Have you ever heard of flight, fight, or freeze?
During times of crisis, chaos, and traumatic experiences, we enter “survival mode.” You might have heard this phrase before, but what does it mean? When we experience stressful events, our brains begin to function differently. Before we go any further, it is essential to mention that these experiences can be real-life or perceived threats to our safety; our brain does not always differentiate between them. It just reacts. Survival mode involves adaptive physiological changes in our body that help us respond to the stressors we face. For example, when we experience stress, hormonal changes and physiological responses occur in our bodies, allowing us to respond by preparing them to fight, flight, or freeze. When we are "surviving" too long, we can feel its effects on us. Research shows that chronic stress and exposure to stress hormones can be harmful. At times, our body may overreact to stressors that we experience. Survival mode is different for everyone. It’s ok if all you did today was breathe and just make it through the day. However, I feel a difference between getting stuck in maladaptive patterns and survival mode serving a purpose. For me, survival mode no longer serves a purpose. But, it still very much lingers, and I do not blame the human in me —I feel survival mode is what aided in evolving me into how I am today. When I switch to survival mode, it can feel like this:
Here’s the good news: there is hope for change. First and foremost, if you or anyone you know are experiencing these symptoms and they are interfering with your daily functioning, talk to a mental health professional. The experiences of trauma do not have to impact how we live in the world forever, but you do have to address it. Trauma is hard and scary to discuss, but you are not alone in your healing process. A few practices I’ve adopted to practice self-kindness and recover from survival mode: #1 Create space for backlogged emotions. Often during times of high stress, your brain sorts overwhelming emotions to the side to support daily functioning. When the crisis ends, you may experience large waves of emotional turmoil. Let yourself feel without judgment. Your emotions don’t need to be rational. They simply need pathways to escape your body to complete the release of stress. Let yourself cry, create, be an athlete, journal, go to therapy, vent to a friend, and punch a punching bag. Releasing emotion provides a pathway for your body to return to a normal state. #2 Create space for rest. Often during a crisis, rest falls off the priority list. When the problem ends, you may find yourself physically and mentally exhausted. You may feel forgetful, confused, tired, or irritable. Take naps, prioritize healthy sleep patterns, read a book for leisure, and take a weekend away. #3 Return to healthy practices. During a crisis, things like taking walks, doing yoga, deep breathing, and personal growth reading become hard to continue and often disappear entirely. When life calms, remember healthy practices that provided a life-giving foundation before the crisis. Try choosing one or two healthy practices and slowly and consistently return to them. #4 Be aware of numbing activities. Under intense stress, most people begin unhealthy coping skills to numb and avoid facing difficult emotions. Everyday numbing activities include substance abuse, eating to medicate feelings, overspending, binging shows, social media, and engaging in unhealthy relationships. Try not to judge yourself harshly when you identify numbing. Instead, show grace to yourself. You’ve been through something hard. Try acknowledging your numbing and intentionally begin substituting healthier practices and coping skills. Ask for help if your numbing has become addictive. #5 Pursue joy. When you’ve been through something hard, it’s not unusual to notice you’ve begun trying to protect yourself from joy. Joy can be as vulnerable as hurt and sadness, especially when faced with imagined or traumatic loss. Your brain might trick you into believing you will experience less pain if you avoid joy. Try telling yourself the truth that experiencing pleasure is not going to create more pain. Avoiding joy simply robs you of joy. When hard times come, the joy you allow yourself to experience is much more likely to bring comfort than to intensify the pain. Remember to be kind and patient with yourself. Harsh words and self-criticism are unproductive and feed depression, anxiety, and discontent. Your body and mind will sync up with your life circumstances with care and intentional practice. Know you aren’t alone; survival mode recovery is a natural part of the human experience. Also, be on the lookout for increased insight from suffering that may surface as you recover. You may also find you have more profound compassion for others going through what you’ve recently experienced. You may eventually want to channel into pouring into others as you recover from survival mode.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorI was born in 1986 in Lebanon. I'm still trying to find my passion in life and in the meantime I'm learning to navigate my bipolarity and redefining stability. Archives
February 2024
Categories
All
|