Polivagal theory, Dr. It was suggested by Stephen Porges. The autonomic nervous system was previously explained under 2 headings. But Dr. Stephen Porges divides the autonomic nervous system into 3 different branches: Sympathetic, Parasympathetic and Social association system.
The first is a really old, primitive system: It includes freezing and immobilization survival mechanisms.
The second: Fight or flight, it is a complete system. state of mobilization, activities requiring energy.
Finally, with mammals, social relationality is the nervous system through which social communication and perceived safety, known as self-soothing, are perceived.
In the picture, Maggi McAllister MacGregor, Dr. Based on Stephen Porges' polyvagal theory, he explains this theory on a beautiful metaphorical tree diagram to make it more understandable.
The Vagus nerve, known here as the 'wandering nerve', comes into play when it detects a threat to life. When safety is triggered, the autonomic nervous system helps the body return to its normal state. If the danger is too great, in the experience of being alone with the threat of death, the dorsal (back) vagus nerve of the paresympathetic system comes into play and causes numbness, freezing and dissociation. (Anthony 2019)
Explanation of the tree diagram: With the stickman at the top, we are at the top of the tree when we feel safe and in a space of social communication and self-soothing. Our brain is quite integrated, the logical thinking part we call the frontal lobe is active, we feel safe, we are quite social and we are in relationships with other people. Here, the ventral (front) vagus nerve of the parasympathetic nervous system is activated and the person is social, open, attentive, thoughtful, able to focus, connected with others, in relationships, also capable of tolerating loneliness, problem-solving, logical thinking, logical decision-making and motivated. can exhibit behaviors. He has the capacity to make the right decisions about other people, he has empathy, and he has the capacity to think and reason well on his own, in other words, he is involved in social relations.
When you look from the top of the tree, you can see everything around him. , see the big picture, the landscape clearly You can see it clearly in clay. Here is a tree with a lot of branches in the upper part; You can see that it consists of many neural connections, branches through which we choose to make decisions and explore. This allows us to be flexible in our lives. So it's a really rich environment and I feel safe enough and I make logical decisions with justifications and explanations. For example, when you realize that you are angry while you are here, you take a break from the discussion, get some fresh air, and leave the room to calm yourself down a bit, and leave the room to regulate yourself and your emotions. It means; When we are on the tree, we can regulate ourselves and activate our window of tolerance. In other words, this place is the regulator of our nervous system. We are relaxed, alert, and aware of what is going on around us.
Then we start to move on the tree, we are a little too active, excited, and the sympathetic nervous system is activated. In fact, our behavior is to play games and have fun. When we move from bottom to top, we become regulated and the sympathetic nervous system comes into play, then we feel safe again and behave more sincerely. We are in a friendly and supportive social system and we feel safe at the top of the tree, there is no fear here and our nervous system is here with us for growth, repair and restoration.
But if our nervous system senses danger, the sympathetic nervous system. It is triggered automatically and gives threat and defense responses. We're in the tree trunk, down in the branches of the tree where there are primitive responses of fight or flight, this part down there has activated the autonomic nervous system, we're really very active here. This movement is limited to flight or fight because there are many behaviors available in an emergency situation and we do not necessarily have many options because we act quickly and unconsciously, without thinking. Our flight or fight behaviors are not conscious choices, and our body reacts automatically, just like in the system of leaving and joining social bonds. We make repetitive, hectic, restless, angry, angry, impulsive decisions. Here, risky choices and manic behavior are all war reactions. However, in escaping; We exhibit behaviors of inadequacy, refusal to make decisions, refusal to discuss, and running away from the room.
In the stick figure at the bottom: If our nervous system perceives a threat and this threat is very strong, the response of the dorsal vagal (back) vagus nerve of the sympathetic system is to exit the social connection, the system. The answer is, it goes straight to the root of the tree, it doesn't follow the straight path, it bypasses the trunk and reaches the root directly. This is the automatic freeze response. This means remaining motionless at the roots of the tree. Freezing, dissociation, terrorization, depression, fainting, apathy, lack of motivation, isolation. And we know that the roots of the tree are dark and gloomy, and the way out is difficult. Unlike the upper part of the tree, social relationality, its roots are like bars in a prison and we cannot escape from there.
For a healthy response mechanism of our nervous system; We should establish safe relationships that will not trigger our vagus nerve and stay away from unsafe relationships and people. Conscious awareness, meditation, breathing exercises, yoga, cold shower, washing face and hands with ice water, laughing, breaking into a song and singing are all useful activities.
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