Depression in the Nervous System – The Dorsal Vagal Shutdown Response aka Hypoarousal
Learn how the dorsal vagal shutdown and trauma trigger depression. Discover nervous system healing, polyvagal theory, and real tools for recovery.
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Depression isn’t just in your mind—it’s in your nervous system. In this video, we take a somatic and polyvagal-informed approach to understanding depression as a state of nervous system dysregulation. Learn how shutdown, freeze, and dorsal vagal states keep you stuck and how somatic therapy can help you shift into safety, connection, and regulation.
Using insights from polyvagal theory, we’ll explore how the vagus nerve influences mood, energy, and emotions. Discover body-based techniques to move out of chronic exhaustion, numbness, and despair. Whether you struggle with low motivation, fatigue, or emotional overwhelm, these nervous system regulation tools can help you heal from the inside out!
00:00 Intro
05:52 Nutshell
02:16 Childhood Trauma
03:38 So what’s going on in the nervous system?
03:43 Nervous System Response to Safety and Danger
04:58 What causes The Dorsal Vagal Response?
06:14 Function of Hypoarousal/Dorsal Vagal/ Dissociation
08:57 So what does this trauma have to do with depression?
09:38 What if it doesn’t seem like you’ve dealt with any huge threat?
11:40 So if Depression is fueled by trauma, how can we treat it?
17:48 Summary
Check out the transcript below:
Depression in the Nervous System – The Dorsal Vagal Shutdown Response aka Hypoarousal
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Therapy in a Nutshell and the information provided by Emma McAdam are solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and are not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health.
In therapy I use a combination of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Systems Theory, positive psychology, and a bio-psycho-social approach to treating mental illness and other challenges we all face in life. The ideas from my videos are frequently adapted from multiple sources. Many of them come from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, especially the work of Steven Hayes, Jason Luoma, and Russ Harris. The sections on stress and the mind-body connection derive from the work of Stephen Porges (the Polyvagal theory), Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing) Francine Shapiro (EMDR), and Bessel Van Der Kolk. I also rely heavily on the work of the Arbinger institute for my overall understanding of our ability to choose our life’s direction.
And deeper than all of that, the Gospel of Jesus Christ orients my personal worldview and sense of security, peace, hope, and love https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist/believe
If you are in crisis, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ or 988 or your local emergency services.
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46 Comments
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Thank you for the video!
I’ve been in this state for about 10 years now
Straight up diarrheamaxxing over here on the shidder.
You don't have a disease, you're just not planning your goals in a way that makes you happy. I'm spittin real shit, and if I can handle an XXXXXXX level spiced ramen bowl and destroy my end hole with the force of Pompe, then you can handle making a list and trying to be better for yourself, not for anybody.
Yep!
I love this simple yet detailed summary of ACT!
Your plant is depressed
Thank you for sharing this. I spent many decades navigating daily life, seeing therapists, being gaslit by outsiders who didn’t understand my truth. I have had horses and pets since my earliest memory. You are so right, if you share your life with them in a respectful and balanced way, they provide a lifeline of friendship, reciprocity, and grounding that have never felt safe coming from another human. I’m thankful for your channel. The newer Trauma Informed approach has helped me more than any other modality.
I found my dad dead on the commode when I was 27 and it changed my life forever. I live with depression every day of my life. I'm on all kinds of medicine. It takes the edge zi keep pushing forward and will never give up. ❤😢😢😢😢
Why's the background music louder than the person speaking?
Don’t you mean Hyper-?
I used to love soap 😢 I shower but it's not invigorating anymore
This is one of the best videos I have ever watched on depression, fatigue, and burnout.
Thank you
Thank you 🙂
Gratitude practice! and remembering that 1. Nothing Lasts and 2. All Flows
Trauma is what is going on in America right now.
Emma, Thank you for this video🫶🏻 My body goes into hyperarousal or sympathetic activity at night and hypoarousal or shutdown during the day. I have learned how to get out of shutdown by doing breath work and exercise thankfully, but I feel like I have no control over my nights. I don’t sleep well even with a sleeping pill, I constantly wake up breathing fast and shallow, sometimes with surges of adrenaline and feel exhausted by morning. . How can I get my body to relax and get into more of a parasympathetic state at night instead of being hypervigillant?🙏🏻 I have been to therapy which helped but didn’t help my nights. I feel like I can change my state when I’m awake but it’s impossible to change when I’m asleep. Please help. Thank you so much.
