Don't Let Life Get You Down: Anxiety and Depression
- Dr. Joshua Beaudry
- Mar 3
- 3 min read
Have you ever woken up feeling tired even though the day hasn’t started yet?
Many people assume this means something is wrong with them. In reality, it often reflects a pattern of stress and overuse of energy in the nervous system.
Anxiety and depression are not character flaws. They are signals from the brain and body.
The brain learns patterns to protect you. When it detects danger or overwhelm, it can shift into a protective state known as fight-or-flight. Over time, the brain can learn to stay in this state even when the original threat is gone.
How the Brain Learns Anxiety and Depression
The brain constantly learns from experiences. When a stressful or traumatic event occurs, the brain records everything happening at that moment.
Triggers can include:
Smells
Sounds
Visual cues
Foods
Emotions that were present during the event
Later, encountering one of these triggers can cause the brain to activate the same protective response.
This means anxiety or depression may appear even when the original stressor is no longer present.
Brain Dominance and Emotional Patterns
Anxiety and depression can also appear differently depending on which side of the brain is dominant.
Left-brain dominant individuals, more commonly males, tend to experience:
Anxiety when there is excessive beta activity on the left frontal side of the brain
Depression when there is excessive alpha or theta activity on the left frontal side
Right-brain dominant individuals, more commonly females, often experience the opposite pattern.
Excess beta activity on the right frontal side can lead to depression
Excess alpha or theta activity on the right frontal side can lead to anxiety
This shows that anxiety and depression are not simply about thinking about the future or the past. They are more related to how the brain processes stress and interprets the environment.
The Brain and Body Are Constantly Communicating
Thoughts influence the body, and the body influences the brain.
For example, thinking about a traumatic experience can trigger a stress response in the body. The body then recreates the same physiological reaction that occurred during the original event.
At the same time, physical stress in the body can trigger anxiety or depression in the mind.
Blood sugar is a common example. When blood sugar rises too high, the body activates the stress response to bring it back down. This can create feelings of anxiety. When blood sugar drops too low, the body releases cortisol to raise it, which also activates the stress response.
For most people, healthy blood sugar should stay between 85 and 100.
When levels move outside that range, anxiety or mood changes can appear.
Hidden Triggers That Can Affect Mood
Many physical stressors can influence anxiety and depression, including:
Food sensitivities
Environmental toxins such as smoke or alcohol
Lack of sleep
Chronic inflammation
Shallow breathing
Lack of movement
Food sensitivities can be especially surprising. Some people react to foods that seem harmless, such as tomatoes, carrots, or potatoes. When the immune system interprets these foods as threats, it activates the fight-or-flight response to defend the body. This immune response can trigger anxiety or depression symptoms.
How to Support the Brain and Nervous System
Improving anxiety and depression often involves helping the body regulate its stress response.
Some helpful strategies include:
Morning sunlight to support serotonin production.
Movement and exercise to regulate the nervous system.
Breathing exercises where the inhale is half the length of the exhale.
Balanced nutrition to stabilize blood sugar.
Monitoring blood sugar levels when needed.
Community and connection: Isolation can significantly worsen depression, while meaningful connection helps regulate the nervous system.
Understanding the Impact of Major Stress Events
Sometimes major medical events can trigger long-term health problems.
One patient, Joe, experienced chronic low back pain. He tried multiple treatments and eventually underwent back surgery. The surgery placed a significant physical, emotional, and chemical stress on his body.
Three months later, he developed an autoimmune condition.
While surgery can be necessary in some situations, the goal is always to help people restore balance in the body before problems escalate to that level.
The Body Is Designed to Heal
The human body is intelligent. It constantly works to protect and heal itself.
When the body is stuck in a chronic stress response, healing becomes much more difficult.
But when we help regulate the nervous system, stabilize the environment inside the body, and remove major stressors, the body often begins to recover.
The same power that created the body also has the ability to heal it.
Sometimes the body simply needs the right support to move out of survival mode and back into balance.
Life Springs Family Chiropractic – Denver, CO
Call/Text:Â (303) 770-0605
Website:Â lifespringsfamilychiropractic.com