The Polyvagal ladder

Polyvagal theory helps us understand how the vagus nerve influences our responses to safety and threat.

Imagine a ladder with three rungs:

Top Rung: Social Engagement – all feels ok in your world. You feel safe and can think clearly, connect with others, and engage with what’s going on around you. This is where we want to be most of the time, and need to be able to return ourselves to after dealing with any stressors.

Middle Rung: Fight or Flight When something feels threatening, you drop down to this rung. Your body experiences a release of cortisol and adrenalin as it prepares to fight the threat or run from it. Heart racing, palms sweaty, mind on high alert.

Bottom Rung: Shutdown If the threat feels overwhelming or inescapable, you might drop to this lowest rung. This is where freeze, collapse, numbing or dissociation happen. It’s your body’s last-ditch survival strategy.

Here’s what’s important to understand: your nervous system is always trying to keep you safe and is reacting instinctively to do so. Even though they might feel difficult at the time, these responses aren’t a sign that something’s wrong with you.

Why this matters for trauma

If you experienced difficult or traumatic events, especially in childhood, your nervous system may have learned to be hypervigilant. It got really good at spotting potential threats anticipating danger and responding quickly.

The problem is, it can get a bit too sensitive – like that smoke alarm that goes off when you burn the toast. Your nervous system might perceive danger when there isn’t any, keeping you stuck on those lower rungs of the ladder.

You might find yourself always on edge, struggling to relax even when things are genuinely okay, or having intense reactions that feel out of proportion to what’s actually happening.

“we know that the impact of trauma is upon the survival or animal part of the brain. That means that our automatic danger signals are disturbed, and we become hyper- or hypo-active: aroused or numbed out.”

Bessel van der Kolk

This isn’t weakness. This isn’t you being “too sensitive.” This is your nervous system doing what it learned to do to keep you safe.

In the final article, I’ll share how you can work with your vagus nerve to help your nervous system feel safer.