Could Your Hyper-Sensitivity, "People Pleasing," or Sensory Overwhelm Be Rooted in Trauma?

I believe it absolutely can be. Polyvagal Theory helps us connect the dots. Our nervous system responds to danger or stress. Sometimes, in instances of complex PTSD or prolonged distress, our nervous system shifts to sympathetic dominance (fight or flight) or dorsal vagal shutdown (freeze or "fawn") at baseline. This can lead to chronic experiences of profound anxiety, hypervigilance, hyper-sensitivity, "people pleasing," chronic pain and tension, insomnia, profound fatigue, relational insecurity, or dissociation. Most of all, clients living with (C)PTSD and/or hyper-sensitivity often feel disconnected from their body, their voice, and their innate sense of self.

Understanding the Fawn Response

What I see most in my highly sensitive clients is actually the fawn response. “Fawning” is a common stress response for individuals who have survived adverse childhood experiences. This is especially true for those who became a “mediator,” “peacemaker,” “manager,” or “appeasor” to strive for safety or avoid harm in their household. It also often shows up in individuals who have faced systemic inequity and barriers to accessing the resources or care they need for survival. This happens in healthcare settings, educational institutions, the workplace, and other crucial systems for well-being and survival. Fawning can often externally look like “people pleasing,” but its roots run deeper.

The Physiological Perspective of Fawning

If we look at fawning from a physiological and polyvagal perspective, a person who typically fawns utilizes their nervous system to scan the room. They read social and somatic cues to detect how they can meet the needs or expectations of others. This is done to assure their own safety. In order to do this, there is a level of self-abandonment. Individuals often abandon their own needs or voice to prioritize safety by appeasing others. Sometimes, this translates to swallowing one’s own emotions, internalizing gaslighting, self-blame, self-loathing, or self-directed anger.

The Mechanism of Fawning

Let’s get even more specific about the mechanism of fawning. This pattern relies on a circuit of the vagus nerve called the dorsal vagal complex. Fawning is made possible by dorsal vagal shutdown. Dorsal vagal shutdown is a primitive strategy and response to perceived threat. The sympathetic nervous system engages and senses danger or stress, then the dorsal vagal complex initiates a shutdown. This leads to dissociation and a disconnect from one’s own feelings and experiences of danger, creating space for the freeze or fawn response.

“Fight” and “flight” responses are rooted in activation and sympathetic dominance that drive action. “Freeze” and “fawn” are characterized by dissociative deactivation. Essentially, fawning is dissociative compliance.

Healing from Fawning and Dorsal Vagal Shutdown

How do we treat “fawning,” dorsal vagal shutdown, or “dissociative compliance”? That’s where somatic psychotherapy, guided imagery, and internal family systems "parts work" come in. We can utilize these modalities to help the nervous system connect to an embodied sense of safety again. This allows a trauma survivor to come home to their own body and being.

Establishing Emotional Safety

Once safety is established emotionally, relationally, and somatically, we exhale. Then we welcome Self home and develop polyvagal-informed tools. These tools help us discern how to stay rooted and connected to ourselves. We also learn where to enact boundaries that protect that sense of safety. Here, we’ll begin to craft a new baseline of embodied regulation, discernment, trust, and self-esteem.

Reclaiming Your Body and Autonomy

For clients who have endured adverse childhood experiences, medical trauma, sexual assault, or relational harm, I see this as a reclamation of one's own body and autonomy. From this new foundation, we'll hone skills for discerning anxiety from intuition, danger from discomfort, and your voice versus the internalization of the voice of others.

Breaking Through Trauma Responses

We'll break through "fight" responses (i.e., bracing for impact), flight responses (i.e., social withdrawal), freeze responses (i.e., dissociation), and "fawn" responses (i.e., people pleasing). This process helps identify your own wants, needs, boundaries, and joys.

Crafting a Joyful, Connected Life

As we navigate this journey together, remember that healing is not linear. It is a path filled with ups and downs. Each step brings you closer to understanding yourself and reclaiming your life. You deserve to feel safe, connected, and joyful.

In conclusion, if you find yourself resonating with the experiences of hyper-sensitivity, "people pleasing," or sensory overwhelm, know that you are not alone. Healing is possible, and it begins with understanding the roots of your experiences. Together, we can explore these patterns and work towards a more fulfilling, connected life.