Excellent video! Thank you-
Merci, vous avez réussi à me faire comprendre ce que j’ai vécu à mes 9 ans. ❤❤❤
Thank you.
My water damage department had mold for 13 years and every year I got sicker. Please never live in a mold damaged building. It’s gonna take a little while for my brain damage to be healed from the mold mycotoxins
Possibly the best and most understandable explanation of this tricky state of being.Thank you for your clarity, knowledge, and ability to share that with the public.
I've dealt with this for a while. One thing no one ever talks about is, how dizzy it makes you feel. From the moment I get up in the morning, until I go to sleep, it's always there. I've been trying to get the VNS surgery to try and treat the treatment resistant depression. Psych meds don't work so, I'm really hoping this will work as, I've tried just about everything else. VNS has been used I think since around the early 2000's but, you don't ever hear anyone doing reviews on it or anything. I was therapy worked but, I'm just past that point.
Your videos have literally saved my life.
I am truly grateful for your willingness and selflessness to share the information you share. It gives hope to those of us who can’t see any.
What would it look like to try to come out of deep brain dysregulation into the now when you’ve been that way for like 30 years?
I've never heard of this vagus stuff, but the descriptions in the comments describe my situation perfectly.
Nurse of 20+ yrs here. The general population thinks the number one symptom of depression is sadness. I feel it's important for ppl to know that depression doesn't always include feelings of sadness which is known as "atypical depression." I hope this helps someone who's struggling with what they're experiencing, but haven't been able to figure it out. ❤
I’m currently suffering from Dorsal Vagal shutdown and have been for probably 7 to 8 years now, I was a problem child who was very defiant against teacher’s authorities and had a rotten attitude and temper etc and got physically bullied throughout primary school, I switched schools and was made fun of by my peers for my incredible fixation on whales and dolphins making me feel like a huge social outcast, I was made fun of for being a male dancer and was told “acting takes no skill and that’s why you do it.” I was emotionally manipulated and toyed with by a girl in my year who set me up to send nude pictures of myself only to be shared with my classmates (the memory is vague but I’m sure the pictures were shared) there was a rumour about me that I sexually harassed a group of girls saying “You exposed yourself to them” which hand on heart is not true at all, I’ve had domestic abuse in my family and have been arrested for a suicide attempt. After all of this abuse I wake up and enjoy my solitude only to feel flat and miserable until night time when I perk up a bit, as an actor I got casted in NCIS Sydney and is my greatest achievement as an actor but everything was just so dull, I’m walking on eggshells with what I say and I just don’t belong to myself anymore 🙁 thanks for the video I’ll do everything in my power to turn this around
I've dealt with this my whole life, seen a lot of abandonment in friends and family. I have never had anyone help me except to give me low rent and with that I found a niche of farming to being my best therapy. Farming keeps me moving, keeps me outside, healthy and meeting people at markets so i dont self isolate. Unfortunately I relied on properties in rich people's portfolios that needed Agriculture tax write offs, but all of those properties got sold off and I struggle to find as many offers now that all properties are x4 more expensive. Also I tried working a few jobs for two years which worked great but I got laid off three times in a row because the businesses were either trying to save money or got screwed over by clients.
These days I am starting over at 38 and struggle with the numbness and lack of enthusiasm, because I've tried so many times and have much success, but feel defeated because I cannot find a girlfriend, don't have my agriculture therapy.
I've been battling addictions and gotten rid of most, which is why I never started drinking until I was 36 years old, but now I have a little more enthusiasm, I find that following to-do lists is the best way to keep me motivated, it cuts down all of the overwhelming concerns into one goal at a time. The worst part is I gained about 25lbs in 6 months of not working, when my whole life I have been 155lbs. I have new skills in those 6 months and am looking forward to being able to grow food as a side hustle while working as a 3d designer in the video game industry. I have been a workaholic my whole adult life so living off my savings for 6 months was one of the hardest depressing thing I've done, but it was needed because so many times I've jumped into the first open opportunity that shows up and it usually works for a time but leaves me scrambling in the end
I've also learned to forgive myself, especially for the events where I wasn't even involved but was associated with someone else. forgiving myself and seeing the world as a place of abundance where if I approach somethings where I see high likelihood of loss in the future, i know I'll always have more opportunities and anyone who tried to screw me over will be recognized eventually and i'll be able to find a better opportunity later.
