How does stress cause symptoms associated with your lungs and cardiovascular system?

If the symptoms you seem to be experiencing are associated with over stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system, or SNS (the part sensitive to adrenalin) it will manifested in the following ways:

• High blood pressure

• Pounding heart or palpitations

• Breathing difficulties

• Chest pain

• Sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach

• Dizziness, or a “spaced out” feeling

• Migraine headaches

• Excessive sweating

It is hard to ignore these symptoms.  Under normal conditions the SNS and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) work together to regulate the body. The SNS regulates your blood pressure by controlling your heart rate and the contractions of your blood vessels. In normal circumstances, the SNS exerts its effect on the body by secreting small amounts of a neurotransmitter, called noradrenaline, directly onto the organs it is stimulating, getting a precise response that passes quickly.

Under stress conditions, additional noradrenaline and adrenaline is secreted into the entire bloodstream. This causes the whole body to react, not just a single organ. Often, this is experienced as an anxiety episode or as a severe panic attack that takes longer to subside.

If your original stress trigger was through a traffic accident, a personal assault or a home invasion, reminders of these may bring back your symptoms. Other social events, such as job loss, relationship break-up or family disputes, can also trigger physical anxiety symptoms.

In order to avoid these reminders or situations, humans tend to have internal “catastrophising thoughts”, in anticipation of dreaded events. We have a great capacity to worry about “what ifs.”  Focusing on this imaginary future situation can create a sympathetic nervous system over-response that leads to such stress symptoms.