Is Your Nervous System Stuck in Survival Mode?

A quick self-check for anxiety, burnout, sleep disruption, or trauma-driven stress patterns.

Reminder:

It's common to experience elements of multiple patterns, choose the best for you right now.

1. When you try to relax, what usually happens?

My mind keeps running through thoughts or worries.

I feel drained and sometimes zone out.

Sometimes I feel anxious, other times I completely crash.

I can relax without force or effort.

2. Your typical energy pattern looks like:

Constantly busy, but tense.

Low energy most of the time.

Bursts of productivity, followed by burnout.

3. When conflict happens, you tend to:

Overanalyze and replay the conversation.

Withdraw or shut down.

React strongly and later feel emotionally drained.

I feel the stress, but am able to breathe through it.

4. When you're under pressure you usually:

Push harder and stay alert.

Feel overwhelmed and want to escape.

Push hard for a while, then crash.

Remind myself to focus on my breath and take regular breaks.

5. Your relationship with sleep is usually:

Hard to fall asleep because my mind is active.

I can sleep and usually for a long time, but still feel exhausted.

I often wake up during the night or feel wired before bed.

I appreciate my sleep as much as being awake!

6. When something stressful happens your body feels:

Tense or restless.

A surge of energy followed by exhaustion.

Feel stressed, but recover quickly.

7. When you're emotionally overwhelmed you:

Think about it nonstop, “My brain never stops.”

Detach or feel numb, “I feel emotionally drained.”

Feel intense emotion and then shut down, “I feel like I'm on a rollercoaster.”

I ALLOW help from those people and tools in my support system. I let myself feel the emotion fully and then move on, "This is intense, but it will pass and I am okay."

8. If you had to describe your internal state:

I often feel on edge & alert.

I often feel shut down & exhausted.

Internally I am unpredictable, I feel both wired & tired simultaneously.

My energy levels are relatively stable and feel balanced.

9. How do you usually feel before bed?

My mind starts racing as soon as I lie down.

I feel emotionally heavy or numb.

I somehow feel both exhausted and wide-awake at the same time.

Once I am tired, I fall asleep without major difficulty.

10. Sleep usually looks like:

I have extreme difficulty falling asleep.

I sleep... but wake up exhausted.

I wake up a lot through the night & have a hard time staying asleep.

I have occasional stressful nights, but they aren't chronic and I usually wake rested.

11. When something stressful happens, your reaction is usually:

Anxiety, overthinking, hyper-alert, and doomed thoughts.

I shut down, withdraw, and hermit away for what feels like ages.

I usually have a panic attack or meltdown, and end up crashing later.

Stress comes and goes; I recover from difficult moments fairly quickly.

12. Your energy pattern feels like:

Low energy and unmotivated.

A surge of emotion then collapse.

Honestly, relatively stable.

13. When you're emotionally overwhelmed you tend to:

I overanalyze everything.

I go completely numb and detach.

It feels like I'm on a rollercoaster between anxiety and burnout.

Feeling my emotions does not cause overwhelm, I am able to reflect before reacting.

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