autonomic nervous system

Your autonomic nervous system (ANS) regulates your body’s basic vital functions that we don’t usually think much about like breathing, bladder control, and heart rate. When we develop a chronic medical condition (pain or other illness), this part of your nervous system is dysregulated (out of balance), increasing your worry, sensitivity to pain and other sensations, and overreaction to everyday stressors as well as decreasing your short term memory and ability to concentrate.

The ANS is made of 2 subsystems: the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. They work together to maintain balance in your body and are more popularly known for regulating your flight-or-fight response.

sympathetic nervous system

The sympathetic nervous system is the subsystem that prepares the body for stress.

parasympathetic nervous system

The parasympathetic nervous system is the subsystem that returns the body to balance (homeostasis or relaxed state).

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