Anxiety and depression are common conditions in today’s world. You probably know one or more people who deal with anxiety or depression (or both!) on a daily basis. You might even be the one navigating your everyday life while dealing with depression or anxiety–possibly both. According to the World Health Organization, 1 in 13 people suffer from anxiety, and half of those are also diagnosed with depression. There are many different resources available to those suffering from these mental illnesses. Many people find chiropractic care to be an excellent resource for anyone diagnosed with anxiety or depression.
Book Your Anxiety & Depression Consultation
Exam includes in-depth whole-body analysis with provider, posture pictures and insight nervous system scans (provided if necessary). Consultation & plan of action will help you understand your care options.
Anxiety is an intense, excessive, and even persistent worry or fear about everyday situations. When a person is experiencing anxiety, they may have an increased heart rate, rapid breathing, sweating, or even tiredness. Stress is your body’s reaction to a demand or challenge. Stress can cause emotional or physical tension and can intensify feelings of anxiety.
Our body deals with stress through the nervous system. The nervous system consists of the brain, spinal cord, and all the nerves within the body. The nervous system consists of two separate parts: the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. Both parts work together to control the organs, tissues, and functions of the body, but the two parts have opposite roles. These two systems work to keep your body in balance.
Your sympathetic nervous system carries signals that put your body’s systems on alert.
Your parasympathetic nervous system carries signals that relax your body’s systems.
Chronic stress over activates your sympathetic nervous system. While in control, it doesn’t allow your body to rest and digest as it should. One way this can happen is if there is a miscommunication between your brain and the impulses that promote sympathetic responses. When your sympathetic nervous system remains dominant, your body functions in fight-or-flight mode longer than is healthy to maintain balance in the body. Anxiety is one of the things a person might experience when stuck in a sympathetic nervous system response for too long.
How Our Anxiety & Depression Care Plan Works
1. Be Heard
And Understood
Quality time with a health professional, so you can be truly heard and understood, isn’t all that common. We understand that. This is why, on your first visit, you will meet with one of our doctors and share your health concerns and struggles so we can understand exactly why you are here and what you want to achieve. The doctor will determine what testing is necessary to find the source of your health concerns and answer the biggest question of all: Can Chiropractic Care Help?
2. Discover How We Can Help You
Every new patient should feel like they are making the right decision for their health. This is why our doctors explain what they are looking for in the testing, so our patients know exactly what is going on, instead of just being a bystander. We will share everything we discover from your testing and exams, including if we can help you. In the unfortunate event that we cannot help, our doctors will provide any additional resources they feel would be appropriate to assist you.
3. Achieve Your Health Goals Together
Whether you just want to be out of pain, or you want to get back to golfing without limitations, or you are desperate to get a restful night’s sleep, we will be with you every step of the way. We’ll achieve your goals
The Benefits of Chiropractic Care For Anxiety & Depression in West Omaha, NE
All-Natural Approach Without Side Effects
Conventional treatment for anxiety and depression usually involves the prescription of an antidepressant medication called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). These medications increase the levels of serotonin in the brain, which can reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. Some possible side effects of these medications include increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, dizziness, or even increased anxiety and stress. Alternatively, chiropractic adjustments remove nerve interference and enhance the body’s innate ability to heal and regulate itself. Patients with anxiety and depression who choose chiropractic care to help manage their symptoms report only minor side effects like mild soreness following a chiropractic adjustment.
Lowers Blood Pressure
High blood pressure damages blood vessel walls. The more blood pressure goes unregulated, the more damage can occur, which can result in serious medical conditions like heart attacks and strokes. Blood pressure and stress have a direct relationship. As stress increases, blood pressure will rise. Chiropractic care can lower blood pressure by allowing the body to regulate the Endocrine system properly. Chiropractic adjustments can also release tension and stress.
Promotes Better Sleep
Sleep is so important because our bodies love being in rhythm. A good sleep routine promoting proper sleep cycles allows the body to relax and recharge for the day. Getting good quality rest every night improves energy levels, mood, and overall focus, allowing the body to be better equipped to manage life’s everyday stressors. Routine chiropractic care releases tension in joints and muscles, allowing the body to feel more relaxed, leading to healthier sleep habits, and improving sleep quality.
