![]() ![]() We’re unable to think clearly or reply to someone well. Our body appears frozen and our mind experiences a kind of dissociative paralysis. This is common in children who have no recourse when parents are angry or scolding. If circumstances prevent us from fighting or fleeing, our system resorts to freezing. We’re no longer present in our lives in order to avoid dealing with our emotions. We can live in constant anxiety when we’ve experienced prolonged trauma. We can also attempt to flee emotions with constant busyness, perfectionism, and addictive, distracting behavior, such as binging on food, substances, work, exercise, or surfing the Internet. We scan the environment in preparation to flee danger. In a flight response, we’re highly anxious and hypervigilant. Taking ten slow, deep breaths further calms us. When we can observe ourselves, we’re able to think and are less likely to automatically attack someone – verbally or physically. Acknowledging that we’re angry is a major help. We feel tense, hot with rage, and our eyes narrow readying us to fight for our life. Like many narcissists, when we believe an offense is the best defense we use aggression to keep ourselves safe. ![]() Can you identify which of the following responses you’ve experienced? FightĪ fight reaction tightens our muscles and jaw preparing us to overtake an assailant. Knowing what your reactions are is the first step toward exercising conscious control over them. Wars, famines, and genocides can negatively affect the health and longevity of the children of traumatized parents. We can unknowingly live for long periods in an aroused state. When this happens, it’s possible for trauma to have an intergenerational effect. When we have trauma in our past, we’re more easily aroused and our reactions take longer to settle down. Instead of naturally shifting to a normal state of functioning after a life-threatening encounter, states tend to endure. This produces physiological changes affecting our entire body, including respiration, digestion, blood flow, and muscle tension. Our brain activates the sympathetic nervous system in our spinal cord to survive perceived threats. Recent research has uncovered additional “acute stress responses” to trauma beyond the original fight-flight-freeze reactions identified in the early 20 th century. They can harm your health, impair your ability to effectively handle problems, and disrupt your relationships. Instead of helping you survive, trauma responses can become dysfunctional. When you’re a trauma survivor, your defensive states can hi-jack your brain. When your nervous system has been primed by trauma, you can overreact to perceived “dangers” that aren’t life-threatening, like when your boss questions you or someone cuts in line in front of you. ![]()
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