Healing Anxiety and Managing the Nervous System

Trauma + the Nervous System

Trauma is a difficult experience, but it can be managed. In this blog post I will discuss how to better understand trauma responses and provide you with steps for managing anxiety. I’ll also talk about how the nervous system works and what you can do to help regulate it.

The nervous system is what connects your brain and spinal cord to the rest of your body. It's made up of nerves, which are like wires that carry messages from one place to another. These messages can be either electrical or chemical, depending on where they travel in the body and they help you navigate your world and your relationships.

Several hormones and neurotransmitters are released in response to stress, including cortisol, adrenaline (epinephrine), dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin. These chemicals help you manage your response to stressful situations by telling you if a situation is dangerous or not and help you determine what your response will be. They regulate blood pressure, breathing, digestion, and other processes.

Your nervous system help you assess whether you feel:

• Safe

• In danger

• Life threatened

However, when you chronically feel in danger or that your life is being threatened, you’ll have a difficult time turning off your stress response and your nervous system remains overactive.

This is the basis of polyvagal theory.

Understanding the main parts of your nervous system in the context of polyvagal theory will help you understand your trauma responses. Let's start by identifying the three main states:

Ventral Vagal

This state essentially lets you know that you are "safe and social." In this state, you are able to relax, interact, and connect with others in your environment. You’ll also tend to feel safer inside your own body when in this state. You’ll be more open to feedback and welcome nuance in life.

Sympathetic Nervous System

The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) gives you a kick of panicky energy to help you survive something in your environment that feels dangerous. Your heart races, your breathing increases, or you might begin to sweat. This burst of energy is meant to help fight off of flee from the threat you detected.

Dorsal Vagal

This state is a collapsed state and happens when you are just trying to survive something that you’ve detected in your environment to be life threatening. You might feel dissociative, tired, disconnected, and have a difficult time engaging in anything meaningful. This is a freeze response.

When trauma happens, it can lead to you developing an overactive sympathetic nervous system or dorsal vagal state. This means that you are either chronically panicky and stressed or shut down and disconnected (or sometimes both!).

Managing Your Nervous System.

One of the most important things you can do for yourself is be mindful and aware. Notice how your body feels in different moments. Think about which state it's in and what events are happening that may be contributing to your current state.

For example:

• My heart races when I walk near traffic or hear a noise outside.

• I feel anxious waiting for someone to text me.

• I crave sugar whenever I’m talking to someone.

These are all situations that can help you understand your current state.

Anxiety can be managed by regulating your nervous system, which is easier said than done! There are many ways you can do this depending on what's going on in your life and where you feel the most reactivity including:

• Gentle movement

• Getting enough sleep

• Meditating

• Journaling

• Connecting to your inner wisdom

Learning how my nervous system was responding in different moments of the day (and what those responses were telling me), helped me make choices that would help regulate anxiety rather than let it rule over my life. This has been one of the most empowering things for me to learn. Here is something you can try this week to get started on regulating your nervous system.

Empowering steps for learning more about your nervous system:

1. Set a timer for 4 different times throughout the day.

2. When the timer goes off, identify which nervous system state you are currently in.

3. Identify the symptoms that help you know which state you are in.

4. Find one thing that feels good in that moment.

   • Gentle movement

   • Deep breath

   • Sweating

   • Focusing on the smell of your coffee/tea

   • Eating a slow meal

      

It is difficult at first to catch ourselves in these overactive nervous system states, and it’s totally normal to find yourself in these states from time to time, but with a little practice you can learn to regulate yourself in healthy ways and return to that “safe and social” state we strive for.

Survivors: If you are looking through this list of coping strategies and thinking "Oh, I need more of that!", then we have some options for you. We suggest you start with our Regulated: Nervous System Masterclass for a more thorough overview of the nervous system and what you can do to feel grounded again (hint: it takes some time and work, but it can be done). If you're ready for even more education and understanding of trauma and the nervous system in the aftermath of religious trauma, then we suggest our curated education for survivors, A Year of Non-Magical Thinking. Both are great options to get you started in your recovery!

Therapists: If you are currently helping religious trauma survivors or you want to grow a caseload with more religious trauma, then we suggest joining our curated education and consultation membership, A Year of Non-Magical Thinking for Therapists. We teach you so much about religious trauma and cult dynamics and help you feel more competent in your expertise! Join us today.