How Working with the Nervous System can Promote more Effective Healing of Anxiety and Depression
By Sarah Vassileff M.A., LCPC, EMDR Trained Complex Trauma Psychotherapist, Clinical Supervisor
August 15, 2025
Effective healing of anxiety and depression explained through a trauma-focused lens.
LINKS BETWEEN THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AND ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION
For years and years, I was on a satisfying autopilot regimen, which made me feel that I was managing life well, and to some extent, I was. However, I was not considering the very different experience that my nervous system was having. Our autonomic nervous systems (ANS) are one of the most important and enduring organs that mark our experience of surviving and/or thriving. The ANS is responsible for storing neuroceptive (cues of threat and safety) and interoceptive information (how we perceive these cues of threat and safety), which informs our way of existing, how safe we feel inside of ourselves, and how safe we feel in the world.
When we have endured trauma (i.e., acute trauma, shock trauma, developmental trauma, repeated trauma) and our nervous systems have found themselves too overwhelmed to cope for too long of a time, we can get stuck in one of the states of protection within our ANS. I found myself in this cycle of stuck, which was one of the hardest things I have had to endure, perhaps even tougher than the repeated exposure of trauma, itself.
It wasn’t until I started clinical practice five years ago that I was able to sense quite clearly that trauma is not an event; rather, trauma is the internal response to the event that gets stored within our nervous systems. When it gets stored internally and stays unprocessed, that state of stuckness can manifest itself as anxiety and depression, which can be two protective responses that both belong to and are created by our ANS.
WHAT IS ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION
Anxiety can be described as the fear and worry that we feel in response to external stressors. Panic is the fear that we feel in response to internal cues/feelings of anxiety. Either can be situational or chronic, which involves repeated exposure to each experience. Repeated exposure to anxiety and panic, which interferes with daily living, is a sign of a dysregulated nervous system that is misperceiving cues of threat and cues of safety.
Depression involves a collection of internal experiences that cause a disconnection from the self (e.g., persistent sadness, persistent withdrawal and apathy, and aversion to existing/participating in one’s life, which may cause a disruption to perception of cognition, self-care, and day-to-day functioning).
THE STATES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
Our nervous systems house three primary states that dictate our felt sense of self and experience of and within the world, i.e., Ventral Vagal, (perceived sense of safety, state of connection within ourselves and to others) Sympathetic, (activation, anxiety, panic, hyperarousal, the perception of danger), and Dorsal Vagal (shutdown, hypo-arousal, dissociation, numbness, depression). Each of these states is associated with different internal experiences.
We organically move through these states hundreds of times in the span of one day. The problem arises when the nervous system gets stuck in one of these states due to overwork in protecting us and depletion of capacity following repeated exposure of stress and trauma over the lifespan. A dysregulated nervous system that has been in a place of dysregulation for a substantial period can lead to neurotransmitter depletion and imbalances, hormonal imbalances, thyroid conditions, frequent and intrusive dissociation, amongst many other chronic experiences that can all be the catalyst of or contribute to the development of anxiety and depression.
The process of holding intensity, tension, and activation (sympathetic arousal) can lead to chronic stress, anxiety, and panic. When we hold onto mobilization and anxiety for long periods of time, the nervous system can only carry so much for so long and, eventually, due to chronic overwhelm, we can get ejected from a state of sympathetic arousal into a state of dorsal vagal shutdown (i.e., immobilization, depression). We begin to feel most untethered in this state, as we can lose access to ourselves. Depression simply means a disconnection from Self.
REGULATING THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
When we feel anxiety, we are feeling a lack of safety to be within ourselves; when we feel depression, we are feeling a lack of safety and an inability to be ourselves. Let me be perfectly clear ... we are 100% able to; what we cannot do in this state, is access the internal resources that we already have, to come back to ourselves.
This is why regulating the nervous system is one of the most important practices to incorporate when healing from trauma and chronic stress. Depression and anxiety are not the problem; in fact, they are the solution to what has been the problem for so long, the threat that our nervous systems have protected us from so fiercely and loyally.
Our nervous systems will never abandon us; and so, it is most important that we do not abandon ourselves. This is the first step that becomes most important when working to rewire out of survival and into safety.
THERAPY AND POLYVAGAL THEORY
So ... what does this mean in terms of healing anxiety and depression? This, lovely humans, means that we cannot think our way into healing. We cannot think our way into connection. We must regulate the nervous system to be able to move out of states of protection. Incorporating Polyvagal Theory into our healing can help to gently move us out of states of survival and promote greater access to safety and connection and allow for more effective and consistent healing of anxiety and depression.
HOW THERAPY CAN HELP WITH ALLEVIATING ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION
Recognize our physiological responses to stress and trauma
Meet and heal our nervous system
Acquire self-regulation skills
Move out of states of fight/flight/freeze/fawn
Heal root causes
Kindly,
HELPFUL LINKS
The Secret Language of the Body
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - Call or text 988
Crisis Text Line - text HOME to 741741
If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, always seek professional help immediately. Please call 911 or the suicide prevention lifeline at 988 or go to your nearest emergency room for immediate care.
DISCLAIMER
The content of these webpages and blogs and information provided is for general informational and educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health condition. Seek professional help immediately if you are experiencing a mental health crisis or any other medical condition.