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The body-mind organises itself primarily around energy and resource allocation. Plan A is to use energy as-and-when required. Plan B is the vegetative state - sleep and rest - imposed by the mitochondria.
The window of normal adaptation - within which we are a multidemensional, resilient and adaptive human/animal/spiritual being - is a zone of free movement between and combinations of Plan A and Plan B.
As a first response to potential mortal threat (remember all this is biological, and as such rather more black-and-white than most human affairs) - we throw energy at it in order to survival. Biological threats might include physical danger, loss of critical support, excessive heat or cold, inadequate diet or toxicity, infection, dehydration, etc etc... For our social being, mortal threats also include threats to social acceptance, support and identity. This increased energy expenditure (Plan A+ - or “fight-flight” in the case of external threats) can only be met for relatively short length of time before
Plan A+ can be characterised simply as an adrenal-cortisol-sympathetic dominated hyperaroused state with sometimes big emotions (anger, fear), and pain/stiffness/rigidity of muscles (fight-flight requires movement via action of muscles), inflammatory, and most responses lead to moisture and salt depletion through sweat. Plan A+ also invokes a different immune response - which ios more interested in temporary bodge-and patch up than using resources for any more substantial long term healing.
If plan A+ fails (Overwhelm) then we adopt the opposite strategy (Plan B+) - which is to conserve energy, moisture and nutrients, to submit and “play dead”, turn inwards (the senses become less active) and switch off the lights one-by-one on a trajectory towards hibernation. The body-mind effectively drops further and further back throgh evolutionary survival options, as the more complex adaptations are perceived to fail, more primitive ones are invoked.
Plan B+ can be characterised simply as Plan A+ moderated by high levels of opiates and cannabinoids such that the biological / metabolic meaning of adrenaline-cortisol is changed. There are increasing levels of numb / blank / absent / empty experiences, that may sometimes be accomapanied by any combination of dissociations (including derealisation / depersonalisation), dizziness, lassitude (weakness), tiredness, exhaustion, inability to think, despairing and overwhelmed emotions and prolonged sleep.
Plan B+ is not functional in the “outside world” (because it prevents the release of energy for movement); and although it is metabolically closely related to profound healing states, as overwhelm it tends to prevent healing taking place.
Most importantly - just as there is a well-organised evolved metabolic route into Plan A+ and Plan B+ survival adaptations, there is also a well-organised evolved metabolic route back out to normality. This route back out requires that information about the safety of the world and the viability of internal homeostasis has been received deeply enough in the organism. Once information gets to the correct place, the whole organism simply re-adapts to safety (or OK-enough-ness) - because that re-adaptation is the optimum survival response.
Plan B+ may simply dissolve subconsciously via micromovements, or may have to return via Plan A+. Plan A+ may require a lot of shaking to burn off excess adrenaline before it can return to the window of normal adaptation.