Abused, beaten, neglected and abandoned as a child.
Abused, beaten, neglected and abandoned in the Army.
Abused, beaten, neglected and abandoned in the civilian job market.
Makes you wonder if being abused, beaten, neglected and abandoned is normal.
Or maybe the Earth is just Hell in disguise and that's why the good guys finish last and evil is rewarded. <3
Yea, I’m done
Jesus…why the video of the hyena eating the gazelle at 7.40 h…like…wtf….I really didnt need to see that with all my anxiety. Stopped your video. Will go somewhere else for more help by these subjects. Don't want to get triggered again.
The brain malformation is the effect, not the cause. Secondly, the food really doesn't taste good and that's a fact 🙂
I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety for as long as I can remember. Diagnosed by 25. Numerous medications. Then a divorce, followed by a traumatic death in my family, then my daughter was hospitilized for mental illness. My nervous system has not settled in over 5 years and I’m always feeling uneasy and on edge. This all resonates
The last 4 yrs have been more 5han i can take. Multiple family members passing, sons father had tbi, his sister has brain cancer, loss of my job,son diagnosed with SA and unable to work. Then one brother passed unexpectedly. I have multiple health issues. Just when i 5hought it was slowing down my dad diagnosed with dementia, im closest family member and youngest daughter.dad and i have planned for years for me to home care for him as long as possible and he would pay me. Three months in and today found out my sister thinks im taking advantage of my father (which im NOT). She got my other brother against me and now since she is dads pa, there trying to eliminate me from my inheritance and trying to put my dad in a nursing home, which he is no where near ready for that yet. I literally lost one brother last year,now my sister and other brother and my dad is vanishing b4 my eyes.😢 I have become numb today,but yet feel like my heart is going to explode.Like im looking in at my own body from the outside and it appears as an empty shell. Im hoping god can help me because i dont think i can do it anymore. I hope he is listening or reading this.
No wonder I've never liked scary movies. I'm already in a constant state of fight or flight, so it just heightens my anxiety.
Thank you so much for this information! Really appreciate you sharing your knowledge
Showing an animal being eaten is not trauma informed. This video confuses depression with trauma hypo-arousal only clarifying at minute 9. Great information on hypo-arousal, not great differentiation on depression.
I've been in survival mode for the last 4 years. I don't even remember how it was when it was ok. Hope you'll can get out of this 🕳️ I'm in.
Holly cow you just answered my problem. I have now 0 motivation gave up my job. I just can’t be bothered with anything.
Great informative video! Not want to criticize, but I am distracted by background music.
Or you could be just tired, as in not getting enough quality sleep.
Thanks for the post.
Appreciate you.
Hey Emma, how can someone be so positive, neutral and happy but not over the top excited like you are? It just really speaks directly to us your audience. The way you talk really helped me feel safe especially when I'm in a hypoarousal state in life right now. It allowed me to let out tears and emotions I couldn't hold back anymore halfway throughout this video. It really went beyond the words you said and I didn't know hypoarousal was a thing and how it linked to my past traumas, I really had felt that everything I tried didn't work and I was losing a battle with myself. Just like you said, I would do things in life, carry on as normal but I was detached, away from experiencing food, doing house chores, detached away from relationships and people. I couldn't feel them, I couldn't be present with them. I felt so lost, but you being you and speaking the way you do really engaged the child inside of me. Made me feel the safety you talked about and that it was okay, even it was just a YouTube video informing us, it helped me let all these tears and emotions. Thank you <3
Does medication, for example antidepressants help to get out of dorsal vagal shutdown if it's extreme and chronic?
And what if the situation actually is hopeless, it's not just a perception?
Chronic illness leads to chronic worry, and chronic pain. It's impossible to break this cycle.