Basics of the Polyvagal Theory (eBook)

2 Overview

2.1 Stress management

The term “stress” is used a lot these days and sadly plays a significant role in our everyday life. Most people in our society would probably claim to be “stressed”.

The idea of “stress management” is prevalent now, but what does it mean?

“Stress management” is a generic term for any coping strategy that helps to diminish or altogether remove physical or psychological stress. (Wikipedia, 2019)

Seminars, books, videos, audios, and many more items are out there to reduce stress. The markets are booming. And yet, despite the effort to get rid of our stress symptoms, stress seems to be on the rise.

The more we try to reduce stress, the more it seems to be on the rise. It is like being in quicksand: the more we struggle to get out of it, the deeper we are sinking in.

Maybe it is time to take a step back and look at the map we are so hard trying to find our way on.

Does this map show us the correct area we are trying to find the path in, meaning, does it contain our starting point and our mountain top? Does it lead into the wilderness, or does it show the way we want?

The current stress management model, which forms the basis of most of the seminars, books, and so on, relies on the wrong map to believe the Polyvagal Theory. It only contains one side of the medal, and as a result, we actually push our nervous system, and in combination with it, our stress level up while trying very hard to minimize it.

The solution we are aiming at nowadays is not compatible with the Polyvagal Theory.

The harder we try to “relax” to rid ourselves from the feeling of being stressed, the more we get stressed. What our nervous system needs is the feeling of being safe.

The model to reduce stress by actively engaging in relaxation is based upon Walter P. Cannon and Hans Seyle, who both saw a duality in stress and relaxation.

2.2 Famous figures of stress research

In the Anglo-American common language, the word “stress” was already used during the 17th century; back then; it translated as: affliction, trepidation, mishap, or misery.

Later the meaning of the word changed, implying furthermore:

… compulsion, pressure, tension, or hardship. (Cooper, 1987)

When the field of stress research opened up, the scientists working with it were led by those ideas.

2.2.1 Walter P. Cannon

Physiologist Walter P. Cannon (1871-1945), professor at Harvard University, is considered the founder of American Physiology. Cannon discovered that an organism reacts physically to dangers directed at it from its environment.

He then described the physical changes occurring in an organism in reaction to “stress”. He concluded that an organism tries to fight or escape while being provided with the necessary energy by the body when in danger. Cannon named the physical reaction of an organism exposed to stress the “fight-or-flight-response”.

His core assumption was that the organism only had one way of reacting to a stressor, namely by increasing the sympathetic nervous system’s activation, which means a faster heartbeat, elevated blood pressure, and direct blood flow towards the big muscles of the body.

He assumed that the physical reaction of an organism to danger was one single response only. Cannon claimed that either fight or flight was possible and that the autonomic nervous system’s response was produced by only one branch (sympathetic nervous system).

The stress reaction can vary in duration depending on its stressor: it can be concise (acute stress) or ongoing (chronic stress).

The other branch of the autonomic nervous system (from now on referred to as ANS), the parasympathetic one, seemed not to be part of any stress response as Cannon understood.

The parasympathetic part of the ANS, said Cannon, calms the organism down right after a stressful event, restoring a homoeostatic state and helping the body relax, regenerate, and detoxify.

Like on a seesaw or scale, relaxation and stress continuously alternate with each other.

Cannon viewed the two branches as equals, which means that either the first or the second one is dominant, but never both at the same time.

The stress management theory we are following up until now is based on this assumption. To regulate our system’s imbalance, we have to add on the one side (relaxation) or subtract on the other (stress) until the balance is restored.

Therefore, anyone who wants to feel more relaxed needs to reduce stress or increase their time relaxing.

The reasons why relaxation is rather not the opposite of stress will be discussed later in this book.

A relaxed state is the result of a successfully compensated nervous system but not its cause.

We will never be able to reduce our stress level as long as we view the ANS as a two-part-system based upon Cooper’s model and see actively resting and relaxing as a means of coping with stress.

The right input, as we know it today, is one that induces a feeling of safety. The opposite of stress is not relaxation but a signal of safety.

This is why our stress levels are rising while we try harder and even harder to relax. Relaxation is the wrong input for our ANS. It is not able to “let go” as long as it does not feel safe. The feeling of being safe is to achieve first, and then we can relax.

As long as we try to skip the first step (feeling safe), we fight against our natural stress reaction. This does not decrease the stress reaction but instead increases it.

In Cannon’s model, “stress” also means that the body provides energy because both reactions, fighting and fleeing, need power. On the other hand, resting and relaxing are necessities to maintain and restore the energy necessary for facing new stressors in the future.

The stress model’s oversimplification implies that “stress” always means mobilizing a system, which needs a lot of energy. Immobilization, on the other hand, is associated with a state of relaxation only.

Thanks to Porges, we know now that this assumption is wrong, and there is indeed a stress reaction of immobilization, which means saving energy.

2.2.2 Hans Seyle

Hans Seyle (1907-1982) was born in Vienna, Austria, and started a significant career after studying to become a chemist and physician. He concentrated mainly on researching the physiological processes of organisms confronted with stress.

1934 he had to emigrate to Canada due to the Naziregime’s oppressing power and started lecturing at the McGill University. (Wikipedia, 2019)

Seyle developed a different stress model, saying that the organism answered in a three-stage-pattern towards a stressor. He named his model “the General Adaption Syndrome”; the three stages being “alarm reaction”, “resistance,” and “exhaustion”.

During the first stage, the body would answer in a fight or flight mode in reaction to a stressor, activating the sympathetic branch of the ANS. At this stage, the organism reacts in a neurological way and with a changed hormonal status, releasing adrenaline and cortisol into the bloodstream. These two hormones make sure the body can obtain the necessary energy reserves (first stage of alarm reaction).

During the second stage, the parasympathetic part of the ANS would get activated, trying to calm the body down again, aiming at attaining the homoeostatic condition it had been in before the stressor occurred (second stage of resistance).

If the stressor continued to be present, the body would not be able to get back into a relaxed state. Chronic stress would occur, keeping the level of the two hormones named above elevated so the parasympathetic nervous system could not get the body back into normal organ functions. The second phase would therefore not come to a closure.

In the bloodstream, the cortisol level would stay up too, and the body would not be able to downregulate its stress reaction and stay on alert always, which would weaken the whole organism over time. This impairment that the body inflicted on itself by not stopping the stress reaction is the third phase of Seyle’s model: exhaustion.

This third phase brings forth stress-induced diseases, often in combination with self-medication through alcohol, drugs, or food (Seyle, 2017).

In short, Seyle also held the belief that only one branch of the ANS was responsible for reacting to a stressor (sympathetic), while the other branch (parasympathetic) was solely there for downregulating this reaction back to a normal state.

After all, Seyle viewed the stress reaction as a more complex reaction than Cannon did, also noticing exhaustion often occurred in combination with stress, which Cannon had ignored completely.

2.2.3 Peter Levine

Peter Levine was one of the first scientists to take a closer look at “trauma” concerning stress (Levine, 2018).

Based on his research, he concluded that humans must have the innate ability to overcome trauma.

He started as a postgraduate...