Depression in the Nervous System - The Dorsal Vagal Shutdown Response aka Hypoarousal
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Depression isn’t just in your mind-it’s in your nervous system. In this video, we take a somatic and polyvagal-informed approach to understanding depression as a state of nervous system dysregulation. Learn how shutdown, freeze, and dorsal vagal states keep you stuck and how somatic therapy can help you shift into safety, connection, and regulation.
Using insights from polyvagal theory, we’ll explore how the vagus nerve influences mood, energy, and emotions. Discover body-based techniques to move out of chronic exhaustion, numbness, and despair. Whether you struggle with low motivation, fatigue, or emotional overwhelm, these nervous system regulation tools can help you heal from the inside out!
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Therapy in a Nutshell and the information provided by Emma McAdam are solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and are not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health.
In therapy I use a combination of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Systems Theory, positive psychology, and a bio-psycho-social approach to treating mental illness and other challenges we all face in life. The ideas from my videos are frequently adapted from multiple sources. Many of them come from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, especially the work of Steven Hayes, Jason Luoma, and Russ Harris. The sections on stress and the mind-body connection derive from the work of Stephen Porges (the Polyvagal theory), Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing) Francine Shapiro (EMDR), and Bessel Van Der Kolk. I also rely heavily on the work of the Arbinger institute for my overall understanding of our ability to choose our life's direction.
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This is the most helpful description of depression that I've ever heard! It explains how my habit of worrisome thinking eventually led to depression. Behavioral activation really helped me. Plus the gratitude and three things writing, as well as people and pet connections, made a big difference for my recovery.
This video was meant for me. Like every single question you asked the video, I kept saying yes, yes, that's me! I need a licensed therapist to get through this. There is hope for me and my Dad. Thank you for this. ❤
You are really making a difference for many people!
Thank you, I have been subscribed to your channel for a while and this video has been of the most relevance. Awareness and action in isolated situations is relevant for me. Again thank you for taking the time to put these videos together.
I need to listen to this every day !
I recently had to look at myself through mental health professionals after I started experiencing random episodes of intense fear for no reason late in my life. This episode has helped me understand more what those professionals are trying to convey.
Thank you for doing such a great job. Not only have I had major problems in my life, but trying to help my son as well. Really appreciate what you're doing.
This is an awesome explanation of the mechanisms that trigger this response, especially CPTSD. I have done some recent EMDR which is helping with moving back to that place of safety. Good luck everybody. YOU CAN CONQUER THIS !
You are a beautiful human Emma thank you for your invaluable content. 🙏
YOU ARE THE BEST. PLEASE KEEP POSTING THE GOOD STUFF!
Had a safe person to talk to, he died from covid. My safe animal was my yorkie, she passed shortly after my friend did. pretty much everything in this video describes how I have felt since then.
I'm truly sorry you experienced this. Sending hugs
@@Fuzzyfire I hope ur 'safety net' grows and blossoms 🌸 sending hugs 🫂
❤E🧡M💛M💚A💙!💜 You are awesome, thank you for all the wonderful videos on C-PTSD, your work is integral to many people's recovery!
Thank you, you are an angel.
I just transitioned to LTD for Major Depression and Anxiety. This video describes everything I have been experiencing for the last 6 months. My maladaptive response to childhood trauma was to be 10 steps ahead of everyone. Now at 58 my nervous system has had enough of me and completely shut down. It progressed from brain fog and immobilization to severe electric and pounding shock like pain from the nape of my neck through my spine, glutes and sometimes toes! Exhausted all the time. Cannot tell the difference from joy or sadness. Numb.
Your video has been a life saver. Understanding why it is happening is empowering and hopefully helps me rest and heal.
This one was good, gonna have to revisit.
The describing of the disassociation and how it goes turbo kicked mine up a notch randomly. Well played frenemy.... well played
With my own mind-body I've found that depression follows sustained stress and existential anxiety. My own childhood rejection trauma had a silence component and a injunction on decisions and mistakes. So I was effectively frozen by my mother's inability to deal with our needs. So that, faced with situations where I needed to act, I found that impulse suppressed by my mother's imposed veto. I'm naturally impulsive and headstrong so a conflict emerged - from which I often froze.
Knowledge is power. I'm thankful for you 🙏
Super informative, flowing video. Great!
