BBR #157: Navigating Nervous System Dysregulation and Stress Response

Ever find yourself feeling overwhelmed even when things seem to be going well? I did. In this celebratory episode marking three years of Brain Body Resilience, we revisit a listener favorite - understanding the signs of nervous system dysregulation. 

I share my personal journey and we dig deep into how our bodies react when our nervous system is imbalanced, from concentration issues to a short fuse. Knowledge is power, and understanding these signs is the first step to take control and care for our nervous system.

But there's more. We also delve into the complex relationship between nutrition, our relationship with food, and stress response. Ever noticed cravings, digestive hiccups or shallow breathing when under stress? That's your body sending signals. 

Let's learn to recognize them and most importantly, how to respond. Whether you've been with us from the start or just tuned in, this episode aims to equip you with both knowledge and practical tools to boost your brain-body resilience amidst our stress-filled lives. 

Get in there and give it a listen for more! 

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:07

What is up? Hello there. My name is Jessica Paching Bunch, you can call me JPB, and this is Brain Body Resilience. This is a podcast dedicated to growth, human development and stressing a little bit less so you can go ahead and live a little bit more.

Speaker 2: 0:27

Hello and good day to you, my podcast people. We are celebrating three years of the Brain Body Resilience podcast, which was technically last episode number 156, but that was the first episode of the month, so we had a guest, laura Jean. It was a wonderful conversation about values and you know I love to connect values and stress. So much of the stress we create around what we should be doing or what we're shaming ourselves for is due to lapse in our commitments to ourselves and our own values. So if you haven't already listened to that one, go back, do that. It's such an important conversation and I know you'll be learning something. I do every time I have conversations with Laura. Every time I come away with something new, and not just her, but all of the guests here. I love having these conversations because I am constantly learning from them. So, as we wrap up the third year of the podcast, I am celebrating the fact that we are still here, that I keep showing up and doing what I said I was going to do, which we know builds confidence and making more sense out of my thoughts and the work that I do through talking it out here with you. I am immensely grateful. I continue to be grateful to each and every single one of you listening. I am grateful for those who have been here from the beginning. I am grateful for everyone that is just joining and I am grateful for everyone who came somewhere in between all of that, I am grateful for the reviews you all leave and the connections I have been able to make with some of you. So thank you truly, very truly. Thank you for being here.

Speaker 2: 2:35

In celebration of moving into the fourth year, I want to revisit one of the most popular episodes way back, episode number 113, about identifying dysregulation. This is such an important skill and we know that unless we can identify something and tell we are aware of something, we cannot choose to change or navigate differently. So, even if you've listened to this one before, maybe give it another listen and see if the space you're in has changed, or if you notice differences, or if you just needed the reminder of how stress shows up for you. So cheers to three years, let's get into it. Hello, my friend, I have had a week. It has been a week and I don't even know why, but because there was nothing tragic or catastrophic that happened out of the usual. Everything was fine, it was great, but there were a lot of big feelings, some crying in the shower, a lot of feeling right on the edge of irritated, and everything for a couple of days. And you know, it would just be like that sometimes.

Speaker 2: 3:57

And to address this, I made a post about it on IG, talking about identifying signs of nervous system dysregulation, and I had a lot of response, mostly saying that people identified and thanking me for just being a human and showing it, because, you know, I forget that there are different sides of social media and that's not always the thing. And that's what I'm here for to be an example of what some of that hardship looks like. And if you choose to work with me, you know, in my one on one programs and such, I also help you to learn how to work with these things and how to manage them and understand what they are better, so that you can do that. And so I thought I'd come on here, where I have a bit more space to talk about some of the ways that we can see our nervous system speaking to us and letting us know that something is needed, and a lot of times we just ignore these symptoms and then just keep it pushing because, yeah, we're all busy and there's always something more to do. There's always more that we could be doing, and so my hope here is that it might give you some identification tools to work with so that you can know when you need to press pause and pay your nervous system a little bit of attention. So let's get into this.

Speaker 2: 5:21

These are some of the most common ways, common signs of nervous system dysregulation, things that your body is speaking to you in a way that's telling you your stress response system is overactive. You need some attention, you need to press pause, you need some movement all the other things that we talk about. So the first one here that I have listed is attention and concentration problems. We all have these. Sometimes. When it turns into a more chronic condition where it's happening all the time, you have trouble focusing on tasks or even conversations that you're in. You misplace things, forget to complete assignments at school or work, lose track of your thoughts when you're talking with others, or all of these things at the same time. This is where anxiety or anxious, worried thoughts and nervousness, frustration and brain fog come in, as well as depressive bouts. Racing thoughts, procrastination, all of those things.

