Trauma Theory and Nervous System Reality

Coping is not imaginary. It is neurobiological.

1. Nervous Systems Detect Threat Before Thought

Stephen Porges’ Polyvagal Theory explains that the body engages survival responses automatically when it detects threat — often below conscious awareness. This process, called neuroception, happens before reasoning kicks in.

Fight.
Flight.
Freeze.
Fawn.

These are not personality flaws. They are adaptive responses.

When people cope — by withdrawing, stimming, pacing, shutting down, seeking comfort, or seeking connection — they are regulating their autonomic nervous system.

That is physiology, not weakness.

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2. Trauma Is a Nervous System Adaptation

Trauma researchers like Bessel van der Kolk and Judith Herman describe trauma as a body-level response to overwhelming stress.

Trauma symptoms are not random. They are adaptations that once increased survival probability.

Hypervigilance?
Adaptive under threat.

Dissociation?
Protective under overwhelm.

Avoidance?
Energy conservation under danger.

Coping behaviors are often trauma-informed nervous system strategies, even if we don’t consciously frame them that way.

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3. Allostasis: The Body Adjusts to Stress

Neuroscientist Bruce McEwen introduced the concept of allostatic load — the cumulative burden of chronic stress on the body.

When stress is persistent:

• Sleep changes.
• Sensory tolerance narrows.
• Emotional bandwidth shrinks.
• Executive function declines.

Coping behaviors often emerge to lower allostatic load.

Reducing light.
Seeking sameness.
Limiting social demand.
Controlling environment.

These are attempts to rebalance stress physiology.

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4. Neurodivergent Coping Is Often Misread

Research on autism and sensory processing shows heightened sensitivity and differences in sensory integration.

When someone:

• Uses repetitive movement,
• Eats the same food,
• Avoids eye contact,
• Needs parallel presence,

They are not “malfunctioning.”

They are regulating.

Autistic burnout research increasingly frames burnout as a stress injury — the cumulative effect of chronic masking, overextension, and sensory overload.

Coping behaviors are often protective against neurological exhaustion.

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5. Coping and the Social Model of Disability

Disability studies reminds us:

Impairment is not the only source of difficulty.
Environment matters.

When environments create overload, bodies adapt.

Coping is often a response to inaccessible design.

If removing fluorescent lights reduces shutdown, the problem was lighting — not character.

If written communication reduces panic, the problem was phone culture — not fragility.

Coping behaviors frequently expose structural flaws.

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6. Cope Is Not Denial — It Is Regulation

Internet culture often frames “copium” as self-deception.

But in trauma science, regulation is the first step toward higher-order thinking.

Without regulation:

• Learning declines.
• Reasoning narrows.
• Social capacity collapses.

Regulation enables agency.

Coping is not delusion.

It is prerequisite to change.

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From Nervous System to Justice

Trauma theory and disability theory converge on one truth:

People adapt to survive conditions that exceed their capacity.

Coping is not the enemy of change.

It is what keeps people alive long enough to build it.

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Sources & Theoretical Influences

• Porges, S. (2011). The Polyvagal Theory
• Herman, J. (1992). Trauma and Recovery
• van der Kolk, B. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score
• McEwen, B. (Allostatic Load Research)
• Murray, Lesser & Lawson (2005). Monotropism
• Social Model of Disability (Oliver, 1983)

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