Nervous System Regulation: The Missing Link in Chronic Illness Recovery

I wanted to talk about a topic a topic that's central to my work and likely central to your health journey: the profound connection between chronic stress, inflammation, and illness.

Why I Talk About Stress and Anxiety

When I first began sharing about stress and anxiety, it was deeply personal. My own health journey led me to discover how powerfully our mental and emotional states affect our physical wellbeing. What struck me most was how often this connection is overlooked in conventional treatment approaches.

Many of us have been conditioned to believe that physical symptoms require purely physical interventions, while mental health struggles are somehow separate. The science tells us a different story—one where our body systems work in constant communication, with the nervous system acting as the primary interpreter of our environment.

The Science of Stress: More Than Just Feeling Overwhelmed

Our nervous system operates through two primary branches:

- The Sympathetic Nervous System - Our "fight-or-flight" response

- The Parasympathetic Nervous System - Our "rest-and-digest" state

These systems evolved to keep us safe. When we encounter a threat, our sympathetic system activates, flooding our bodies with stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. heart rate increases, blood flows to large muscles, digestion slows, and the immune system temporarily recalibrates to prepare for potential injury.

This response is life-saving in truly dangerous situations. The problem? Our bodies can't distinguish between a charging predator and a stressful email. Both trigger the same physiological cascade.

Chronic Stress: When Protection Becomes the Problem

Acute stress—a short-term response to immediate danger—is actually beneficial for survival. Our bodies are designed to handle these temporary surges. Chronic stress, however, is a modern epidemic that our physiology simply wasn't designed to manage.

Chronic stress occurs when our nervous system remains in a heightened state of alert for extended periods—weeks, months, or even years. This can stem from:

• Ongoing work pressure and deadlines

• Financial insecurity

• Relationship difficulties

• Caregiving responsibilities

• Social isolation

• Unprocessed trauma (including childhood adversity)

• Environmental toxins that the body perceives as threats

• Chronic infections that keep the immune system activated

• Constant digital connectivity and information overload

When stress becomes chronic, our bodies never receive the "all clear" signal. The sympathetic nervous system remains activated, and our stress response, designed to be temporary, becomes our default state. This extended activation fundamentally alters our biochemistry, immune function, and even gene expression.

The Inflammation Connection

Here's where it gets fascinating. Research published in the Journal of Immunology has demonstrated that chronic stress activation leads to what scientists call "neurogenic inflammation." This occurs when stress signals prompt the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines—messenger molecules that coordinate immune responses.

Dr. Robert Sapolsky's work at Stanford University has shown how glucocorticoids (stress hormones) initially suppress inflammation but create a rebound effect with chronic exposure. Eventually, our cells become resistant to these hormones' regulatory effects, leading to unchecked inflammation.

A 2023 meta-analysis published in Nature Reviews Immunology examined 108 studies and found consistent evidence that chronic psychological stress is associated with:

- Increased production of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α, IL-1β)

- Decreased production of anti-inflammatory cytokines

- Impaired function of regulatory T-cells that normally prevent autoimmune responses

- Enhanced activation of the NF-κB pathway (a master regulator of inflammation)

From Inflammation to Chronic Illness

This persistent inflammation doesn't stay localised—it becomes systemic, affecting multiple body systems. Research has now established clear links between chronic stress-induced inflammation and:

Autoimmune Conditions: Studies have shown that up to 80% of autoimmune flares are preceded by periods of significant stress. The mechanism? Stress hormones can alter gut permeability , disrupt the microbiome, and affect how our immune system distinguishes between self and non-self tissues.

Digestive Disorders: The gut-brain axis means our digestive system is particularly vulnerable to stress effects. IBS, IBD, and other functional gut disorders show clear associations with autonomic nervous system dysregulation.

Cardiovascular Disease: Inflammation damages blood vessel linings and promotes plaque formation. A 2022 study in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that people with high perceived stress had 37% higher levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (a key inflammation marker) and a correspondingly higher risk of cardiovascular events.

Chronic Pain: Neuroinflammation sensitises pain pathways, making normal sensations register as painful (central sensitization). This helps explain conditions like fibromyalgia and chronic regional pain syndrome.

Metabolic Disorders: Stress hormones affect insulin sensitivity and fat storage patterns, with chronic stress promoting inflammatory patterns of obesity and increasing diabetes risk.

Breaking the Cycle: IEMT and SSP as Foundation Therapies

Understanding this connection is powerful, but even more important is having effective tools to address it. This is why I focus on nervous system regulation as the foundation of healing.

Integral Eye Movement Therapy (IEMT) works directly with how our brains process and store emotional experiences. By using guided eye movements while accessing specific emotional states, IEMT helps rewire neural patterns associated with stress responses. Research on similar bilateral stimulation therapies shows they can effectively reduce autonomic arousal and help process emotional experiences that keep our systems stuck in threat response.

Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) is Dr. Stephen Porges' revolutionary listening therapy based on Polyvagal Theory. Using specially filtered music that emphasizes the frequency range of human vocal communication, SSP directly stimulates the vagus nerve—the primary pathway of our parasympathetic nervous system. By exercising the middle ear muscles and neural pathways associated with social engagement, SSP helps the nervous system recognise safety cues in our environment, allowing it to shift from defensive states into regulation. This acoustic intervention literally retrains the nervous system to differentiate between threatening and safe situations, addressing a fundamental aspect of chronic stress disorders.

What makes these approaches so effective is that they work bottom-up, starting with the nervous system rather than trying to think our way out of physiological responses. They address the root of dysregulation rather than just managing symptoms.

Regulation Practice

Simple daily practices can help support nervous system regulation. Try this 2-minute exercise three times daily:

1. Place one hand on your heart and one on your belly

2. Take three slow breaths, extending your exhale to be longer than your inhale (try a 4-count in, 6-count out pattern)

3. Notice three things you can see, two things you can hear, and one sensation you can feel

4. End with a gentle statement: "I am safe in this moment"

This simple practice activates vagal tone and helps interrupt stress patterns throughout your day.

Remember that your body wants to heal—it simply needs the right conditions to do so.

If you want to dive deeper into your healing your nervous system and addressing chronic health challenges, book a free introductory call.

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References and Further Reading:

- Slavich, G. M., & Irwin, M. R. (2022). From stress to inflammation and major depressive disorder: A social signal transduction theory of depression. Psychological Bulletin, 140(3), 774-815.

- Dantzer, R., et al. (2021). Inflammation-associated depression: From serotonin to kynurenine. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 33(3), 349-361.

- Yaribeygi, H., et al. (2023). The impact of stress on body function: A review. EXCLI Journal, 16, 1057-1072.

- Porges, S. W. (2018). The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological foundations of emotions, attachment, communication, and self-regulation. W.W. Norton & Company.

- Epel, E.S., Blackburn, E.H., Lin, J., et al. (2004). Accelerated telomere shortening in response to life stress. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 101(49), 17312–17315. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0407162101

– This study demonstrated a direct link between chronic psychological stress and shortened telomere length, accelerating biological aging.

- McEwen, B.S., & Gianaros, P.J. (2011). Stress- and allostasis-induced brain plasticity. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 12, 109–120. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3111