The Nervous Nervous System
First things first… your nervous system is likely jacked up and it’s a problem. After YEARS of capitalist, white-supremacist, patriarchal conditioning, your brain probably hurts real bad. Those systems of supremacy promote a type of individualism that isn’t compatible with human nature. More specifically, those systems of supremacy are not compatible with our nervous systems. Our nervous systems were designed for us to live communally, to sense threats to the group and face them together. Corporate capitalism is… not that.
When a company prioritizes profit for private equity, venture capital, or other shareholders, the employees always come second (or last, honestly). The construct of Reduction in Force or mass layoffs really became viral as a way for executives to demonstrate their willingness to save money by cutting people. As if the loss of income wasn’t bad enough, in America, losing your job usually means losing access to healthcare. Corporations literally treat people as though they are expendable and your nervous system knows it! The threat to your safety is real. And its made worse by the constant access to a 24/7 apocalyptic news cycle, among other common household stressors.
And you might be aware gestures widely of your nervous system, but if you’re not a) actively tuned into your nervous system state of affairs and b) doing something about it on a regular basis, then chances are your nervous system is in charge of you and not the other way around. This applies at home and at work, where the threat is real. The good news: you can do something about it. Breathing exercises, touching grass, meditation… the methods are plentiful. But just because the solution is simple, doesn’t make it easy.
But why do you need to tend to your nervous system, you ask? Well, aside from the fact that it’s hard to be around a dysregulated nervous system, studies have linked illness to dysregulated nervous systems and longevity to regulation. But in the context of Industrial/Organizational Psychology, this is the number one way to make your work, your team, and your company culture tolerable, if not actually enjoyable.