Antelopes rarely suffer long-term damage if they escape the pursuit of a tiger. This may be due to a wild animal's ability to complete the body’s stress cycle, so they do not get stuck in a stress response.
Humans also experience intensely stressful events, though it may not be the pursuit of a predator. Sometimes we don’t complete the body’s stress cycle and get stuck in a stress response. This impacts both our physical and emotional health.
Let’s figure out what your “tigers” are and how to get out of the stress response.
Nervous System’s Design
A mammal's nervous system is designed to go into a fight-flight-freeze response in times of danger. The heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration rate increase to get more oxygen to the muscles and brain. Muscles tense to prepare for action, eyes dilate for better vision, and digestion slows down to focus on immediate survival.
These protective responses are automatic and provide the best chance for survival, but it is important to complete the cycle. Doing so allows you to release the stress hormones in the body, allowing the nervous system to return to a balanced state.
Trauma specialist Peter Levine explains that trauma happens when the body is “unable to complete a satisfactory fight, flight, or freeze response.”
A Polar Bear’s Response
Levine describes a situation where trackers pursued and tranquilized a polar bear. The bear ran in an attempt to get away before the medicine overpowered it. Once the bear was cared for and started to regain consciousness, it began to shake intensely. Its legs thrashed while it made biting movements over its shoulder. Then it began to gasp deeply and entered a freeze state.
The event had a clear beginning and an end. After the experience, the animal established a sense of safety. Its nervous system returned to a balanced state. It did not stay in a stress response and wasn’t plagued by thoughts of worry.
What is Your Tiger?
I doubt you will be chased by a tiger or tracker on the way home from work today, but other things can cause your body to sense danger. Trouble at work, tensions at home, difficult relationships, health concerns, and financial burdens are some of the difficult situations we may face. The problem with these “tigers” is that the pursuit may not have a clear beginning or end. We can get stuck in a stress response when we don’t complete the stress response cycle.
In acutely dangerous situations, people are often prevented from defending themselves or getting away from the danger. This can prevent survivors from completing the stress response cycle, resulting in trauma being trapped in the body. New therapies are beginning to address the impact emotional trauma and the body have on each other. They can allow survivors to complete the stress response cycle and alleviate some aspects of suffering.
Completing the Cycle
Many things can prevent us from moving through the stress response cycle. Isolation and our society's insistence on "keeping our emotions in check" certainly do not help.
In their book Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle, Amelia and Emily Nagoski recommend looking to our distant ancestors for ideas. Some things they likely used to recover from stress were…
- Movement - find movements you enjoy, tense and relax your muscles, go for a jog, or shake your body.
- Safety - get to a safe environment, connect with others, or accept physical comfort if you enjoy touch.
- Sleep - restore your body through restful moments and sleep.
- Creativity - make something inspiring or use your imagination.
- Nature - spend time with a pet, sit outside, or go for a walk.
- Laughter - doing this with others is especially powerful.
- Breathing - calm down your vagus nerve through breathing exercises.
- Crying - don’t fight the tears; letting them out releases pent-up emotion
Chronic stress feeds into all sorts of health concerns. If you need help coming up with ways to deal with stress, bring it up at your next appointment.
Dr. Jamie