Function and Threat Response

I picked up The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D. again. I thought it would be nice to read it aloud, accompanied by the Classical Meditation station on Google Play for ambiance. 
I learned a little...
He delivers a wonderfully succinct list of the most crucial functions of the brain. I paraphrased them as such:
The human brain’s five operative functions:

• Emit internal signals that convey needs (food, sleep, safety, sex, etc.)
• Catalog the surrounding world to locate needs
• Inspire the inertia and actions required to acquire needs
• Detect threats and opportunities
• Adapt to present circumstances

But we can’t do this alone. Humans and other mammals are wired to connect and depend on social interaction to meet the needs of survival. In seeking out our needs and wants, we may encounter danger.  

When in a ‘threatened’ state, my gross being encompasses (and sometimes surpasses) the following:
My pituitary…

• sends signals to the adrenals to release hormones, especially cortisol
• sounds the ‘stress alarm’ in the thyroid, slowing metabolism

My lower, older, reptilian brain…

• deadens the frontal cortex
  • “Disengaging of executive functioning”
• sends signals to facial muscles in preparation to display expressions of needs
• sends signals to heart, lungs, larynx- priming an improves oxygen potential in case of fight or flight
• sends signals to GI tract- restricting blood flow
  • “Shutting down viscera”
  • Prioritizing implements of survival (limbs, legs, lungs, etc.)

“Being able to move and do something to protect oneself is a critical factor in determining whether or not a horrible experience will leave long-lasting scars.” Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D.

Van Der Kolk, M.D. suggests that an effective treatment for trauma must address one’s entire system, largely body but also mind and soul. We need to reinvigorate the areas of the brain that were de-prioritized in the response to trauma exposure to in order to recover from its seemingly endless grip.