Disordered: Anxiety Help Help! My Nervous System Is Dysregulated! (Ep 55)
MY NERVOUS SYSTEM IS DYSREGULATED!
This week Drew and Josh get up close and personal with "nervous system dysregulation". This is a term that might have some benefit when dealing with issues like stress management or general wellness, but goes straight off the rails into the unhelpful zone when it comes to anxiety disorders.
Declaring an anxious state to be a state of dysregulation might be defended from a semantics standpoint. Operationally however, when we insist that our internal states must be labeled as problems that must be fixed, this can and most times does backfire by activating the threat detection and response system that we're trying so hard to deactivate. The attempt to regulate winds up having the opposite result. Welcome to anxiety paradox number 10,641.
Imagine stepping on the accelerator pedal in your car (insisting that you must find ways to extinguish your internal experience) then immediately looking for ways to slow the car down because going fast doesn't feel right. Now imagine what might be possible if you saw your nervous system as responding as designed to a perceived threat.
Is it the nerves that must be addressed, or that off-kilter threat scanning and response routine?
If you've been trying to find ways to hack your nervous system or force it into some kind of acceptable "regulated" state, and that's proving to be frustrating or disheartening for you in your recovery, this episode is for you.
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Disclaimer: Disordered is not therapy or a replacement for therapy. Listening to Disordered does not create a therapeutic relationship between you and the hosts of the podcast. Information here is provided for psychoeducational purposes. As always, when you have questions about your well-being, please consult your mental health and/or medical care providers. If you are having a mental health crisis, always reach out immediately for in-person help.