We sat down with Porges to discuss his current work and to learn more about his perspective on wellness.
What are you working on now?
My current efforts are focused on developing new technology devices that can target, detect, and document the effect of new therapies on the unconscious neural circuits responsible for our “defense-danger” and “safety” responses to the world around us. These responses are key to what I call the polyvagal theory, which provides a new and, I believe, more comprehensive understanding of how humans, in their ongoing quest for safety and survival, monitor and mediate their reactions to the world: The theory posits that the nervous system, without any conscious thought on our part, efficiently and effectively decides whether the environment is dangerous or safe. That determination, in turn, leads to a cascade of metabolic reactions and a range of behaviors.
Dr. Porges on Stress
We all need to be better informed about stress. What is something we should know to increase our stress IQ?
We need to develop skills to monitor and respect our body’s responses to environmental triggers, including low-frequency sounds and background noises (low-frequency sounds, for example, are evolutionarily associated with predators), and disruptions in face-to-face interactions, which shift our physiological state and bias our reflexive, “no think” detection of risk or danger, even when there is no valid risk or source of danger in the environment. Read More From Dr. Porges on Stress
Dr. Porges on Resilience
How do you define resilience?
I define resilience as the capacity to rapidly return to an autonomic state of calmness following a challenge. This state would be characterized behaviorally by reduced movement and reflected in the autonomic nervous system as a slowing of heart rate and breathing. The normal demands of living require dynamic adjustments in our autonomic nervous system so that we can successfully navigate through various challenges. Some challenges may be dangerous or life-threatening. Other challenges may be associated with work demands or even play. All challenges shift our autonomic state sufficiently to disrupt homeostatic function. A prolonged disruption of homeostatic function is often experienced as stress and may be associated with disorders of the autonomic nervous system, such as the cardiovascular system (like hypertension) or gastrointestinal tract (like irritable bowel syndrome). We can observe resilience when these states of disruption are replaced by an autonomic state that supports homeostasis. Individuals who are easily irritated or angered aren’t resilient. Individuals who, following physical or emotional challenges, have the capacity to rapidly calm, are resilient.
We all at one time or another have a life experience that challenges our resilience. Can you describe what you learned about your own resilience after such an experience?
I had a major medical treatment last summer, and I experienced a severe disruption of homeostatic functions that led to an emergency hospitalization. The recovery trajectory provided a personal experience of a loss and a recovery of resilience. During early phases of recovery, when homeostatic functions such as my electrolytes were out of normal range, I was not resilient and my range of behavior and emotion were limited. As recovery progressed, I initially was irritable, although I expressed a fuller range of behavior. Over time resilience returned as I regained physical strength, emotional range, the capacity to self-sooth, and the pleasure of coregulating.
