Shutting down: The Ultimate Survival Response

The Parasympathetic Nervous System

This helps us ‘rest and digest’ after a stressful moment by slowing our bodies systems down. However, it also kicks in when there is no escape!

This defence system makes humans faint, lose control or submit. Your body does this automatically in order to minimise injury.

However, the body can learn to keep reacting like this. This can make us feel helpless, tired or have unexplained pains, numbness, weakness or digestive problems.

The Vagus Nerve

Helps us to regulate our bodily functions but also allows us to feel joy and respond to social cues.

It sends more signals from the body to the brain than the brain to the body.

In this way it makes the body react first to conditioned signals from others, for example, a gesture, a look or a smell can give us a ‘gut’ reaction.

When we are triggered by such cues, our body reacts instinctively and beyond our control!

What can I do to manage this if it is severe, intermittent and sudden?

• Spot the triggers by keeping a diary of what you notice in yourself or others just beforehand. Safe friends and family may be able to help you to identify triggers.
• They could support you helpfully if they know what it is and not to be alarmed.
• Identify things that help you stay upright without avoiding the trigger. This might be changing your posture, wrapping up in a blanket or using a grounding object.
• Maybe ensure that you are safe.
• Notice if there are any early signs of it happening and experiment with what helps avert it.
• Be kind to yourself afterwards and recognise this is a conditioned survival strategy.
• Carry some kind of information that alerts others to how to help you if they see this happening.