxing your body, and is often associated with the phrase “rest and digest.” This is in charge of regulating your body during normal daily activity, as well as returning your body to its natural relaxed state after your sympathetic nervous system takes effect. The graphic below demonstrates examples of how both the parasympathetic and the sympathetic nervous systems can affect the various organs in your body.

 

Like many musicians, I often struggle with performance anxiety – feelings of fear and extreme nervousness right before either a performance or an audition. One of my most memorable examples of this happened during my flute audition to get into the Penn State School of Music. As I walked into my audition, I started to get really nervous and freaked out. My lips started to shake uncontrollably, making it very hard to control my airstream while playing my flute. My hands also started to shake, and my heart felt as if it was racing. My palms were sweaty, making it hard to hold my flute. After my audition, I was able to calm down and relax. My hands stopped sweating and shaking, and I was able to breathe at a more regular rate.

This demonstrates the autonomic nervous system because my brain sensed that I was fearful and nervous and sent signals to my sympathetic nervous system to react accordingly, sending my body into a “fight-or-flight” mode. After my audition, my brain sensed that the fearful situation was over, it triggered signals to my parasympathetic nervous system, allowing my body to relax and function much more normally.

Works Cited

Haneef, Deena T. Kochunni, Jazir. 9 Differences between Sympathetic Nervous System and Parasympathetic Nervous System. https://www.majordifferences.com/2017/03/9-differences-between-sympathetic.html. Accessed 19 Sept. 2019.

How the Autonomic Nervous System Impacts Daily Life

How the Autonomic Nervous System Impacts Daily Life
By: David Popkin

The autonomic nervous system is split up into two sections, the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system invokes the fight or flight response. During this period of time you experience increased heart rate, chest palpitations, increased rate of breathing, shortness of breath, numbness and tingling in the arms and legs, butterflies in the stomach, lump in the throat, dry mouth, and dilated pupils. These are all responses that prepare your body to either fight off someone or run away. The opposite of the sympathetic nervous system is the parasympathetic nervous system. This system tries to calm you down by slowing the heart rate and breathing, increasing saliva production, constricting pupils, and relaxes muscles.

I have experienced the effects of these two systems during many points in my life. I have played the tuba for many years now and the most stressful performance I had was at my senior recital. I got on the stage and my palms were clammy, my heartrate was really fast, my breathing was accelerated, and I my mouth was really dry. All these symptoms resulted from the sympathetic nervous system. The concert was a huge success and even with my fight or flight symptoms I stayed and did a great job. Right when I finished the concert all the pressure and stress was alleviated. The parasympathetic system started to work because my breathing slowed, my heart rate when down, and I became less tense and sweaty. Another example of the autonomic nervous system in action is when I was biking on dirt trails in a local park. During my bike ride a bear stepped into view about fifty yards ahead of me. I immediately stopped my bike, took out my phone, and began recording the bear. A few seconds after the recording started the bear turned and started to run at me. The sympathetic nervous system kicked in and my heart rate and breathing were incredibly fast. I immediately turned my bike around and pedaled as hard as I could the other way. The increased blood flow to my muscles in my legs helped boost my explosive pedaling power. The bear either got bored or couldn’t keep up because I got away. After biking vigorously for a few minutes I got off the bike and sat on the ground. As I rested the parasympathetic nervous system kicked in, and my heart rate and breathing started to return to normal. The boost of blood flow was also gone and I became much less tense. The situation was over just as quickly as it started.

 

 

The personal example of the bear, is a more traditional example of the autonomic nervous system in action. Even though the solo recital is not a typical example I had a faster heart rate, accelerated breathing and increased blood flow just like in the incident with the bear. These two completely different examples show how the autonomic nervous system impacts nearly all events in your life.
Unfortunately, some people can have autonomic disorders which can come with serious side effects such as very little sweating which causes a person to overheat, feel prematurely full, and dizziness or lightheadedness because of the sudden decrease in blood pressure. Some of the causes for autonomic disorders are Diabetes, Peripheral nerve disorders, Aging, and Parkinson disease. If many of these symptoms ever apply to you go to your doctor. The best treatment is to try and cure what caused the autonomic disorder. If this can’t be done then doctors try to treat the symptoms the patient has. These disorders are very serious and can mess with the way the body handles daily situations.

 

Work Cited
“Parasympathetic vs Sympathetic Nervous System.” Diffen, www.diffen.com/difference/Parasympathetic_nervous_system_vs_Sympathetic_nervous_system.
“Sympathetic vs. Parasympathetic State: Stress and Health.” Chris Kresser, 26 July 2019, chriskresser.com/sympathetic-vs-parasympathetic-state-how-stress-affects-your-health/.
“Overview of the Autonomic Nervous System – Brain, Spinal Cord, and Nerve Disorders.” Merck Manuals Consumer Version, Merck Manuals, www.merckmanuals.com/home/brain,-spinal-cord,-and-nerve-disorders/autonomic-nervous-system-disorders/overview-of-the-autonomic-nervous-system.
“Types of Autonomic Disorders.” Patient Care at NYU Langone Health, nyulangone.org/conditions/autonomic-disorders/types.