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Stress Delays Healing

Written By Full Life Chiropractic on December 22, 2022

Currently in America we have over 40 million Americans suffering from mental illness such as anxiety and depression. Most of those range from the ages of 18 to 25. Biopsychological components are affecting even the healthiest of individuals due to the negative effect of depression. Some of those signs and symptoms include: hopelessness, loneliness, antisocial, impotence, sadness. Disorders like this create a cycle that leads to disease and at the end it can even lead to death. Recent studies have suggested chiropractic manipulative therapy has a decrease in major depressive disorders by regulating the vagus parasympathetic stimulation in the nervous system.

Mental health has always been a part of the United States of America, but also the world. Research states that at least every American has experienced a depression or anxiety attack in their lives. The problem is that recently, the number of depression in young adults has increased 7% since the Covid-19 pandemic started in 2020. Many individuals become more depressed due to the sedentary state that the pandemic left, but this is not a disease that is only affecting specific individuals. An increase in healthy individuals has arisen with signs of depression, hopelessness and suicidal though. Why is that?

Most healthy individuals have noticed that going to their local chiropractors for neck pain and low back treatments was reducing their levels of stress and depression. Recent studies have shown that the effects of chiropractic manipulative therapy on individuals with depression showed more positive improvement in mental health and mental clarity with regular treatment. How is this possible? Studies suggest that the autonomic nervous system that is divided into the sympathetic nervous system (Flight of fight) and parasympathetic nervous system (Rest and digest) are triggered by spinal manipulation. Old studies suggest the branches from the nerve root that supply into the sympathetic and parasympathetic system. Dividing thoracic and lumbar regions into sympathetic and cervical and sacral into parasympathetic.

The question is, why does someone feel relief in any area that is manipulated, because of a restriction? We start getting into the endocrine system involving a mechanoreceptor being fired to induce relaxation on a restricted segment. Is it the endocrine response making the patient better or is it the spinal manipulation with the nervous system improving the health of the patient?

Individuals that have high stress have relief from chiropractic care, mostly because of the hypertonicity in muscles and restrictions in the spinal cord are creating biopsychosocial components affecting the health. If a person that is healthy has a high stress life, the individual will start to have a poor diet, which will lead to poor sleep and will lead to fatigue creating a disease cycle only from high stress. The post effects from chiropractic manipulative therapy into the parasympathetic nervous system has a significant impact in reducing depression-like symptoms caused by stress.
Individuals experiencing stress from personal reasons, job related and other psychological factors should comanage with chiropractors and mental health professionals to target the bio-psychological component that are affecting the patients mental health and psychical health.

Great ways that can help to reduce stress are:

  • Chiropractic Care
  • Yoga
  • Deep Breathing Exercises
  • Exercise
  • Searching for a Hobby
  • Having a more anti-inflammatory diet
  • Quality of Sleep

https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/facts-statistics
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8023121/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5461754/


Posted In: Stress