Today I am reminded of something I often discuss with clients. When an animal experiences threat, they react (fight, flight, freeze), hopefully survive, and then go back to laying in the sun or whatever they were doing before. They give themself a shake, which literally resets their nervous system back to a normal, non-activated state. When it’s over, it is OVER for them.
When humans face a threat and are fortunate enough to survive, the emotional brain doesn’t necessarily let go and move on so quickly. Getting the nervous system to de-activate is not an automatic part of our process.
I’ll share a personal example. This is not a major life trauma, and yet, still, I find my emotional brain behaving in some very specific and predictable ways. Whether we face an actual threat or just the threat of a threat, our minds start rolling in a certain direction, and they are really tough to redirect.
My wonderful little dog, Tillie, was bitten by a snake last night (most likely a copperhead). Let me say from the get go that all is well, and she is on the road to recovery.
Tillie came in from the backyard limping and with a little blood around her toenail. We thought she had gotten the nail caught on something outside and planned to keep an eye on it. An hour later her paw was very swollen and there was a lot of fluid around her knee. I thought it might be a snake bite and took her to the emergency vet where they confirmed my suspicion and gave her anti-venom medication. She is home now – swollen, tired and feeling lousy, but she’s going to be okay.
YET…my brain is struggling to stop replaying the events. Emotional memory is something unique to humans, and the struggle is real. The thoughts are cycling on an auto loop as I have gone about my day. My mind is going over and over what happened, despite the fact that it’s over and there’s no need to w