Self-Regulation

Self-regulation or self-control in relation to trauma is defined as efforts (conscious or unconscious) to adapt to the increased stress and accompanying consequences through actions taken by the person with or without the assistance of others. Self-regulation is the ability to control one's emotions, behavior, and body functions to the desired outcome on a daily basis. This entry discusses self-regulation as it relates to trauma, including self-regulation theory (SRT) and repression and dissociation.

Another form of self-regulation, but at a larger, macro systemic level, is self-policing. Similar to self-regulation, self-policing is the process whereby a profession, organization, group, or company assumes the responsibility (in contrast to laws and regulations forcing such behavior) for monitoring its own adherence to the standards of the community it serves or within which it works. Such standards would allegedly lead the entity to establish and insist from members best practices and high ethical standards to avoid governmental entities forcing the monitoring and enforcing of those standards.

Most often, however, self-regulation is discussed at an individual level and most often within the context of medical compliance. According to modern psycho-neuroimmunology, for example, most systems within the body are autoregulated. Through autoregulation, [Page 603]the body can divert blood (and thus, oxygen) where it is most needed such as in response to an emergency. Homeostasis, for example, is a part of the self-regulation system at a more biological level. Critical body functions are carried out automatically, without thinking about it. It is part of a larger human adaptation system that enables us all to function (e.g., sensory cues such as hunger pangs leads us to eat, thirst leads us to drink, pangs of guilt or social responsibility leads us to be kinder to others).

The self-regulating homeostasis of the body functions to maintain a stable, constant, and preferred condition for maximal functioning—especially in the wake of traumatic events in which survival is a major issue. Self-regulation relevant to trauma is, therefore, the collective, conscious and unconscious, biopsychosocial process first prompted by some internal adaptive mechanism that helps us anticipate, survive, and recover from traumatic event-related psychosocial reactions.