Nervous System Dysregulation
stuck in or swinging between states of hyper- or hypoarousal
Understanding the Body’s Survival System
At the center of our body’s survival system is a small almond-shaped structure deep in the limbic (emotion) center of the brain called the amygdala. The amygdala is our brain’s internal alarm system, constantly scanning for danger.
When it perceives a threat—whether to our physical or emotional safety and whether real or remembered—it sounds the alarm, triggering a cascade of neurobiological changes. Stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline flood the system, heart rate increases, muscles tense, attention narrows, and activation in the parts of our brain responsible for analytical thinking, verbal language, and consolidating xplicit long-term memory shut down.
All these neurobiological reactions associated with perceived threat are evolutionarily designed to protect us through physiologically preparing us to defend against the threat by engaging in either mobilizing or immobilizing defense strategies .
Mobilizing
— FIGHT —
to defend against or confront the threat
— FLEE —
to escape the threat through action or distraction
Immobilizing
— FREEZE —
to shut down, numb out, and dissociate from threat and harm that can’t be stopped or escaped
— FAWN —
to disconnect from one’s own needs and appease others to prevent abandonment, rejection, or retaliation
These responses are biological, instinctive, and automatic - designed to maximize our survival in the short-term under conditions of threat. However, while brilliantly adaptive in the short-term, if we can’t fight back or escape the threat, and if there is no one there afterwards to help us feel safe/soothed, the nervous system doesn’t complete it’s cycle. The energy gets stuck and the body holds onto the activation — stuck in a state of scanning, bracing, or shutting down — waiting for the danger to return. Even if there is cognitive understanding that the threat has passed, the body doesn’t speak the language of logic.
The bodies of traumatized people portray "snapshots" of their unsuccessful attempts to defend themselves in the face of threat and injury.
—Peter Levine
“Trauma is not what happens to us, but what we hold inside in the absence of an empathetic witness.”
Not only can we get “stuck” in an incomplete survival response after a single, acute traumatic event, but for chronic or repeated traumatic experiences — especially during early development and/or in prolonged contexts and environments where there was no one to turn to, no protection, and no way to escape (e.g. early attachment, systemic trauma) — the nervous system becomes wired for survival. What was meant as a short-term survival response to protect against immediate danger then becomes a long-term operating system dominated and self-perpetuated by an amygdala that is sensitized and hyperactive to threat stimuli, even when stimuli is safe, neutral, or ambiguous.
Often times people come to therapy struggling with the effects of a “trauma-wired nervous system” long after the traumatic events or conditions are over or many years after their survival strategies stopped being adaptive. These trauma-related neurobiological adaptions and self-protective strategies are too often misunderstood as personal failures, unhealthy coping strategies, “medically unexplained symptoms,” or co-morbid psychological disorders treated in isolation.
When we begin listening to these survival-driven patterns with compassionate curiosity instead of pathologizing or judging — we can start helping the body reclaim a felt sense of safety. And in the same way that our brilliantly adaptive neurobiology can wire its system around self-protection under conditions of chronic threat and repeated harm……
our neurobiology also has the innate intelligence and power to rewire its system for embodied presence, authentic connection, and empowered choice in our lives.
Avoid
Hyperarousal
-
When your body prepares to escape danger through action or avoidance.
Feeling chronically anxious or stressed
Panic or high anxiety states “out of the blue”
Self-destructive behaviors (self-harm, substance use, etc.) to avoid/numb feelings or to calm down.
Difficulty sitting still, relaxing, or being present
Perfectionism, compulsive organizing, overworking, or overscheduling
Avoiding important work, personal, or social-related activities due to worrying about what could go wrong
GI issues (e.g. IBS symptoms, frequent episodes of nausea, etc.)
-
When your body shuts down overwhelm
Feeling spacey, disconnected, or “not really here”
Struggling to make decisions or take action
Emotionally numb or shut down, especially during stress
Spending lots of time sleeping, scrolling, or zoning out
Feeling stuck in life but unsure why
Using substances to “upregulate”arousal (e.g. have enough energy, focus, “social battery",” etc. to go through the motions or make it through bare minimum)
Using self-harm or other forms of physical pain to “feel something:”
Experiencing comfort from intense sensory stimuli
-
When your body prepares to protect through confrontation.
Getting irritable or reactive when you feel misunderstood, judged, or trapped
Feeling the need to argue, defend, or control the situation or other person to feel safe
Intense anger that seems to come out of nowhere
Easily triggered/reactive towards authority figures
Having a strong inner critic that turns your fight response inward (e.g. “beating yourself up” either verbally or physically via self-harm, restrictive eating, compulsive exercising, etc.)
Hypoarousal
Approach
-
When your body tries to stay safe by appeasing others.
Prioritizing others’ needs at the expense of your own
Difficulty saying no or setting boundaries
Being overly accommodating to avoid conflict
Feeling like your identity depends on being liked or needed
Disconnecting from your own needs, preferences, or anger