The Autonomic Nervous System influences the function of internal organs — a control system that acts largely unconsciously regulating bodily functions such as heart rate, digestion, respiratory rate, urination and sexual arousal. It is also the primary mechanism in charge of the fight-or-flight response (the stress response).
If the Autonomic Nervous System gets stuck in Sympathetic overdrive it can lead to a litany of symptoms such as: Migraines, TMJ, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Tachycardia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Anxiety, Hypertension, Reproductive Dysfunction, Fibromyalgia and more.
Please see below for more information on how the Autonomic Nervous System can become dysregulated and cause these symptoms:
The body has become accustomed to such an ongoing cycle of intense stress that it does not shift back unconsciously to the parasympathetic nervous system.
A person suffering with chronic stress is in a constant state of fight-or-flight mode, where some or all of their autonomic functions are shut down, eventually leading to or triggering the many painful and debilitating aforementioned issues with the body.
All of these symptoms — that are the actual functions of the Sympathetic Nervous System — can eventually be prevented if one can shift out of Sympathetic overdrive into Parasympathetic and eventually reset Autonomic Balance (or homeostasis) and experience normal functions again.