Speaker 2: 6:26

Those are all telltale signs that your nervous system is a little bit out of whack and it's like, hey, I need some attention, I need some love, I need you to pause. Point number two here. You're frequently snappy, irritable and reactive. This was me in the last few days Just overreacting in situations where it becomes difficult to control the way that we react or feel, becoming easily upset or frustrated, angered by seemingly small things. That can mean that your mood changes pretty significantly from happy to sad or just, like you know, fly off the handle, irritated, angry, without any significant, obvious reason. Some kind of minor thing can just set it off.

Speaker 2: 7:15

When this happens, we generally feel pretty overwhelmed and on edge. Even when things seem to be going well which, like I said this last week for me, was the case there wasn't anything that I could pinpoint that went wrong or was incredibly stressful out of the ordinary, yet I still was feeling this way, and it was such a fantastic signal for me to recognize that I need to be paying more attention to my nervous system hygiene tools. This is also where where urgency comes from. Always rushed, everything needs to be done right now, right now, and that's a good sign that, even though we are having these feelings that everything is urgent, everything is immediate. We need to do everything right in this moment, and it's going to be really, really hard to press, pause and stop and take some space and slow down. That is exactly what is needed, and so that's where awareness of these things comes in, because we cannot do anything, we cannot intervene, unless we understand what's happening, unless we are aware of what's going on, and then we can choose to be intentional, press, pause, become intentional and get out of that autopilot that keeps us stuck in these states.

Speaker 2: 8:33

Number three here that I have is that we experience chronic pain and illness. We know that when the stress response is overactive, it weakens the immune system, and so if you are feeling pain or illness for a long time, even when you make the effort to eat, write and exercise and do all of the things that we know we should be doing, our immune system might not be able to catch up because of that constant stress response. If you're constantly catching colds or flus or feeling just like generally run down body aches and pains and soar and just not quite right, even when you are eating well and exercising and doing all of the things that keep us healthy, this is a sign that your nervous system, the sympathetic side of your nervous system is overactive, which means that it's going to dampen your immune system and your immune response. Number four On my list of things if we're highly sensitive to sensory stimuli, if we are easily overwhelmed by strong stimuli in our environment and identify, maybe as a highly sensitive person, we have a generally low threshold for this sensory stimulation which can lead to for me it looks a lot like in my eyes. My eyes get really sensitive, and loud noises, glaring lights, strong smells can all be very distracting and lead to things like headaches, sometimes even nausea, sometimes migraines. A lot of stress can activate that. If that is something that you're prone to, so you might even experience these stimuli as painful or unpleasant. I made that note and I don't. None of that sounds pleasant to me. So if it is, let me know. I would love to hear from you. So those are some things to think about. Just when you get really, when your like your sensory input systems are overwhelmed and it just feels like the sounds and smells and what you're seeing and what you feel like it just is too much literally for your senses, that is a fantastic reminder or kind of knock on that door to tell you that like hey, I'm your nervous system, I need help.

Speaker 2: 10:58

Number five on my list here Sleep problems and daytime fatigue. This one's huge. If we're not sleeping well and we're feeling tired during the day, we're having then energy slumps or just like constant fatigue, feeling run down during the day. We might not be having enough energy for our daily tasks or even be able to enjoy the the things that also help us regulate our nervous system and bring us joy, like activities with friends or family, and it's hard for us to get motivated. Then, when we're exhausted all of the time and feeling so like we're just like dragging our these meat sacks that we live in around the world, it's hard to be excited about doing anything because everything feels so much harder. So if we have trouble falling asleep those racing thoughts if we're waking up a lot during the night, sometimes again with those racing thoughts night sweats also a signal there. That is a good. There's a good chance that our nervous system is in a place of dysregulation and a lot of this.

Speaker 2: 12:07

I actually am about to do a post on IG, so if you follow me there maybe you've seen it, maybe not. Go look, just about what we can do before we go to sleep. Sleep experts talk about we should be shutting screens down two hours before we head to bed to help us keep our circadian rhythms intact and help just wind down and flip that switch to the rest mode. I am betting most of us don't do that. We're working until we go to sleep, we're watching TV until we go to sleep, we're scrolling on our phones until we go to sleep. There's constant sensory stimulation going on. So then we get in bed and we're like why can't I sleep? Because your system is still active, it has been activated until this point. There's no wind down, there's no direction telling your system like, ok, now it's time to do something else, now it's time to sleep. And when there's no routine behind that, your body doesn't know what to do until you're exhausted. So when there is a nighttime routine, when there is a nervous system hygiene routine, when there's a sleep routine, we are teaching our body what to do and when. And then because of that whole efficiency thing, because our nervous system, our brain, loves efficiency to save energy for survival, it's going to start doing those things automatically. We will sleep better when we have a routine.

