Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness by David A. Treleaven

Author:David A. Treleaven
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

THE FEAR/IMMOBILITY CYCLE

In his study of traumatic stress, Levine observed that animals in the wild rarely become stuck in a long-term freeze, or immobility, response.6 Recall that freezing increases the likelihood of survival for mammals: it can reduce a predator’s urge to kill, buy time, or create a state of numbness that protects against extreme pain and terror. What Levine observed is that after a life-threatening encounter, animals typically discharge a freeze through shaking or running. They release the survival-based energy that was mobilized inside. As detailed in Robert Sapolsky’s (1994) book Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers, animals in the wild are skilled at integrating exceedingly stressful experiences.

A remarkable example of this can be seen in footage captured of a polar bear being ensnared in the wild. In the video, scientists in a helicopter can be seen tracking a polar bear whom they shoot with a tranquilizer dart—a kind of artificial freeze.7 When the polar bear regains consciousness, its body begins to shake and discharge the survival-based energy that had been activated during the chase. In slow motion, you can actually watch the polar bear’s legs mimicking the act of running—the strategy it had used to try to escape. After this shaking, the bear takes a few deep, regulating breaths—discharging survival-based energy—and comes back into balance.

Exiting immobility, as I discussed at the end of Chapter 1, is often much harder for humans. Emotions such as fear and shame can keep us from discharging survival-based energy and integrating a traumatic experience. An added focus for Levine here is the relationship between immobility and terror. When we’re exposed to trauma, we can end up experiencing both simultaneously—becoming “scared stiff.” If this happens, Levine suggested, sensations related to immobility become paired with those related to acute fear and helplessness. Like Pavlov’s dogs, who came to associate the sound of a bell with food, we become conditioned to associate sensations related to immobility with terror, and vice versa. Levine refers to this as the fear/immobility cycle—a conditioned sequence in which our experience of one stimulus begets, and then reinforces, the other.8 If we feel our lungs start to constrict, for instance—a part of the immobility response—we can start to feel intense fear. This fear deepens our freeze and our lungs constrict further, which then begets more fear. It’s a vicious cycle.

What the fear/immobility cycle reveals is that paying attention to traumatic stimuli can actually retrigger traumatic states. By feeling fear, we can trigger—and deepen—a freeze. Dylan offered an example of this: When he was sitting in meditation, he became aware of a pit of fear in his stomach. If he brought mindful attention to these sensations, he’d sometimes enter into a mildly frozen state. He’d feel a subtle sense of paralysis when it was hard for him to move or take a breath. These sensations were not only uncomfortable for Dylan, but frightening. He wasn’t in control of his body. By paying close attention to his present-moment experience, he ended up intensifying the symptoms he was trying to alleviate.

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