Traumatized by Kati Morton
Author:Kati Morton [Morton, Kati]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-09-07T00:00:00+00:00
WHAT CAN WE DO TO SHAKE THIS TRAUMA EXPERIENCE?
We could talk about the COVID-19 pandemic for ages, there is so much still to process and learn, but whatâs important is figuring out how to deal with it. The reason this pandemic has been so harmful and upsetting isnât just because itâs a virus, itâs because we all felt threatened and therefore were pushed into our stress response. Our stress response is something that is only meant to be activated for a short period: we see a threat, we get ready to fight it or run from it, and we take action. For example, if we lived in a cave and heard a bear rustling the bushes outside, we would hear it, get scared, and run away. A few moments later, we would have reached a safe place, our stress response would no longer be necessary, and we would relax. However, when the threat we are all sensing is an invisible virus that we can catch from people and things, and we donât even know that much about it except that people are getting sick and dying, our body readies itself for fight, flight, or freeze. But there isnât any action we can take that will make the threat go away or be less scary. We have to sit in it, feeling the stress and energy course through our nervous system without a release.
The good news is that we can get that energy out and calm our nervous system down so that we feel better. The first tip and best way to do that is through true social connection. This is why COVID-19 hit us all so hard: We were threatened, stressed out, and then told to isolate to save lives. Doing the one thing we were told to do only made us feel worse, and thatâs why video calls became so popular and many people refused to follow the stay-at-home orders. We needed that connection to know that someone else understood us, and to be reminded that we are valued and important. Social connection has even been proven effective through Dr. Stephen Porgesâs polyvagal theory: instead of our nervous system being either more activated and less calm or calmer and less activated, it could do a little of both. We could be activated through social interaction while also calming our system down.9 Itâs the safety we find in true connection with others that helps us manage and more quickly calm the stress response.
Another way to manage the stress or trauma we are experiencing is to take action where we can. Since our stress response readies our body for action, we have to move and do what we can to release it. We could start by cleaning the house or going for a walk, or what has helped me is dancing in my living room, which surprised me at first. Why did I feel so much better after dancing around for an hour to some music? Why did I feel worse on days when I didnât make time to dance? And then I remembered Dr.
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