{"id":34225,"date":"2017-03-13T06:00:27","date_gmt":"2017-03-13T13:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/?p=34225"},"modified":"2017-03-09T09:51:49","modified_gmt":"2017-03-09T17:51:49","slug":"why-do-i-do-that-the-silent-sway-of-the-threat-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/why-do-i-do-that-silent-sway-of-threat-response-0313174","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Why Do I Do That?\u2019 The Silent Sway of the Threat Response"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"YoungHumans are complex creatures. We operate on many levels simultaneously, and not all of these levels are in our conscious awareness. Therein lies the potential for internal conflict, which can sometimes feel impossible to resolve. We may not even be clear on what is causing the internal conflict in the first place:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy do I get so angry?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cDarn it, why can\u2019t I sleep? I have to get up in four hours and I\u2019m going to be exhausted!\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy can\u2019t I stand up to her? I argue with her in my head all the time, yet when she\u2019s actually there, I just can\u2019t stick up for myself.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI know it\u2019s dangerous to tailgate; why do I do it?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThere I go, overreacting (or under-reacting) again!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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These internal battles are difficult to fight. They can create a profound lack of trust in ourselves. Exasperated, we might shrug and say \u201cit\u2019s just my personality\u201d or \u201cit\u2019s genetic; my father was just like that.\u201d These statements create an air of inevitability, as though we\u2019re just going to have to learn to live with this aspect of ourselves. I\u2019ve noticed \u201cgenetics\u201d is a favorite fallback for when we don\u2019t understand the threat response cycle, or the formerly adaptive learning that now contributes to our self-created troubles.<\/p>\n

Of course, every person is unique. We all have cultural, familial, genetic, and individual components of our characters and behaviors, as well as unique histories. In this article, we are looking at a major portion of the equation that is often overlooked: the underlying psychophysiological (mind-body) \u201cengine\u201d that drives these responses. If the cortex (our \u201cthinking brain\u201d) is the road map, then the autonomic nervous system<\/a> is the engine. (Might I note few cars go to the mechanic for GPS problems!)<\/p>\n

According to Dr. Stephen Porges, the human nervous system essentially has the following \u201cgears\u201d available to it:<\/p>\n