What is the scientific explanation as to why you can “feel your chest and stomach tighten” when your feelings are hurt?
In: Biology
You know when you fill your car tires with air and they get harder? Or when a balloon gets old it’s a lot easier to poke your finger into it.
When you have a stress response, your body releases chemicals into your bloodstream. These increase your blood pressure which makes your blood vessels just a bit “stiffer” like a filled balloons/tires and you can feel that. You can also probably feel yourself getting warmer for similar reasons. Your stomach and nearby organs are part of a nerve system responsible for digesting the food you eat, and these power down and divert blood flow to other places when this happens – so you feel it most in those places.
The purpose is from olden times when the stress would come from a lion roaring at you, and you needed the extra energy/pressure to be able to respond quickly and run faster (or fight better if you couldn’t run). Now when it happens because someone was calling you names, it is just a feeling.
If it happens too often or for too long, it can be damaging. (Imagine poking a balloon until it gets a tear.) If you’re going through a rough emotional time, it can be very helpful for your body if you take some time a few times a week to go for walks, runs, or pick up a sport or something to clear out this extra energy.
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