Nervous System Reset

By: Cassie Eaton, MA

In working with individuals facing feelings of panic, or intense emotional reactions, I often will guide them in relaxation training in a way to help “reset” the nervous system.  I feel this is a concept I repeat often in practice and can be useful for anyone really, but particularly if we have intense feelings coming up often. 

I start with an example.  If you were riding a bike, and a car honked their horn loudly behind you, you would likely experience a surge of adrenaline, and your body would react as if you were in danger.  Your nervous system would be set off.  It would then quickly climb back down, as you realise I am not in danger, perhaps the car was beeping at someone else or it was in relation to a traffic incident behind you.  That surge in feeling is what I want you to be mindful of.  Now some individuals will get into cycles where they perceive they are in danger, and their nervous system sets off.  It may not be as clear as when your nervous system reacts in the bike example above, but to some degree our bodies and minds are always assessing threats around us.  And some of us who experience intense emotional reactions, or experience panic attacks, are left in a place where these perceived threats activate their nervous system strongly.  So there is a little bit of psycho-education here where we delve into the concept of “fight, flight or freeze” response, and how we react to perceived threats, and particularly this is how our nervous system is responding to these perceived threats.  If you have not noticed, I have used the word “perceived” multiple times, and that is a key difference.  You body is interpreting danger, when there is not danger.  This becomes a point of focus in treatment, helping you to sit with these strong feelings and literally tell yourself “I am safe” “I am okay” amongst other phrases which help you cope with these strong reactions. 

Before we get to the mind piece where we work with thoughts, I start with the idea of relaxation training.  I want you to be able to take a look at your physical and feeling reaction to an event.  Often I will ask people to go away from a session and come back the next week, taking note of what physical symptoms they are experiencing when an intense emotional reaction occurs.  Do they feel any difference in their chest, their breathing, their tummies, a certain muscle group?  There are lots of things going on in your body, and we may not take active notice of them when intense feelings crop up.  Alternatively, someone who experiences a panic attack will very likely be able to describe intense feelings within their body, such as feeling unable to breath.  In this case, I will ask them to take notice of anything else, but also to try and be mindful of what they notice in the buildup to this point.  There is likely a signal within their body prior to the panic attack escalating where their chest may feel tight, or they notice their tummy in a knot.  It is the idea that we want to understand the physical symptoms which are signs and leeway into intense reactions we experience.  Here is where we can start to implement relaxation training into play.  Becoming aware of our bodies, and also the mind connection, can help us intercept points where we feel strong emotional reactions.  Ill point out here that it is absolutely normal to experience strong feelings, it is part of life.  But when our feelings become very intense, repetitively strong with a pattern, or we go to a feeling of panic more often than not, than we need to take a closer look with how we are managing our emotional reactions and work towards change.

There are many relaxation trainings one can engage with to help with this point of treatment, and I like to phrase it that we are developing your mental health toolkit of go-to healthy coping.  As a base I will always give clear instruction for deep belly breathing (diaphragmatic breathing) and encourage practice at a time when it feels calm and safe to, so not necessarily bringing this breathwork into stressful moments immediately.  Practicing before bedtime can be a good time for some, and often I am told it helps individuals fall asleep.  So we practice deep belly breathing as a base, that can then be used in higher emotive situations, once we master the technique.  I will also encourage this type of breathing when engaging with other breathing exercises or forms of relaxation.  There are other relaxation trainings I will recommend, such as progressive muscle relaxation, body scans, and some vagus nerve work.  We have to help you find what works for you, and everybody is different.

So this is the start of the nervous system reset and the kick off of relaxation training.  A part of therapy I find vital in helping those experiencing intense emotional reactions.  There is significant more work to do in exploring your personal situation and understanding thoughts, behaviours, patterns and reactions to intense stress.  These are all pivitol points to explore in making change for yourself.