Welcome to Episode 18 of the Haelan Nurse Chronicles. I’m your host Dr. Lorre Laws, a nurse, author, and trauma-burnout expert. In today’s episode we’re going to discuss the “functional freeze” that is affecting millions of nurses worldwide.
If you’re just joining us, nurses are exposed to a Trifecta of Trauma in their personal and professional lives. We are exposed to the same individual traumas as everyone else (acute, chronic, complex, developmental, neglect, etc.) but then we are exposed to two more trauma layers. There’s the unavoidable trauma exposure, such as vicarious trauma, that is inherent to our profession. Then there’s the avoidable trauma exposure that is secondary to healthcare system and organizational inadequacies, such as unsafe practice conditions and nurse-patient ratios.
According to Polyvagal Theory, we adapt and respond to the traumatization in one of four manners. Flight, fight, fawn, or freeze. Today we’re going to discuss the freeze; more specifically the functional freeze.
To understand the freeze, we need to understand how our body, through a process known as neuroception, assesses threats to our safety – real or perceived – in our inner world or outer realities. Dr. Stephen Porges coined the term “Threat Detector” for the process of neuroception.
The Threat Detector is on duty 24/7 and has one job.
To. Keep. You. Safe.
And if it determines that you are exposed to too much stress or are experiencing a traumatic event, it will signal for one or more of your circuits to come online in a dimmer switch manner that is appropriate to the context:
Ventral Vagal Response
This ventral aspect of the vagus nerve circuit comes online when we are safe. We can see the big picture, are grounded, open, curious, and able to optimally connect within and with others. There aren’t a lot of nurses practicing in their ventral vagal circuit right now.
Sympathetic Response to Sympathetic Overdrive
When enough stress or trauma exposure is perceived by the Threat Detector as danger, it signals for the sympathetic nervous system to come online. This works great for acute, short-term stress. For the prolonged stress and avoidable nurse-specific traumatization that millions are experiencing, the next step is sympathetic overdrive that takes us to the brink of our capacity.
Freeze Response: This circuit comes online after we’ve exhausted our sympathetic nervous system’s ability to respond. Similarly, our mitochondria cannot keep up with the energy demands of the current hyper stressful or traumatic context. So, the Threat Detector signals for the dorsal aspect of the vagus nerve to come online to shut us down to conserve energy.
So, you might be wondering, does the freeze response work?
When we get partially shut down to conserve energy and disconnect from the trauma exposure, we can lose the ability to wholly communicate or respond as we otherwise would. We may get hot or cold. There can be a heaviness in the body. It feels like we’re walking through quicksand wearing a heavy, wet wool coat. The freeze comes into play when we cannot escape our conditions – this could be a possum playing dead in the face of a predator, a child who cannot fight an abusive parent or leave to seek safety . . .or it could be a nurse who is being forced to practice in unsafe conditions with unsafe nurse-patient ratios for a prolonged period of time and is then threatened with their job or their license if they refuse the unsafe assignment.
If the stressor remains, if the nurse is required to practice in unsafe conditions, then the Threat Detector detects danger. We remain in a state of stress, literal physiological fear, and feel what many describe as feeling tired and wired. We want and need to all the things, but our body just can’t.
Signs and Symptoms of a Functional Freeze
Both physical and emotional symptoms emerge in response to the freeze. It can feel like living like you’re stuck in a glacier – you feel like mobility is a challenge if not impossible, have muscle tension, and brain fog. Emotionally, you feel lost with waves of shock, disconnection, fear, or anger crashing over you at whim.
Other symptoms include low-level anxiety, socially disconnecting or isolating from others, struggling to take good care of yourself, difficulty starting or completing tasks, exhaustion to the point where getting off the couch feels like running a marathon, and feeling disconnected or shut down for your feelings and surroundings. What once brought you happiness and joy can’t be felt through the veil of numbness.
I have experienced the functional freeze as my body with both the gas pedal and the brakes pumping full strength at the same time. All the drive and motivation with none of the energy to take action. It’s a cluster situation in my world.
How to Start Moving Out of a Functional Freeze
This is definitely a “low and slow is the way to go” situation. Think of it as the gentlest of defrost protocols. Slowly, slowly we allow the energy that is stuck to start moving in its own perfect time and manner. If you start to feel the tiniest bit overwhelmed or like the freeze is getting worse, it’s time to back off. The last thing we want to do is to give your system too much, too fast, too soon. Here’s some strategies to explore:
- Deep breathing exercises
- Somatic experiencing
- Self-compassion practices
- Grounding practices
- Practicing self-awareness
- Challenge negative or automatic thoughts
- Cognitive reframing
- Gratitude practices
- Connect with nature
- Super light exercise like gentle yoga or stretching
- Creative expressions like art, singing, or journaling
And the list goes on from there. But none of us are meant to heal alone. We are social beings and need to co-heal and co-regulate to optimally heal. That’s where my work comes in. Through my nonprofit organization, The Haelan Academy, we offer a Break Up with Burnout program where you will be guided through your entire recovery process with other nurses who are doing the same.
We don’t push resources at you and then expect that you heal alone, by yourself. Instead, we take each healing step with you so you can maximize and leverage your body’s innate capacity for healing . . .including the mission critical relational aspect.
To learn more about how we help nurses to recover from the functional freeze, traumatization, and burnout, please join our free webinar:
https://drlorrelaws.com/webinar
Until next time, thank you for all that you are and do.
I see you.
I feel you.
I hear you.
And I am here for you.
From my healer’s heart to yours,
Dr. Lorre 💕
