You might have heard people talking about their nervous system being “overloaded” or “dysregulated” when they’re going through periods of heightened stress.

Or perhaps you’ve been offered ways to “heal” or “reset” your nervous system on social media or at expensive wellness retreats.

But how does the nervous system actually work? And can it be overloaded and reset?

What does the nervous system do?

The autonomic nervous system influences bodily functions that aren’t in our conscious control, such as the workings of our organ systems, body temperature regulation and emotions. It’s organised into two separate branches: sympathetic and parasympathetic.

The sympathetic nervous system helps us deal with stressful situations, activating our survival responses of fight, flight, freeze and fawn.

The parasympathetic nervous system has an opposite role, bringing our automatic responses back to normal functioning after activation due to stress.

While we have evolved to be able to respond well to immediate threats, our stress-response system is terrible at helping us deal with the chronic stressors of modern life: heavy workloads, financial stress or the long-term pressures of fitting caring responsibilities into already busy lives.

“Nervous system overload” isn’t clearly defined but usually refers to the bodily effects of stress when we feel beyond our ability to cope. This might happen when........

© The Conversation