Understanding the relationship between the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and anxiety is essential to treatment. The SNS is a part of the autonomic nervous system that activates our body’s "fight or flight" response. For those with trauma histories, this response can become overactivated, even in non-threatening situations, leading to heightened and persistent anxiety.
Trauma leaves a profound impact, often shaping the way people perceive the world, relate to others, and even experience themselves. The good news is that trauma doesn't have to define you, and through therapies like EMDR, there is a way to find relief, process the pain, and move forward into a healthier and more empowered life.
Trauma is the physiological and psychological response to deeply disturbing or distressing events that overwhelm our ability to cope, leading to profound feelings of helplessness and hopelessness protecting ourselves (or others we care about like parents or siblings) when faced with real (or perceived) threats.
When left untreated, patterns of disturbance which are experienced for more than 1 month after a traumatic event has occurred, and cause significant disruption in social and occupational areas of one’s life often become what is known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
To say the least, 2020 was a strange and chaotic year for us all. With the COVID-19 pandemic at the forefront of great challenges and change in our social, political, and economic systems, many of us were forced into an unfamiliar and unpredictable world wrought with fear of what’s to come, grief at what was lost, and uncertainty about how to navigate it all.
There are three existential questions all of us have asked or will ask at some point in our lives:
1) Who am I?
2) Where did I come from?
3) What is the meaning and purpose of my life?
These questions are extraordinarily complex and intricate, as they are unique to the individual person and are exceedingly difficult to answer by one’s self. The reason these questions are more challenging to answer is because we cannot answer them by mere thought alone.
I am still astounded by what I don’t know, and I am continually amazed by how much I can still learn about this strange and mysterious thing called the “Human Experience”.
For the longest time, I felt as if I was sleep walking through life. My body was moving, but there’s no one driving the car, and I had no particular place to go.
“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love & affection”
- Buddha
Having a loving and accepting relationship with myself has been an extremely daunting task, as a small part of me seeks to I resist the idea of self-compassion. Every time I am placed in a stressful situation, whether it be a project deadline, conflict in a relationship, dealing with a frustrated and angry child, parent, or client, or simply trying something for the first time, I would find myself consistently, but subtly criticizing and judging every though, action or word I spoke.