This is great. Im waking up exhausted every day because of stress at work. My boss says 'well sales is stressful ' etc. He has an answer for everything.. I feel like im on the edge.
Very helpful, thank you!
Emma keep up the good work. Your videos of are very helpful. Please do more videos about the Nervous system. Maybe how hyperarousal looks like. Thank you.❤
Thank u 💓
Wow! Thank you.
Really helpful 😃
I think you're right that hypoarousal is behind depression but so too is hyperarousal. And the problem here is mainly due to anxiety, if it is severe enough. Depression is not understood by the psychiatric profession. It has nothing to co with chemical imbalances in the brain. Anxiety is two emotions that are sequential and not co-existing. The one is fear which raises the metabolism and the other is worry, thinking to find some solution to a problem. That requires resting metabolism. So the heart is getting signals to go fast then slow then fast again and so on. This can cause the heart to become ineffective as a pump hence the metabolism goes low and stays low. This is depression.
A big problem is that the person is being abused. The fight or flight response is not self induced nor is it a malfunction of the autonomic nervous system. It is due to a hidden threat. The main reason this is done is to get the victim focused on the source of the danger, the abuser and thus to pick up on ideas being mentally presented to them to affect them. The threat is not aimed to be carried out. That knowledge helps the victim to react far less than they do so the problem for the heart doesn't arise. Also the ideas being presented indicate some problem or issue and here again these are only malicious suggestions so can be simply rejected.
I definitely have the decrease to stimuli. I don't feel hot or cold as much for a real long time. For about 3 years now. I'll get hug from close family members, and I don't feel much of anything. When people give me positive comments I feel like they don't really mean it because of how I look at myself. Sorry went on a little rant there.
Total agree. Look into GSB shots and trauma release exercises. Both are treatments for ptsi (post traumatic injury now not ptsd) and resetting your autonomic nervous system reset.
Thanks so much for your videos. But how we know where all these feeling of unsafety come from? How to know the source when our life is finally a bit calmer,when we constantly don't meditation and normally but still the fast heartbeats attack on the way to somewhere out of nowhere? The problem is I cant find the main source of this feeling
I don't think it matters what the source is, we heal trauma in the body in the present moment. Show your body and your sensations compassion. Allow them to be there, lean into expanding into growth and compassion, no need to "figure out the past"
@@TherapyinaNutshell Youre such an amazing soul. Thanks a lot, Dr.
What a coincidence. I’ve been experiencing this after getting my backyard cleaned.
I feel like this all the time
I can’t do it anymore I feel like this literally all the time but I still am surviving
Interesting, but music is too loud
Music was over in 3 minutes!
Describes me exactly
❤
Do you have any experience or what’re your thoughts on Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) therapy?
video coming out soon...effective for 30-50% of people with very low side effects, definitely an option to consider, along with ECT, Ketamine, etc
vanilla!!!!!!
You only go to the people that compliment your channel. Your one less sub!
I wish you the best
@ 🌹just a note to maybe notice that? I loved your channel and have left comments and noticed what was happening while people reach out to you with experience trying to help others or let alone reaching out to you with the why’s. I’m 60 years young and life’s been no cake walk ever. I needed your help several times and you by passed people just like me.
🌹I to wish you the very best and say this only with love and hope it’s noticed behavior. Swing things around and we’ll come back. Laying g your personal life on the net is difficult to do. That’s your channel to help people true?
🌹Truly, best wishes and all our love to you🌹
Right now Trump,Musk, and thier minions have me traumatized and makes me angry, depressed and wanting to fight back with all i got! OMG i got to get away from it for a while, but i cant. Hes destroying the world and therefore my life and my kid and grandkids futures. What are we going to do ? I take time to rest, exercise and meditate but it doesnt go away and im stuck in assisted living and at their mercy for medicaid and medicare and soc. sec to live like being with two young kids and being at the mercy of a gaslighting narcisist liar and victim player for a partner. I cant do anything to help or get help! Grrrr!😮 Triggers, triggers, triggers all over the place. Under this government I've never felt so unsafe as an American! Am I over catastrophicating?
The US will be just fine. Get out of your echo chambers and chill out about politics. It's not worth your mental health.
@delllaptop6958 only if you're an ostrich that's been brainwashed!!@