In this new clip from my podcast with therapist Ryan Soave, we discuss a fascinating virtual-reality experiment he helped with in Andrew Huberman’s lab.
Participants were placed in simulated fear-inducing scenarios involving heights, spiders, claustrophobia, dogs, and even great white sharks. They consciously knew they were safe — but their bodies still mounted a fear response as though the threat were real.
That raises a much bigger question about fear, trauma, and anxiety: how much does the body distinguish between an actual threat and one that is merely perceived? Ryan explains how our nervous systems can enter fight-or-flight based on the reality our minds construct, and why this may help us understand how chronic fear and unresolved trauma can become embodied.
Watch the full clip here.
Full episode link.
A few years ago, I had vertigo and tried to do the Epley Maneuver at home with my husband's help. Evey time I did the flop backwards (sitting on the edge of my mattress to lay my torso back on the mattress...nothing remotely dangerous), as I felt the vertigo, I would involuntarily go into a full-on panic. There was absolutely no amount of self-convincing I could do to prevent that panic. It was completely crazy to me that I couldn't prevent it.
This of course has exciting and hopeful implications for PTSD therapy, among other applications. There's healing and recovery technique in A.A., and other such groups, called "ACT AS IF". This isn't make-believe, or playing pretend. It's more formal and serious technique to become who you really want to be, or to overcome past trauma....good news!