<rant>

For 2 months I've run into this. Everyone talked about it like it was something real.

It's not.

It's a metaphor.

There is little that is even qualitatively measurable about it.

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Here's a better way to think of it.

• yes there is a range of arousal you can tolerate.
• Yes, spending too much time in hyper will crash you down to hypo.
• Yes this "window" is different in different cirsumstances.
• No, this window does not expand and shrink. Rather than expanding your window, you are reducing your response to a given stimulus. A 3 yr old in a temper tantrum may be at the same arousal level as the parent who just watched his 3 yr old drown in the river. Because it to a given stimulus, the "window" varies from situation to situation.

That said:

• If you have been running lots of adrenaline and cortisol, two things happen: A: You can eventually stop producing it, at least for a short while. B: You become less sensitive to it's action

As CTPSD people, we really need the following tools:

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• A fast way to tell where in the "window of tolerance" we are. Barely awake above hypo, Clear and level headed. Bright eyed, and bushy tailed. Slightly hyper. Ready to go off and explode. By fast: 1-3 questions to ask ourselves. 3 seconds tops.
• A fast way to tell how fast our level is changing. The problem for lots of us, lots of the time, is that we can go from Clear and Level headed to hyper in a femtosecond. We need mechanisms to recognize the earliest stages of triggering, so we can start the control process FAST. If we are ramping up slowly, we can ride the flashback closer to the edge, and investigate ouir parts to understand and defuse it. If it's fast, we just need to clamp down before it wrecks our day.
• A BIG workbook of methods to change our arousal state by 10%. Breathing. Running. Rock climbing. Trampoline. Ways to raise it, ways to lower it. A way to practice enough of these so that when we hit the first two bullets here, we can find something to do NOW that will slow down the rise/ mitigate the effects.

***

I spent a good bit of time talking today to my T about mediation. The classic style, with the zazen pose, eyes closed, "Ommmmmmm" puts me into dissociation in about 10 minutes. Not deep. But I'm oblivious to anything but my name and maybe "who wants ice cream"

The mindfulness version: Observing the world, "Sense, name, describe" works well for me, and I can do it walking.

No one tells us this.

Lots of us spend time in mid range WoT to hyper. Me, I spend my time hovering on the bottom edge going for a shorter or longer dip in hypo. So your mileage may vary.

​

</rant>