Anya CharnaudIf we experience trauma it is often associated with an emotional reaction, something that happens to our mind and is therefore considered to be a mind thing. We live in a society that can then often evaluate someone’s character based on how they have responded to adversity. Statements like “they are so strong”, “they coped well”, or “shame they couldn’t manage since this event” etc. It is seen as part of the individual’s robustness to deal with a situation. And not the context of the individual and their survival of the event.
We don’t really take time to consider the whole person in context and what has happened to their body’s systems like the nervous system, memory system, brain, and the person’s worldview. Here we will take a brief dive into what is happening to the body’s systems.
Trauma is when an event or situation overwhelms the body’s coping mechanisms and is threatening to the person. It is essential to understand that a threat to one person may not be a threat to another and it is not our place to judge what is felt to be a threat. Our regulatory part of the brain has two nervous systems, the parasympathetic and the sympathetic.
Within the parasympathetic nervous system, the ventral vagal branch regulates our positive social interaction and sense of safety (window of tolerance). It is where we feel safe, grounded, secure, open, curious, we have improved peripheral blood flow, our immune system is more efficient, and the bonding hormone oxytocin is more abundant.
Then if the threat system in the brain is set off we engage the sympathetic nervous system, action response. This state of arousal can move to hyperarousal if that threat is not managed. Action stations!
Hyperarousal is where we experience flight, fight, or appease. These are inbuilt survival responses to a threat. They come online when the alarm (amygdala in the midbrain) is set off, it receives the message of danger before the thinking brain, therefore, is automatic and dictates the perceived best way to survive the event based on previous experience. If someone has experienced multiple trauma that will inform the automatic response, and impact which way the survival mechanisms react.
When this system comes online the rational thought system goes offline. This means we no longer offer rational information to the situation and we are driven by the survival mechanism at any cost. We know victims of any trauma, including human trafficking, feel threatened and in fear meaning, they are driven by the need to survive. So not running away or challenging their abusers may be the safest way to respond. Despite rational thoughts we might have, which could offer alternative solutions.
The next system of response is hypo-arousal. This comes from the parasympathetic nervous system, in the dorsal vagal branch, the oldest part of the brain. Hypo-arousal is ‘active shut down’ – a defence of immobility. Here we can experience depression, shut down, hopelessness and helplessness. We can experience dissociation, shame and ultimately we then prepare for death. It feels like the only way to not feel this awfulness.
I imagine this to be like a traffic light system. The green zone is the grounded, safe, curious and open space. The orange zone is when the threat system has been challenged and the person is in action mode. They are wanting to survive the threat at any cost. The red zone is the shut down, inactive state where the person feels they can’t survive the threat or cope.
When someone has experienced repeated threat exposure they will bounce between the red and orange zones. Being in a mixed state can make it hard to offer support or to understand what someone is experiencing as it can change frequently.
These survival and threat systems are only meant to work for short bursts at a time. When living in these two systems, it takes a huge toll on the body, and individuals struggle to recognise real or perceived threat as everything feels threatening. Anyone trying to support survivors of trauma may also be perceived as unsafe and a threat.
This is where trauma-informed care is really important. Time is needed to establish trust and a sense of safety, which allows for the subconscious parts of the mind and body to learn new safety and move from red or orange zones to green.