Speaker 2: 13:35

Number six on my list here cravings and extreme apricots and extreme appetite changes. This is something we may not think about. And then we because we like to moralize food and we like to, you know, praise thinness and there's this whole culture around fat phobia and our just like a general lack of understanding again of how we work as human beings and what nutrition actually is. Your body doesn't know that foods are good or bad, because they're not. They're not good or bad. It just knows that it has certain ingredients to make more cells out of, and so sometimes these signals we then can beat ourselves up about and then go down that shame and guilt spiral and start judging and shaming, which then creates more of that internal stress and threat response coming from our own judgments. So this is one to really pay attention to. With some non-judgment, we're just collecting information on these so that we can then do something about it or at least just be aware of like okay, this is what's going on with me and I have these tools that I can use, or I don't right now, or at least I just know why I'm in these shitty moods or feeling like crap.

Speaker 2: 15:04

So if your appetite is going up and down, you're hungry all the time or you can't eat enough. You're craving sweets, sugars, carb foods, salty, fatty foods. That's a good sign that your body needs something, and generally it might just need some type of nutrient that it is lacking, or it might need that sleep, it might need that calm mind, it might need some movement. These are all just cues, and sometimes it's kind of a trial and error of like, what is it that I'm needing right now? And until we do these things and listen long enough and practice long enough with our routines, with our nervous system, hygiene, to understand what these things are telling us, it can be kind of a just we're trying things on, what is going to make me feel better, what is my body asking for, and you'll know, because you will feel better or you will be satisfied, your mind will calm, you will be able to sleep. All of these things Along with this appetite changes, digestive dysfunction, digestive issues, gi issues are a huge indicator of prolonged, chronic stress, because digestion reduces when that stress response is activated, and so this can look like constipation, incomplete bowel movements, diarrhea, gas, bloating, cramps, pains, acid reflux.

Speaker 2: 16:32

All of that can happen because of your stress response. So one of the most wrapping this up with one of the most and easily identifiable signs is Rapid, shallow Breathing. Number seven your breath Always comes back to your breath because it affects everything else. Breathing through the mouth, shallow breathing, rapid breathing these are all dysfunctional breathing patterns that show up in 75% of the people with anxiety. It is not a coincidence. Your breath directs your physiology and your psychology, and so when your, when the breath encounters dysfunction, has dysfunction in its patterns, you will find it in other systems of your body as well, guaranteed. And so understanding how we work helps us to understand that what we do does make a difference, that the nervous system is just responding to the information it receives and acting accordingly, and that, even with long-held patterns and dysregulation, these patterns can change with intentional input, because the stress response system is a biologically adaptive tool that is designed to help us learn for survival, so it is incredibly receptive to intentional practices, meaning the things we do with intention.

Speaker 2: 17:54

When we press pause, we become aware of what we're doing, and then we take action. We choose to take action. This is where that awareness piece comes in, because if we don't know what we're currently doing, we don't know where these symptoms are showing up, then we don't know where to go from there. There's nowhere to go from there. We'll just keep living on autopilot, repeating these patterns and wondering why we feel like shit. And this piece is incredibly important in a culture that promotes ignoring our feelings and ignoring the warning signs our body is giving us, telling us that it needs attention and awareness to certain areas. And so, bottom line, just ignoring and pushing forward and pretending that everything is just fine does not serve you. The arousal energy that is produced from the stress response needs to be processed, it needs to be released or it will be stored in the body and create dis-ease and disorder, and so a mindful practice to begin noticing what messages your body and brain are sending is key to build that awareness so that you can notice what is happening, what is happening with me?

Speaker 2: 19:04

Just like to press pause. How many times a day do you just take one minute to notice what is happening with you, to notice how you are feeling? I imagine it's not a lot, because that's how we get to these places of chronic stress and all of these symptoms that I've been talking about, and these are rampant in our society. This is not like an uncommon thing. This is just what we think is normal in life, and just because something is common does not make it normal, and so you know. And again, I always say one minute, two minutes, five minutes, because, yes, we're busy, we have shit to do, everyone is busy and we have this idea that that amount of time won't make a difference, but it absolutely does. Again, it's not the amount of time we spend doing these things. If you have more time, great, do it for a long time.

Speaker 2: 19:57

But if you don't, it is more important to activate these things, or press pause, and deactivate some of these things, these patterns, the neurochemicals that are wandering around, the patterns that are firing in your brain, to press pause, interrupt those things and create new patterns of awareness. It's more about frequency than it is length of time. So doing it for one minute several times a day or just every day is going to be more beneficial than sitting there once a year for 10 hours. That's not really going to be great. So, press pause, learn to respond in a way that is useful, rather than react from autopilot and dysregulation. That's the goal here.

