ABSTRACT
The brain and body are inherently adaptive, instinctively prioritizing survival demands over other drives, such as socialization, exploration, sleep and rest, hunger and thirst, and play. In infancy and early childhood, the attachment drive is an even more powerful mobilizer than fight/flight instincts, reflecting the child's need to physically depend on parent figures. In adolescence, the balance shifts the other way: fight/flight responses are mobilized as or more readily than proximity-seeking behavior. When other defenses fail us or increase the danger, freezing and submission responses are automatic at all developmental stages. By disowning our traumatized parts and/or "not me" self-state, by disconnecting from them emotionally or losing consciousness of them via dissociation, we preserve our hearts and souls from growing as bitter as our circumstances. We hold out hope for the future and we keep going. With distance or disconnection from the trauma, children can focus on mastering age-appropriate developmental tasks and developing a repertoire of functional abilities.
