A panic attack feels overwhelmingly psychological in the moment. The racing heart, the shortness of breath, the sense of dread. It is easy to conclude that the problem is entirely in the mind. The research tells a more complex story, and for people who experience recurring panic attacks alongside chronic physical tension, that complexity matters.
The Nervous System at the Centre
Panic attacks are the result of a nervous system that has entered a state of extreme activation. The sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system, responsible for the fight-or-flight response, fires intensely and the body responds accordingly: heart rate increases, breathing shallows, muscles contract, and the perceptual field narrows. These are physiological events, not purely psychological ones.
What makes recurring panic attacks particularly difficult to resolve is that the nervous system, once it has made this response, becomes more likely to make it again. The threshold for activation lowers. Stimuli that would previously have been processed without incident begin to trigger the response. The body is primed.
For people who also carry chronic physical tension, particularly in the chest, neck, and upper back, this priming has an additional physiological substrate. Stored tension in the thoracic region can impair the depth and ease of breathing, keep the diaphragm in a partial state of contraction, and maintain a baseline level of physiological arousal that makes the nervous system more susceptible to tipping into panic.
The Relationship Between Stored Tension and Anxiety
The nervous system does not clearly separate emotional and physical stress. Both are processed through the same regulatory systems, and both can leave stored tension in the body’s tissues. A sustained period of emotional overload can produce the same pattern of held tension in the musculoskeletal system as a physical injury. That tension then feeds back into the nervous system’s overall activation level.
This creates a loop. Anxiety produces tension. Tension maintains arousal. Elevated arousal lowers the threshold for further anxiety. Breaking the loop requires addressing both dimensions.
How Body Stress Release Contributes
Body Stress Release addresses the physiological component of this loop by identifying and releasing stored tension in the nervous system. Peter van Minnen assesses the thoracic spine, diaphragm area, and cervical region, which are commonly implicated in anxiety-related physical tension, and applies light, precise input to prompt a release.
As the stored physical tension reduces, the baseline level of nervous system arousal often reduces with it. Breathing tends to deepen and become more regular. The sense of physical constriction that accompanies chronic anxiety begins to ease.
BSR addresses the body’s contribution to the anxiety cycle. For the psychological dimension, counselling and psychotherapy provides the appropriate support, and at Hever Health we work across both disciplines to address the full picture.
The wider connection between emotional stress and its physical expression in the body is explored in our article on the physical cost of emotional stress.
If you experience panic attacks alongside persistent physical tension, contact us to explore how Body Stress Release at Hever Health can address the physiological component.