Speaker 2: 20:40

We're, in this world of constant stimulation and the lack of stimulation, when we take that away, when we do press pause, when we try and sit in silence or we sit with our breath. It can feel very uncomfortable, but what we practice is the most is what we practice the most is what our brain and body make patterns out of what we do the most. We're saying this is important. We want to do more of this, and so I will keep coming back to intention and awareness. Acknowledging that our body is currently in a safe space and paying attention to what it's telling us can work wonders. Yes, just in one minute, two minutes, we all have that in the day, I don't care how busy we are. We have that. We just have to be intentional about using it. And yes, it can be incredibly uncomfortable. Yes, it can be really hard to build these routines in. I'm not saying any of this is easy, because it's not, but effective, yes, it is.

Speaker 2: 21:44

So checking in how is your breath when we take these two minutes to look how is your breath, like we just touched on, how are your, how is your body? What are your muscles doing? Are they tense, are they tight? Are they tingly? Are they numb? Where is their tension? Can you notice that, without creating a story about what it means, I'm anxious because of this thing. Oh, this thing happened, whatever the story that starts to create. Because our brains are storytellers, Can we notice and simply just direct and allow our muscles to release and then do that as many times as it's needed. And part of this practice is just noticing when we start to tell ourselves that story and then interrupting that and coming back to what are my muscles doing, what is my breath doing. That is huge success.

Speaker 2: 22:30

And then paying attention to the thoughts that we are, that we have taking up space in our head. If we're spending 95% of the day on autopilot which is what a lot of research suggests or a lot of psychologists who study this area of attention and focus have suggested this includes a thought that the patterns we have in our thoughts are on autopilot and so many of us don't even realize what we're thinking or what's taking up space in our head, or that we have a choice to change it. Thoughts are not facts, they are just things, but they do create a cascade of physiological information and instruction for the rest of your body's systems. And because your brain is processing so much information daily, your thoughts are just little bits of that processing, along with what you've already learned through the experiences that you've lived until now. Your brain is just trying to make sense of it all through that sensory input and then tell a story to direct you. And so this, again, is where giving yourself the space to pause and acknowledge that you are in fact, safe in this moment, and then pay attention to the thoughts and feelings in your body and then choose what comes next, both in action and in thought. And I want to be very clear that these things are simple and that does not mean that they are easy.

Speaker 2: 23:53

Changing patterns in your nervous system can be incredibly difficult and feel very, very uncomfortable and unsafe. This does not mean it is not possible. Again, this is your brain trying to protect you because what is known is predictable, and predictable is safe because you know how to navigate it. So, even if it is not a healthy and happy space to be in, it is familiar. And that is all your brain is concerned with. And sometimes just reminding ourselves that it's okay to not know, it's okay to be uncomfortable, and each time we allow ourselves to work through that, we are teaching our brain and nervous system that we can, in fact, handle the challenge. And now there's this reference point for your brain to pull from later on. Okay, this thing was uncomfortable and it was hard, but I didn't actually die.

Speaker 2: 24:40

And so all of these signs that we kind of overlook of our nervous system dysregulation, I didn't know were symptoms of unresolved trauma for myself, things that arousal energy that had produced all of these things. Which, going to therapy, understanding what the expression of these symptoms in diagnosis, what that allowed me to do was understand what was happening, why I had explosive anger, why I was always needing to defend myself and explain myself, why I had chronic low self-esteem and hopelessness and I guess it was a steady shift back and forth between hopeless and apathetic, just kind of numb. And then chronic digestive issues, sleep issues, a lot of the symptoms that I talked about earlier on in this episode. So give yourself a pause, take a look at what's going on with you and at least then you know you have a starting point. Alright, that's all I've got for today. We're running a little bit longer than normal.

Speaker 2: 25:41

I hope this episode will be useful and you can return to it as many times as you need. Sometimes these things become so common we overlook them and then we need just to revisit this and understand that there is a need for an intervention Again just because things are super common and we see them in our daily lives with everyone around us and we just think it's normal way to live doesn't mean it is. If you found this useful, please, please, share it with a friend so that they might also find it useful. I really want us to stop normalizing living feeling like shit. Thank you for being here on my mission to change the way we understand and approach mental health. I am immensely grateful that you choose to spend a bit of your time and attention with me. We are all here living this life together, and so I want us to do it in the best way possible. Until next time, I hope you have a beautiful week. Peace out.