Stuck in Fight or Flight: Rethinking Chronic Stress and the Nervous System with Dr. Kevin Butterfield
Chronic neck tension. Poor sleep. Heightened pain sensitivity. Fatigue. Difficulty recovering. A patient who always seems to be âon.âWe often approach these as separate clinical problemsâbut what if theyâre connected by something happening further upstream?
In this episode of the FAKTR Podcast, Dr. Kevin Butterfield and Seth Kaelin of Hippocampus Labs, a member of the FAKTR Podcast Network, explore what can happen when the nervous system has difficulty shifting out of a persistent stress response and why understanding the relationship between the brain, autonomic nervous system, and body may offer clinicians another perspective on patients who seem to plateau despite appropriate care.
Building on our recent conversations around brain function and neurofeedback, this episode shifts the focus away from athletic performance and toward chronic stress and nervous-system regulation.
Key Themes in Todayâs Episode:
How persistent sympathetic activation may contribute to muscle guarding, tension, sleep disruption, and increased pain sensitivity
Why chronic stress can become a self-perpetuating brain-body feedback loop
How the alarm, resistance, and exhaustion stages of the General Adaptation Syndrome relate to chronic stress
How the HPA axis and limbic system participate in the body's response to perceived threat
How autonomic states influence our ability to move between activation, recovery, and social engagement
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This episode is sponsored by Genetic Lifespan.
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