If you grew up in chaos, unpredictability, abuse, neglect, or had to become the “strong one” too early… your nervous system adapted. Fight-or-flight isn’t a personality flaw. Hypervigilance isn’t drama. Dissociation isn’t laziness. They are trauma responses. Adverse childhood experiences wire the body for protection before connection. So you learned to scan. Brace. Prepare. That kept you alive. But survival mode was never meant to be permanent. The nervous system is adaptable. It can learn safet