OUR GOD-GIVEN NERVOUS SYSTEM: And Why It’s So Important For Our Mental Health
Over the last two decades, many changes have occurred in how we treat mental health conditions. Likely one of the most significant differences is how we now recognize the phrase “mental health” might be misleading. We now understand that much of our mental and emotional wellness is rooted in our physiology and not just in our thoughts. In fact, we now believe that up to 80% of our mental health has nothing to do with how we think; instead, it has everything to do with how safe or unsafe we feel.
God, in His infinite understanding, blessed us with an internal alarm system to keep us safe during times of stress. This precious alarm sounds off whenever there is a threat, intending to protect us. The alarm is our body’s nervous system, specifically our autonomic nervous system, which plays an essential role in our mental health. The more we can understand this alarm, the more we can heal from mental and emotional distress.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR ALARM
Let me give you an example of our body’s alarm in action and why understanding our Nervous System is vital for our mental health.
Let’s say you are in the woods and suddenly see a bear darting toward you. Once you see that bear, your brain must immediately decide how to protect you best.
In a micro-moment, your brain takes in all available information through your senses (eyes, ears) and decides to either FIGHT back, FLIGHT and run away, or FREEZE and play dead.
Suppose your body engages in FIGHT or FLIGHT. In that case, you experience a surge of energy and stress hormones (adrenaline and cortisol), your heart beats rapidly, and blood is directed toward your limbs to strengthen you. About 30 physiological reactions happen in an intricate, expedited way because our God-given alarm is incredible.
If your brain realizes you don’t have time to escape or the bear is too threatening to fight back, your nervous system will revert to the last option; play dead. Your body will FREEZE and produce a natural sedative, making you quiet and still. This shutdown is a last chance hope of survival.
These FIGHT, FLIGHT, and FREEZE responses show how our body responds to trauma and stress. Only today, most of our threats aren’t bears; they are social threats, workplace stressors, world events, and traumas like abuse, war, accidents, and abandonment.
Interestingly, whether it is a bear in the woods or a tense conversation at work, your body responds with a similar alarm. To our Nervous System, a threat is a threat.
THE CHALLENGES WE FACE AS THINKERS
The alarm is legitimate, incredibly physical, and laced with intense emotions. The alarm initiates a physiological and emotional stress cycle waiting to be completed. The alarm wants a result; safety. If left incomplete and unsure of your safety, the alarm continues to resound, resulting in toxic stress.
Unfortunately, most of us don’t know how to complete the cycle, leaving us in toxic stress. This is because of something called intellectualizing. Intellectualizing is when we reframe our stress and trauma by thinking it away. We add an optimistic viewpoint or try to have a good mindset.
While thinking positively sounds promising, intellectualizing pain is incredibly detrimental.
Thinking about a bear chasing you doesn’t protect you, and neither does thinking about your situations that cause you distress. By trying to make sense of our stress cognitively, we sadly suppress the physiological and emotional processes. This suppression ultimately leads to physical and mental health issues because tears, not cried outwardly, are cried inwardly.
THE CHALLENGE CHRISTIANS FACE
In my experience, as common as intellectualizing is and as harmful as it can be to our mental health, the church inadvertently does something that takes it a step further. Not only do we intellectualize our pain – we spiritualize it.
Not only do we try to have a good mindset and think about our problems optimistically, we also try to be Holy. We use scripture or faith to attempt to make sense of our pain.
Christians in deep grief might say, “The Joy of the Lord is my strength, so I shouldn’t grieve anymore.” A Believer feeling anxious might rattle off, "I need to be ‘anxious in nothing.’” I have heard countless phrases like this, dismissing legitimate anxiety, sadness, and other emotions in the name of using scripture. The intention comes from a pure heart, but at some point, we have inadvertently said feelings are unbiblical and have regretfully left Believers ashamed.
GOD’S EMOTIONAL HEART
King David, a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22), is a beautiful example of the freedom to express emotions. His Psalms are messy and filled with intense emotions, leading to profound healing.
But we don’t have to look to David; we can look to Jesus.
Jesus wept even when he had hope of resurrection (John 11:35). Jesus, the embodiment of forgiveness, became so angry that it consumed Him (Matthew 21:12-13). Jesus was so anxious on the night of His crucifixion that His sweat was as blood (Luke 22:44).
Jesus had profoundly deep emotions. He can understand everything we experience (Hebrews 4:14-16) and truly understands our pain (Isaiah 53:3).
Pain and holiness are not mutually exclusive. You can have faith and struggle. You can have hope and feel discouraged. When we read a verse like, “the Joy of the Lord is your Strength” (Nehemiah 8:10), it doesn’t mean we are not also allowed to experience emotional pain.
The thing about emotions, they need to be emoted. When we allow ourselves to emote safely, we invite a sense of relief, we finish the stress cycle, our nervous system calms down, and we can move toward healing.
LET GOD HELP YOU QUIET YOUR ALARM
If any of this has resonated with you: living with your alarm on alert and suppressing your pain, I want to give you some insights to help your healing journey.
The first thing I recommend is practicing feeling your feelings with safety, because we need to feel to heal.
One tangible way to practice feeling is by sitting somewhere comfortable and private, placing your hand over your heart, and talking to God about your emotional burdens. When we slow down, we make it easier to access our emotions.
If tears come, allow them. When we cry because of painful emotions, our tears carry stress hormones. Our God-given tear ducts are our body’s safety release valve, cleansing us from stress.
Other ways to connect with your emotions include journaling, talking to a trusted friend, painting, or walking. The options are endless as long as whatever you choose helps you connect with emotions in a healthy way.
If you have a history of trauma, connecting with your emotions can be distressing. This process requires safety, gentle practice, navigating triggers, and sometimes the help of a Counsellor to guide us.
The second thing that can be helpful is to learn one skill to calm (or “regulate”) your nervous System.
Activities like deep breathing (which engages our body’s peace response), progressive muscle relaxation (which relieves tension), or using cold temperatures (slowing down our heart rate) can all help our nervous system start to regulate itself.
Other tools that can help our nervous system include grounding exercises, mindfulness exercises, and boundaries such as work-life balance or limiting access to bad news media. Research nervous system regulating skills and pick one skill to practice for a few minutes daily.
The last thing I can recommend is to have compassion for yourself because all those coping mechanisms you shame yourself for were needed until you could learn a better way. Understanding your alarm can give you more self-compassion and can help improve your emotional wellness. This is a journey, and it can take time to practice being kind and validating your own emotional experience, especially when this is foreign to you. Ask God to help you in this process, and receive His compassion as well.
GOD SEES THE FIGHT
You are not alone, and you are not unseen. God sees behind the masks of our coping and knows every hidden pain underneath our body’s alarm system. By calming our nervous system and practicing connecting with our emotions, we can experience deeper intimacy with God. We take down our masks and see Him face to face in beautiful vulnerability.
I invite you today to allow our Refuge and Strength to tend to your nervous System, to allow the Wonderful Counsellor to hold space for your emotional pain, and to let Our Great High Priest intercede and bring you true safety and quiet trust.
Bless you.
