"In treating PTSD and trauma-related symptoms, I often work with clients on processing painful memories, reducing hypervigilance, and gently re-engaging with situations they've learned to avoid. Many survivors frequently associate calm and stability with safety, especially after prolonged chaos. Yet one client experienced the opposite. A survivor of childhood physical abuse, the client described feeling unsettled when life slowed down. Reflecting on the experience, the client said, " When things are quiet, I feel unsafe. I don't feel like myself. ""
"Chaos was familiar, even comforting, and the client performed best under pressure. When the world around the client became still, the client experienced intense anxiety and depression. The client's experience illustrates a paradox often seen. For some, calm can feel threatening. The nervous system adapts to survive in unpredictability, and stillness may trigger alarm rather than peace. Healing, in these cases, involves gradually learning that safety can exist without chaos. This requires a slow re-teaching of both body and mind."
Some trauma survivors experience anxiety and distress when life becomes calm because their nervous systems adapted to chronic chaos. Childhood physical abuse and prolonged instability can teach the body and brain to interpret stillness as threat, producing hypervigilance, anxiety, and depression during quiet periods. Healing requires gradual nervous-system retraining, mindful exposure to stillness, and cognitive reframing so calm is re-associated with safety. Therapy focuses on reducing hypervigilance, processing painful memories, and slowly re-engaging with avoided situations. Progress tends to be gradual and individualized, with tolerances for quiet building over time.
Read at Psychology Today
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