Final answer:
Symptoms of an antagonistic response to relaxation may include agitation, anxiety, sleep problems, nausea, abnormal heart rhythms, low blood pressure, and muscular problems. These symptoms arise when the parasympathetic system is suppressed, leading to increased heart rate and blood pressure, and can be severe if prolonged stress ensues without an adequate relaxation response.
Step-by-step explanation:
The symptoms indicative of an antagonistic response to the relaxation response include a range of physiological signs. These can involve agitation, anxiety, sleep problems, nausea and vomiting, abnormal heart rhythms, low blood pressure, and muscular problems. The relaxation response typically aims to decrease sympathetic arousal, which helps in conditions like high blood pressure.
However, if an individual's parasympathetic system is suppressed, the result may be an increase in heart rate and stroke volume. This can be influenced by factors such as increased baroreceptor firing rates indicating higher blood volume or pressure, anticipation of relaxation by the limbic system, decreased release of stress hormones like epinephrine and norepinephrine by the adrenal glands, and changes in blood levels of thyroid hormones and electrolytes.
Prolonged stress without adequate relaxation response can lead to severe symptoms like depression, immune suppression, and severe fatigue, which can be mediated by hormones like cortisol.
Understanding these signs is critical in managing conditions that benefit from stress reduction techniques or in situations where a patient's response to relaxation is counterproductive, such as in cases of tetanus where muscle relaxation is inhibited due to a toxin preventing the release of GABA in the CNS.