Although you are safe, you may end up shut down at times. This can happen when your nervous system notices a cue that it associates with danger. At some point in your past, that cue became linked with a threat, so even though your present appears safe, your nervous system reacts anyway. Therefore, even though your present appears to be free of threats, your nervous system reacts anyway. It is reacting to a cue that signaled danger in your past. While your nervous system might have you fight or run away in some situations, in this particular situation, it has learned that shutting down is the best way to protect you.
Shutdown often occurs when the nervous system believes that reducing activity, emotions, or engagement is safer than remaining fully engaged. In effect, the nervous system attempts to lower demands on itself.
The nervous system’s number one priority is keeping you alive. In nervous system calculations, it doesn’t matter if it responds to dozens of false alarms—that’s better safe than sorry. However, failing to react to a potential threat could have a catastrophic outcome. From the point of view of the nervous system, there is no harm to false alarms. You might well disagree as you find yourself repeatedly triggered into shutdown with no clear signs of threat.
This page is part of the Why Do Trauma Responses Show Up Even When You Know You’re Safe section of the CommuniDID site, which explains why the nervous system continues protective responses long after the original threat has passed.
Explore more:
- Questions about Why Trauma Responses Happen Even When You’re Safe
- Why Doesn’t My Body Believe that I’m Safe Now?
- Why Can’t I “Just Get Over” Past Trauma?
- Why Your Nervous System Reacts the Way It Does
- Trauma Responses in Daily Life
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