Nature's Self Regulation

All organisms from the lowly amoeba to large mammals regulate or process energy to exist. Human beings are no different.

Regulation in human beings is reflected in the way the nervous system handles stress, the way it handles emotions and more generally, the way it manages energy.

Nature's Self Regulation

A healthy nervous system manges energy well. It regulates or manages the amount of incoming stimulation with a corresponding amount of discharge.

In other words a regulated nervous system can shift easily from high arousal to low arousal, and from neutral, into states of joy and contentment.

Here's what healthy regulation looks like:

So imagine...you worked all day, came home, and flopped on the couch. You feel beat. Your body let's go. The couch beneath you gently sinks in with the weight of your body and you feel supported in a way your office chair can never do.

Your nervous system adapts to being at home. It begins to discharge the pent up stress from the day. Within a few minutes your energy starts to return. You begin to feel energized. A pleasant evening forms in your mind...you won't be vegging out in front of the tube tonight!

A healthy nervous system bounces back. Under condtions of life challenges and stressors an influx of hormonal energy is triggered to enable us to take action. And when we're ready to relax the nervous system subsequently discharges that energy.

Here's how an unhealthy nervous system operates:

A nervous system that is not regulated ¹ (i.e. a dysregulated nervous system) cannot discharge the energy in a timely manner. It has a hard time letting go. It will non-consciously and physically hold onto the work stress in the muscle and fascia tissue throughout the body.

The hormones triggered by the stress response make individuals with dysregulated nervous systems feel wired yet exhausted at the same time. They may even carry this tension into their sleep.

Anxiety & Depression

If you suffer from anxiety symptoms or depression then your nervous system is dysregulated by definition. It is the dysregulation of your nervous system that is causing your symptoms.

You may be wondering the million $ question. How do you reset the nervous system so it once again regulates in a healthy way? And yes, it is possible.

This interesting topic will be covered in future artlcles. So please join me then.

My Personal Musings

This difficulty in not being able to let go can even show up in our thoughts. We may ruminate over problems or become obsessive about an issue that on another day, means little to us.

And here's the most interesting aspect. It's not the problem that's driving the 'wound up' feeling, it's the 'wound up' nervous system that's driving the problem!

Joseph Ledoux, a much respected researcher noted this connection between our thinking brain and the place in the brain where we process emotions and record activation:

"…it is well known that the connections from the cortical areas to the amygdala are far weaker than the connections from the amygdala to the cortex.^{" 2}

What Ledoux's words above strongly suggests is that we are far more influenced by our emotional/reptilian parts of our brain than the converse. That is, while our thoughts can certainly be triggering (i.e. I can get myself riled up by thinking of a bad event), it is more likely that the state of our nervous system (i.e. our level of activation) is having the stronger influence on our thoughts.

I see this dynamic all the time using body psychotherapy with clients. Once I help guide the nervous system into balance (e.g. the noise in the mind is quiet), problems that seemed overwhelming and pressing are felt to be less so. In many cases we haven't even talked about the problems that have been bothering them.

A typical comment might go something like this: "You know...this is amazing. I know when I came in my problems seemed way too much, but right now they've sort of faded into the background. I know they're still problems I have to deal with, but right now they don't seem quite so serious or unmanageable. If I felt like this all the time, I'd get them resolved a lot faster."

And over time, this is exactly what happens. The nervous system starts to regulate itself and stress becomes easier to manage.

Notes

¹It is very likely that the capacity of a nervous system to be regulated is on a continuum from hightly dysregulated to highly regulated. That is, there's probably no exact point that can clearly distinguish between a dysregulated from a regulated nervous system.

These terms are used on this site for purely descriptive purposes. That is, it is more important to understand that once a nervous system is regulated the individual can process energy in a timely manner.

So for example, I can run an errand, have trouble finding parking, have my car brake down in traffic, arrive home to host a dinner party, have a good time that evening and sleep well through the night when my nervous system is regulated.

I can run an errand, get a flat tire and be too stressed to do much else if I have a dysregulated nervous system.

Keep in mind that each individual's nervous system has a different capacity. A nervous system with a large capacity could very likely do much more even in a dysregulated state than another individual with a small nervous system in a regulated state. Also be aware that the size of a nervous system is not necessarily dependent on the physical size although admitedly it no doublt plays an important role.

The capacity of our nervous system is believed to be a function of genetics and our history of truama and our developmentally gaps.

²Ledoux, J. "Where the wild things are." The Emotional Brain. (1996) New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc. pg. 225-266. By the way, Mr. Ledoux is a man of many talents. Here he is with his band: The Amygdaloids

References

Ledoux, Joseph (1996). The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life. New York: Touchstone Books.

Levine, Peter, A. (1997). Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma. Berkeley, California: North Atlantic Books.

Scaer, Robert C.,, "Precarious Present" in Psychotherapy Networker, Nov/Dec 2006.

Scaer, Robert, C., (2005). The Trauma Spectrum, New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

Related Topics

Dysregulation and the cause of depression.

Stress and Procedural Memory

External Links

Self-Regulation Therapy by Dr. LaCombe

I am grateful for the teachings of Drs. Lynne Zettl and Edward Joseph for their emphasis on the need for our nervous system to be regulated.

Don't lose track! Add to your FAV bookmarks:

Help

Don't miss out!
Shrinklady's replies and visitor comments
Get MyShrink UpDates now.

Post your Comment! 'Have any questions? Comments? Your feedback is appreciated'.

First Name (required) Your name appears under your comment.

Email (required) Your email address will not be posted.

Comment (required)

Retype the letters in the image box into the text box. We need you to complete this part so we know you're a real person and not a spam robot.

I invite users to also include--but it's not required--the following information. I always find it interesting to know what part of the world a writer is coming from.

City or State or Province (your preference)

Country

Website Leave blank if you do not wish your website to be posted. (Please use the format domain.com or www.domain.com)

And before you submit, could you read the following and check the box so I know you understand. Thanks. - Shrinklady I understand that comments or replies to my post are not guaranteed a response. Due to the many tasks associated with this site, it might take weeks (and sometimes even a month or two) for me to respond. I understand that this communication channel is not a substitute for professional advice. In other words, the response provided is not a substitute for the knowledge, expertise, skill and judgment of a qualified professional in a clinical setting. I understand that information presented on this site is not intended to be used for diagnosis or treatment. Yes I understand all the above and still wish to post a comment.