Important to recognize that an inexact assessment of a threat, an “ over-reaction” to a perceived threat is not a “mistake.” It is a survival advantage. If I over-react to a perceived threat and am wrong in my assessment, well, I might get embarrassed. But if I UNDER-REACT to a perceived threat and am wrong, I may be DEAD! It is to our advantage then to “activate” in response to a stimulus with which we have some stored experience just in case our current assessments are incomplete, faulty, a bad match.
It is important to let clients know that they are not being stupid, broken or weak. This is how we survive! Knowing that we are always making rapid”best guesses” about the threat potential in a stimulus based on the stored associated memories of similar stimuli is generally a good bet for survival! These are not mistakes but are based on stored learned data and best guesses.
Also helpful to teach our clients about sympathetic nervous system activation and that the production of “anxiety” comes first from an assessment, then a threat or no threat message to the SNS. If a yes to possible threat, the SNS activates and what we “feel” aka anxiety is telling the body what to do- go towards something beneficial or get away from something not. Since seeking safety is a primary directive, there must be no shame attached to the body working the way it is designed. One must know the process though to understand why my body is doing what it is doing. I find that literally NONE of the many people I have worked with at any level of care have any idea whatsoever about how this works. The default position is “ If I feel it, it must be real. “
I find it illuminating if they can identify the stimulus and the best matching stored memories surrounding similar or matching stimuli . If there are any salient matching features of a current stimulus associated in memory with threat, one will automatically activate. It makes sense. That function is to protect me, to keep me safe but it may not be enough of a match for me to sustain the SNS activation.
Then, teaching clients down-regulation skills is useful and helps to give clients the skills to manage their threat response systems without shame or feeling broken. But without recognizing that the SNS response is tied to a stored memory of a stimulus, that we cannot unring that bell and unremember that stored memory, trying to override it alone is not particularly helpful. Forgetting the stored salient features about an encounter with a bear is not a survival advantage!
The therapeutic & cognitive intervention is to ID the stimulus activating the SNS, noting that it is not a particularly good match. For example, that large mammal with dark fur ( matching salient stimuli) is a dog, not a scary bear like I saw once in a place like this & I can stand down. We don’t activate willy nilly. There is ALWAYS a reason. It is that very cautious matching function of stimuli and experience trying to keep me safe. We are not broken for SNS activation by choosing to be wrong and alive rather than wrong and dead. The more bundled memories attached to that stimulus, the larger the SNS activation. It makes sense.
Important to recognize that an inexact assessment of a threat, an “ over-reaction” to a perceived threat is not a “mistake.” It is a survival advantage. If I over-react to a perceived threat and am wrong in my assessment, well, I might get embarrassed. But if I UNDER-REACT to a perceived threat and am wrong, I may be DEAD! It is to our advantage then to “activate” in response to a stimulus with which we have some stored experience just in case our current assessments are incomplete, faulty, a bad match.
It is important to let clients know that they are not being stupid, broken or weak. This is how we survive! Knowing that we are always making rapid”best guesses” about the threat potential in a stimulus based on the stored associated memories of similar stimuli is generally a good bet for survival! These are not mistakes but are based on stored learned data and best guesses.
Also helpful to teach our clients about sympathetic nervous system activation and that the production of “anxiety” comes first from an assessment, then a threat or no threat message to the SNS. If a yes to possible threat, the SNS activates and what we “feel” aka anxiety is telling the body what to do- go towards something beneficial or get away from something not. Since seeking safety is a primary directive, there must be no shame attached to the body working the way it is designed. One must know the process though to understand why my body is doing what it is doing. I find that literally NONE of the many people I have worked with at any level of care have any idea whatsoever about how this works. The default position is “ If I feel it, it must be real. “
I find it illuminating if they can identify the stimulus and the best matching stored memories surrounding similar or matching stimuli . If there are any salient matching features of a current stimulus associated in memory with threat, one will automatically activate. It makes sense. That function is to protect me, to keep me safe but it may not be enough of a match for me to sustain the SNS activation.
Then, teaching clients down-regulation skills is useful and helps to give clients the skills to manage their threat response systems without shame or feeling broken. But without recognizing that the SNS response is tied to a stored memory of a stimulus, that we cannot unring that bell and unremember that stored memory, trying to override it alone is not particularly helpful. Forgetting the stored salient features about an encounter with a bear is not a survival advantage!
The therapeutic & cognitive intervention is to ID the stimulus activating the SNS, noting that it is not a particularly good match. For example, that large mammal with dark fur ( matching salient stimuli) is a dog, not a scary bear like I saw once in a place like this & I can stand down. We don’t activate willy nilly. There is ALWAYS a reason. It is that very cautious matching function of stimuli and experience trying to keep me safe. We are not broken for SNS activation by choosing to be wrong and alive rather than wrong and dead. The more bundled memories attached to that stimulus, the larger the SNS activation. It makes sense.
It makes sense! Yup