When you get news of sadness, disapointment, or something heartbreaking, why do you get that feeling like your throat is clogging up?
In: Biology
The autonomic nervous system (which deals with stress) controls the body’s fight or flight response. During a stressful situation, the ANS calls for an increased flow of oxygen to the muscles that require it. As a result, you begin to breathe faster as the glottis expands to let all the air in. But tense situations also make us swallow to hold our breath (to hold back tears). As these actions require closing the glottis, other muscles are constricted. Since different muscles are trying to open or close the glottis at the same time, the result is the sensation of ‘a lump in your throat’.
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