The five Fs

Just like the brain, there are many aspects to our nervous system. However, the two parts that come into play when the alarm system is ringing are both responsible for the body’s unconscious, automatic actions.

If the flood of stress hormone reaches the sympathetic nervous system, our body is primed to fight the danger or flee from it. This is where certain bodily functions will be restricted, whereas others will become super-charged such as heart rate and breathing, greater vision, muscles tensing, twitching and trembling – all designed to give you every chance of surviving.

Alternatively, if our parasympathetic nervous system is activated, the opposite happens: the message is to reduce our heart and metabolic rate so we can freeze. We may also get an injection of pain-killing hormones, or we may zone out so as not to remember what happened.

If the freeze mechanism isn’t working and the level of threat and danger increases, the nervous system will switch off most of the functions of the body and change the status of the muscles from tense to floppy and yielding. This is the body’s last chance of survival.

Where trauma is concerned, ‘friend’ is about forming a bond with other people in order to survive. This is something we do automatically from birth in the way we cry to get the care we need. Similarly, as we grow up, befriending and forming attachments to people helps to protect us. If we experience fear, we might attempt to communicate with those we fear. We might attempt to appeal to their better nature; we might try to negotiate with them, charm them or calm them down. We might even buy into what they are doing – as in the case of Stockholm Syndrome.

[See the writings of psychotherapist Zoe Lodrick for more information on this subject.]