Hormone Regulation
Chiropractic adjustments remove interference from the nervous system, allowing the Endocrine system (the glands and organs that make and release hormones) to function optimally. Hormones released to help regulate stress and anxiety levels are what we call happy hormones: Cortisol, Oxytocin, and Neurotensin.
Cortisol: Released from the body’s adrenal gland, cortisol prepares the body to handle stressful situations as part of its fight-or-flight response.
Oxytocin: Known as the “love hormone,” oxytocin helps you relate, understand, and connect with others’ feelings.
Neurotensin: Modifies the discomforts of stress by regulating pain, body temperature, appetite, as well as learning and memory.
Relieves Muscle Tension
Muscle tension manifests itself in many different ways. When muscles are contracted for extended periods, “muscle knots” may begin to form and cause discomfort. Muscle tension can happen to any muscle in the body. The most common areas of muscle tension due to stress are the muscles of the neck and upper back.
Stress and anxiety can cause muscle tension just as muscle tension can cause stress and anxiety. Being in any discomfort can be mentally taxing, increasing stress levels. Conversely, having high levels of stress and anxiety will create more tension in muscles. By correcting subluxation and removing interference from the nervous system, chiropractic care relaxes the body by decreasing muscle tension.
Gonstead Technique Chiropractic Adjustments
The doctors in our office are all trained in the Gonstead Technique, the most precise chiropractic method utilized to detect and correct subluxations. Once a person becomes a patient in our office, they will receive a sequence of adjustments designed by the doctor to address their unique subluxation patterns. With the goal of subluxation correction, our office looks to help alleviate aches and pains AND improve overall function within the nervous system. In addition to chiropractic adjustments, patients will have access to postural, exercise, and nutritional consultations to tackle their specific immunity concerns.
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How a Spinal Misalignment May Result in Anxiety and Depression in West Omaha, NE
Correcting Subluxations
The nervous system is the body’s master control system. Think of it as the motherboard of your mind and body. The brain constantly communicates with all tissues, glands, organs, and systems in the body via nerves, allowing your body to function optimally. Chiropractic care has been proven to heal the nervous system and change the processing of the prefrontal cortex, which is the area of the brain responsible for regulating emotions.
Subluxation is a misalignment of one or more spinal bones that interferes with the communication between the brain and tissues of the body. If the communication between the brain and the Endocrine System (glands and organs that produce hormones) is altered, the regulation of those hormones will also be altered.
Correcting misalignments (subluxation) restores proper communication between the brain and Endocrine system, restoring proper hormone regulation. This is why chiropractic patients often feel relaxed and less stressed after adjustments.
Frequently Asked Questions
What part of your spine controls anxiety?
The spine and the brain work together to run the functions in the body. The brain’s cerebellum, located at the base of the skull, contributes to emotions, limbic centers, and a person’s thought processes. If any part of the spine is misaligned, it could interfere with communication back to the brain, impacting the cerebellum’s function.
Can going to a chiropractor help with anxiety?
Many patients have reported a decrease in anxiety when seeing a chiropractor. When a chiropractor corrects subluxation, it removes the obstruction or interference in the body’s communication system, reducing or even resolving anxiety.
Can going to a chiropractor help with depression?
Chiropractic adjustments can help remove interference that is affecting communication with the endocrine system. This can result in the regulation of positive hormones like oxytocin and cortisol. Case studies show that chiropractic has a great impact on the resolution of depression.
Is it normal to cry after a chiropractic adjustment?
When subluxations exist in the spine, they trap communication within the nervous system. Chiropractic adjustments remove that interference and allow the nerve pulses to be released. As a result, sometimes people respond by crying as a release of emotions that have been “bottled up.”
Book Your Anxiety & Depression Consultation
Exam includes in-depth whole-body analysis with provider, posture pictures and insight nervous system scans (provided if necessary). Consultation & plan of action will help you understand your care options.