Chemical Processes Underlying Anxiety

As anxiety becomes more and more present in today’s world, it is important to learn to act the right way when it threatens to overwhelm you. By knowing what is behind the feeling of anxiety, you can help yourself and your loved ones prevent this catastrophic mindset as well as avoid other common symptoms associated with anxiety. In this article, we discuss the chemical processes underlying the feeling of anxiety to explain what happens from the first stimulus the body receives to the proliferation of T cells. 

Is the feeling of anxiety evil?

Many experts believe that stress and anxiety are almost the same things. The second, however, is a more stigmatized concept in today’s society. Both concepts relate to the way the body responds to a stimulus, which is in fact a natural biological process that is important for human survival. Therefore, anxiety should not be seen solely as either a good or a bad thing.

When a perceived threat makes a person feel anxious or scared, this activation usually leads to a “fight or flight” reaction in the body.

This mechanism once evolved for mankind to ensure the survival of the human species. Without such a reaction, you would not be able to act quickly and make decisive decisions in the blink of an eye. Nor would your body have the physical ability to defend itself against an immediate threat.

The problem is that your body can go into this state even when the “threats” you experience are not real.  In this case, your body prepares to fight or flee, even though this reaction is completely unnecessary. The chemical and emotional reactions associated with a fight or flight state are the ultimate reason why you feel so strange and vague when you feel anxious.

The chemical process of feeling anxious

Threat assessment: fight or escape

When you find a situation threatening, your brain will be able to assess it in just a few seconds. While you aren’t very likely to be chased by lions these days, that reaction is just as useful to anything else you feel is a threat to yourself. So this can be anything from a comment thrown by an unknown person in passing all the way to a sudden voice that you find threatening.

Sympathetic nervous system

After the threat is first assessed, a chemical reaction will start in your body in response to the threat. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenaline axis, which is part of sympathetic nervous system, is activated, which in turn triggers adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH).

The hypothalamus regulates the release of ACTH into the body. The hypothalamus is also responsible for regulating functions such as eating, drinking, mating, and aggression. Therefore, it is natural that the neurohormonal mechanisms involved in responding to a stimulus are also triggered in a perceived threat situation, while stimulating the pituitary gland, which in turn releases ACTH.

ACTH, on the other hand, stimulates the adrenal glands in the body to fill the bloodstream with glucocorticoids.

Glucocorticoids help in a stressful situation

Glucorticoids help you cope with stressful situations. This can include any physical injury, such as a leg fracture or falling off a chair in a situation involving mental anxiety, fear, or hunger.

Glucocorticoids increase the production of adrenaline and endogenous opioid peptides. The latter is related to homeostasis (maintaining body balance), pain management, cardiovascular control, and stress.

The release of adrenaline and other hormones stops some other bodily functions that could interfere with dealing with a stressful situation. For example, the body’s digestion requires considerable energy. Because of this, you may lose your appetite or your stomach may even get confused after a panic attack. Your body needs time to recover, so be patient with it.

Your body releases opioid peptides to help you better tolerate the pain of a possible injury.

Consequences of such chemical reactions

This kind of hormonal activation causes a lot of changes in your body that you may not be able to expect. Responding to stress also causes many internal changes that are not always clearly visible to the outside world.

As a result of increased hormone production, the heart rate also accelerates to increase blood circulation and oxygen flow in the body. This is a very clear symptom of anxiety and even one that the sufferer of anxiety is actively experiencing and trying to work with.

Some techniques used by psychologists or therapists to reduce the symptoms of stress include various breathing exercises as well as progressive muscle relaxation exercises. Both techniques use breathing as a way to reduce the feeling of anxiety. Focusing on your own breathing can slow your heart rate and help you calm down.

As your body responds to a stressful situation, your spleen also contracts and releases several red blood cells. This is very helpful when you are injured. Despite the fact that most of the situations we perceive today as “threats” do not actually pose any physical danger, our reactions are a remnant of the days when our ancestors fled wildlife to protect themselves. Red blood cells are part of your immune system and will still protect you today if your body gets inflamed.

In addition to the above, the liver also synthesizes and releases sugar into the bloodstream, while bronchodilation increases your ability to absorb oxygen in response to your body’s increased need for oxygen.

One consequence of these chemical reactions is dilation of the pupils, allowing more light to enter the eyes, which in turn helps to see the contours of objects more accurately. Lastly, we would like to mention that the body responds to a potential threat by increasing the factors of blood clotting as well as accelerating the circulation of T cells in the blood (white blood cells, which are essential for immune defense).

The key to reducing the feeling of anxiety

As you have probably noticed, the feeling of anxiety in different chemical processes always has a very specific function. The good thing about this is that the chemical processes involved in relaxation as well as the mechanisms that activate it are similar. In fact, the primary goal of various relaxation techniques is always related to the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system.

As the sympathetic nervous system activates your body’s systems, the parasympathetic nervous system in turn reduces muscle tension and causes your breathing to slow down. It also causes the arteries to dilate, which in turn increases peripheral blood flow. The parasympathetic system slows respiratory rate, the release of adrenaline and noradrenaline from the adrenal glands, and normal metabolism.

The key to reducing the feeling of anxiety is here: the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems cannot be functioning at the same time. Different breathing and relaxation techniques can help you turn off the first and activate the second.

The feeling of anxiety has a clear biological and physical basis.  In order to be able to respond to the threat it experiences, the body prepares for what might happen. We are aware, on the other hand, that the real threat or danger is not what triggers the chemical processes associated with a feeling of anxiety, but only requires a person’s sense of a potential threat or danger.

Experiencing anxiety is not a bad thing in itself. The physical mechanisms of the body that elicit a response to a stressful situation in the body are normal and in some situations even necessary. The feeling of anxiety only becomes a problem when you feel everything is a threat to you, whether it is so in reality or not. 

In that case, the body is constantly preparing for something that is not going to happen. It’s like putting your foot on the accelerator when the car’s gear is in neutral – you’re consuming all your energy for no real reason.