How Trauma Therapy Can Heal Depression and the Dorsal Vagal State

The part of the nervous system called the dorsal vagal complex helps regulate mood, emotions, and digestion. When a person is in survival mode the dorsal vagal complex can be overactivated, which leads to a “freeze” response. An example of this in the wild, is one in which one an animal “plays dead” in order to avoid being eaten by a predator. The same thing happens to us when we experience a traumatic or extremely stressful event. Different people react in different ways to stressors. Some may be more prone to a hyper aroused sympathetic state (fight or flight) state when exposed to a stressor, and some might be more prone to the dorsal vagal state (freeze).

People who have been in a sympathetic state for too long are also more at risk of slipping into a dorsal vagal state, or even a full depressive episode. In this state the body slows down, lethargy sets in, and a person might even be cognitively slow. In extreme cases this can look like catatonia or a total lack of functioning. It becomes difficult to get out of bed, work or socialize. People might sleep more than usual or eating habits can change. The metabolism slows, and body composition can change. Systemic illnesses can also occur.

While the dorsal vagal state is a survival mechanism that can be triggered by overwhelming stress or trauma, and can leave you feeling numb, disconnected, and fatigued, it is possible to get out of this state to gain balance again. Here are some tips to help you move out of the dorsal vagal state:

1. Focus on safety and comfort: Create a safe and calming environment for yourself. This may involve physical comfort, such as curling up with a blanket or taking a warm bath, or emotional comfort, such as listening to soothing music or spending time with a loved one.

2. Engage in calming activities: Practices like deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and mindfulness meditation can activate the relaxation response and help you feel more grounded.

3. Reconnect with your body: Gentle yoga or movement exercises can help you reconnect with your body in a safe and supportive way.

4. Activate the senses: Drink a glass of cold water, talk a gentle walk, smell something that appeals to you such as fresh flowers, essential oils, or a candle.

5. Trauma Therapy: If you're struggling to move out of the dorsal vagal state on your own, ask for support from family and friends, and consider seeking professional help from a therapist or counselor.

Above all, know that help is possible! Sometimes once people reach the dorsal vagal state, they start to lose hope. If this sounds like you, please know that just as activating events in the environment triggered this protective response in the brain and body, there are treatments that can impact the body in positive ways. Treatments that are effective to help get out of the dorsal vagal state, in addition to the techniques above include:

1.    Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): EMDR uses an 8 phased adaptive information processing approach to help you connect emotionally to adverse events or trauma to reprocess the memories that have been stored in the body. A trained professional is imperative to guide you through this process.

2.    Trauma Therapy: Processing and connecting with traumatic memories, bodily sensations, emotions, and negative cognitions to gain a deeper understanding of how they are impacting your life can be life changing. By releasing grief, anger, and reconnecting with the body through a variety of experiential and cognitive approaches can help you recognize patterns that hold you back in a variety of ways in your life. By changing behavior, communicating more effectively, setting boundaries and taking personal responsibility, we can change self-destructive patterns and course-correct in ways that can improve our entire life.

3.    Exercise: When we reconnect with the body, we reconnect with the soul. By learning about what helps us release emotions, support neuroreceptors in the brain, and strengthen our physical bodies, we can heal from the inside out.

4.    Spending time in nature: Spending time in nature helps us connect to a sense of awe and wonder, which helps us appropriately put our problems in perspective. It also helps us restore focus, improve memory and decrease stress.

By actively taking part in the healing process and gaining more awareness of how your body has internalized toxic stress and trauma, you can start to reconnect to that which makes you more present, less stressed, and more open to others. By starting the healing process, you can reverse the effects of trauma on the nervous system to get out of the dorsal vagal state, and back into a ventral vagal state in which connection, creativity and optimal functioning is possible again.