The author makes no claims, promises, or guarantees and does not make medical or psychological diagnoses. All writings are the opinion of the author.
General Info on the Autonomic Nervous System and Trauma From a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner’s Perspective
By Elizabeth A. Martinson, SEP
March 2010 revision
I experienced dizziness and disequilibrium as well as intense sensitivity to sound after an auto accident in 1994 and a lifetime of unresolved trauma. I’ve been to the point of having to spend hours closed in a dark room with no windows and no sound in order to calm my system down. I’ve had surgery on both of my ears and done VRT (Vestibular Rehab Therapy) as well as PT, OT, psychotherapy, EMDR, vision therapy, and Somatic Experiencing. Thanks to all of those things I have come out on the other side in better shape.
After doing most of my recovering I studied the autonomic nervous system (ANS) seriously for three years to learn what I think is a great way to help the “hyped up” ANS finally settle after trauma. As a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner I am working to help other people to lead more regulated lives. I am offering this with the hope that someone will gain what they need from it.
It appears that a lot is involved in a trauma response - the physical body, emotions as well as spiritual aspects of our beings. So as I see things now, it’s not any one thing that needs the work, it’s everything. The autonomic nervous system is a relatively simple thing and it can relearn how to react to things given a chance. It’s job is to make sure that the organism survives and it learns with each experience that you have.
When the ANS is in a constant hyper-vigilant state it can create physiological symptoms in the process of trying to regulate itself and keep the organism alive. In post traumatic situations, the ANS may be unable to complete its cycle of “what to do in an emergency” where it activates either the sympathetic (accelerates heart rate, constricts blood vessels and raises blood pressure), the parasympathetic (slows heart rate, increases intestinal and glandular function) or a freeze response to the threat that it perceives. If the threat lasts longer than 8 – 10 seconds without being able to resolve the situation (by fighting, running, or freezing) it may get stuck in one of those places. Therefore, it has learned that it can make sure you survive by doing the same thing over and over again. It may also perceive that the threat never ended (even though it really did) and you could end up living your life in a constant threat response. The physiological responses involve the ears, the eyes, the throat, breathing, circulation, digestion, elimination – everything that the 10th cranial nerve (the vagus nerve) controls to keep you breathing, your heart beating, etc.
I see and hear you!
When the threat is first perceived, the eyes diverge which means that the focus becomes very broad so that they can see a lot at once in order to locate the threat. Once they locate the threat they converge on it – focus completely on the threat. In a normal situation where the threat is located and dealt with, the eyes will move back into a more neutral position where they diverge and converge as needed to see normally. The eyes can remain in either one of these states if the reaction is somehow thwarted. When our eyes stay diverged it will make it very hard to handle much going on in the visual field. There is so much input that it can overload the system and a kind of ”brain fog” can kick in due to over-stimulation. Those who are dealing with dizziness and disorientation could be stuck in divergence as well. This makes it hard to know where you are in space; an extremely disorienting place to be. It can make being out in open spaces difficult to handle as well as having trouble with things in the peripheral field. If you are in this place then everything that moves might be perceived as a threat.
Falls can be difficult for the autonomic nervous system because it happens so fast that the eyes have no chance to see where things are as you go down. Not only that, the normal reaction to a fall is to get up ASAP to make sure everyone knows you are OK, and it can be extremely embarrassing. So my advice to anyone who has a fall, stay down for a few minutes and look around you to see where everything is, notice what things looks like and take stock of how you are physically. Then if you feel some shaking or trembling starting, let it happen and rest until it has a chance to move through your body. If people are concerned about you, let them know if you are OK and that you just need to rest for a few minutes. Then take stock again after the trembling subsides and get up when it feels right. The trembling is the autonomic nervous system’s way of discharging the excess energy that it was getting ready to use.
The ears can likewise find themselves in a hyper-vigilant state after traumatic events. The ear’s job in a dangerous situation is to literally move out. The outer ear perks up and moves to catch more sound. It’s job is to listen intently for where the threat is located. All of our senses are involved in locating the threat within the first few seconds during a traumatic event. Once they find the threat, they focus on it and stay with it until the threat is somehow neutralized. Those with sensitivity to sound might be dealing with the ears being in a constant hyper-vigilant state. Everything sounds much louder and every sound is heard distinctly. When enough information gets sent to the brain, the nervous system becomes overwhelmed and things such as fatigue, and brain fog set in. It becomes impossible to process the huge amount of information that is coming through. Cognitive processes can also be affected.
