How the Parasympathetic Nervous System Influences Your Mental Health

By Kendra Cherry, May 6, 2025

“While the sympathetic system helps you deal with things and get stuff done, the parasympathetic system helps you rest, heal, digest, and recover,” explains psychiatrist Alex Dimitriu, MD. It’s the sympathetic system that kicks into gear when you are faced with some type of stressor or threat and prepares you to either fight, flee, or freeze. When activated, this system elevates your heart rate, floods your body with stress hormones, and slows digestion so you’re ready to act fast.

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