STRESS (Fight, flight, flee, faint) It is all in the spine.

 The sympathetic chain of the nervous system is part of what we call the autonomic system.  Think of it as an 'automatic' preset of how you relate to the world and your thoughts.   The sympathetic chain as it is called is a set of nerves all connected together on the sides of the front of the spinal column from the base of the neck (at the first thoracic segment) down to about the first of the lumbar segments (L1).  To find that area on yourself, put your hand behind your back and have your pinky finger touch where your belt would sit then spread out your hand.  Where your thumb comes to rest is about L1...  

In chiropractic and osteopathy it is common to do mobilizations of that entire area which can stimulate the sympathetics to act a little more normally.  When they are over toned or too tense they do not work as they should.  More about that later. 

The sympathetic system has a couple different connections that use acetylcholine to send information.  Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter released by nerve endings to either glands or ganglions (ganglions are collection of nerve cell bodies which attach to other nerves.).  Generally the release of acetylcholine at the connections to the ganglions will stimulate the release of norepinephrine (another neurotransmitter that can also act as a hormone).  This will cause constriction of blood vessels, glands to secrete, and the heart muscle to increase force and speed of beats.  

The sympathetic system, when active and effective is essential for survival. When we find ourselves in a life threatening scenario we release norepinephrine and epinephrine and go into stress mode.  This helps us to be ready to run from danger (flee), act for our protection (fight), be still to not be noticed (freeze) or go limp (faint).  Each has a place of use in different situations.  For example, in the Boston Marathon bombing of 2013, you can see the different reactions of the victims.  It was an event that was highly filmed and many cameras were facing the explosion and aftermath.  If you watch the video there are some that momentarily freeze, some faint (even those not struck by debris) some run away (flee) and some run towards the incident (fight)... These people had a huge diversity of training and mindsets at the time of the bombing but they reacted based on their nervous systems' settings.  Now, some initially froze then ran away or towards etc, that is also a part of this system.  No one of the presets is the only reaction you may have.  One can bounce through all of them in a matter of minutes and if hard set in the system will lead to post trauma stress.  (PTSD).   That is for a later discussion where we will discuss ways to reset and rehabilitate the system to a more normal range.  

Generally it has been understood that the sympathetic system is short lived.  It will be active during and for a short time after an incident that causes the stress.  We all understand that this is too simplistic.  Stress of an event may be short lived, but the body and nervous system is in a hightened state of awareness for a long time after the problem has passed.  If it lasts more than a couple weeks it is PTSD and other such neurological maladies.