🛟 Regression First Aid

Sign in to access your journal across all your devices.

🛟 First Aid Guide

This guide was built for use during regression. You don't need to think — just follow the steps.

How intense is the distress right now?

5
0 — calm 10 — unbearable
← Home
Am I in regression?
Check everything that resonates right now. Your reaction feeling "too big" is the first signal.

Signs of regression

My emotions feel out of proportion to the situation
Reaction "bigger than" the situation — first signal
I feel small / helpless / alone
Sense of age — key marker
I've lost the ability to think clearly
Prefrontal cortex going offline
I want to hide, run away, or attack
5F survival response activated
Time feels mixed up — I'm not "here and now"
Sign of emotional flashback
My inner critic is especially loud
Critic voice is often an early-age voice
I can't remember any of my strengths or resources
Tunnel thinking when threat is activated

Which survival response is active?

What am I thinking?

Pick 1–2 that feel true right now. Don't argue with them — just name them.

These thoughts feel like absolute truth in regression. They are symptoms — not reality.
Unsafety / Vulnerability
I'm in danger
I can't relax or something bad will happen
I can't protect myself
I'm weak
Defectiveness / Inadequacy
Something is wrong with me
I'm not like other people
If people knew the real me, they'd leave
I'm not good enough / I should be better
Others manage fine, I don't
I disappoint the people I love
I'm stupid / lazy / worthless
Guilt / Hyper-responsibility
This happened because of me
I should have prevented it
I deserve what's happening to me
Disconnection / Alienation
Nobody really loves me
I'm always alone
I'll be abandoned once people know me better
I'm not needed by anyone
Helplessness / Hyper-control
I won't cope
Nothing will change
I'm doomed
I have no control over my life
Permanence / Irreversibility
I'll always be like this
This will never change
This will keep happening to me over and over
← Home
What am I thinking?
Pick 1–2 that feel true right now. Don't argue with them — just name them.
These thoughts feel like absolute truth in regression. They are symptoms — not reality.
Unsafety / Vulnerability
I'm in danger
I can't relax or something bad will happen
I can't protect myself
I'm weak
Defectiveness / Inadequacy
Something is wrong with me
I'm not like other people
If people knew the real me, they'd leave
I'm not good enough / I should be better
Others manage fine, I don't
I disappoint the people I love
I'm stupid / lazy / worthless
Guilt / Hyper-responsibility
This happened because of me
I should have prevented it
I deserve what's happening to me
Disconnection / Alienation
Nobody really loves me
I'm always alone
I'll be abandoned once people know me better
I'm not needed by anyone
Helplessness / Hyper-control
I won't cope
Nothing will change
I'm doomed
I have no control over my life
Permanence / Irreversibility
I'll always be like this
This will never change
This will keep happening to me over and over

Say this aloud or whisper:

"Even though I'm thinking badly about myself right now and it feels like [your thought] — I choose not to believe these thoughts. Not every thought in my head deserves trust. Bad thoughts are a symptom of my regression."

Which survival response is active?

Identifying this now personalizes your recovery steps later. (Optional)

← Home
Body Scan
Practice tool — for use between episodes, not during active regression.
Building somatic awareness when calm makes it available when you need it. During a regression, use the Emergency Steps — they include the scan in context.
Head
Speed of thoughts
/10
Jaw
Tension
/10
Back of neck
Tension
/10
Shoulders
Tension
/10
Chest
Knot / pressure / emptiness
/10
Solar plexus
Knot / pressure / nausea
/10
Belly
Knot / pressure / heaviness
/10
Total intensity —
🚨 Emergency · 7 steps
You're in regression
Follow the steps. You don't need to think — just do the next one.
1
Name what's happening
"I'm in regression right now. Part of me is reacting from the past."

Say it aloud or whisper. This activates the naming function — labeling the state helps reduce amygdala reactivity.

2
Body scan — baseline (BEFORE)

Record your baseline before doing anything. You'll compare it after — this is how you know if techniques are working.

Head
Speed of thoughts
0
Jaw
Tension
0
Back of neck
Tension
0
Shoulders
Tension
0
Chest
Knot / pressure / emptiness
0
Solar plexus
Knot / pressure / nausea
0
Belly
Knot / pressure / heaviness
0
Baseline total —
3
Reduce the perceived threat
"What I'm feeling right now is a memory of how things once were. Memories are not dangerous. This is just an intense, emotional memory."
4
Return attention to the present
Rotate head and neck — find and name: 1 GREEN thing, 1 ORANGE thing, 1 RED thing
Touch 3 different surfaces with your palm — say what each one feels like
Name 3 sounds you can hear right now
5
Move to a safer / quieter place
Move away from the triggering situation or person if possible
6
Do 3–4 from this list
Rub your ears vigorously (vagus nerve stimulation)
Wash face with cool water
Hum or make an "Omm" sound
Pick up a small object — name 12 physical characteristics
Put a hard candy in your mouth — focus entirely on the taste
Breathe: inhale 4 counts, exhale 6 counts (longer exhale activates parasympathetic)
Close right nostril — breathe only through left
Brush your teeth — focus entirely on the sensations
Say aloud: today's date, day of week, your birthday, what you ate yesterday
7
Body scan — compare (AFTER)

Re-scan the same zones. Compare to baseline.

Head
Speed of thoughts
0
Jaw
Tension
0
Back of neck
Tension
0
Shoulders
Tension
0
Chest
Knot / pressure / emptiness
0
Solar plexus
Knot / pressure / nausea
0
Belly
Knot / pressure / heaviness
0
Before
—
After
—
Numbers didn't drop: Reach out for support. Don't stay alone with this.
Numbers dropped: Schedule 30 minutes within the next day for somatic recovery so the body can finish processing and regression doesn't return.

📓 Add a note (optional)

⚠️ Avoid these right now

✗ "Pull yourself together" — prefrontal cortex is offline, that tool isn't available
✗ Making important decisions — you're temporarily functioning with a child's resources
✗ Analyzing which childhood experience caused this — regulate first, analyze later
✗ Blaming yourself for regressing again — self-criticism in regression is regression inside regression
← Home
Recovery Protocol
Use this after the acute peak has passed. First body, then thinking — not the reverse.
Regression is a nervous system response. It can only be completed by working with the body — not with thinking. Regulation first, insight later.
1
Review what happened

Whether you've just come from the emergency steps or starting fresh — name the full experience in your own words.

2
Grounding and safety

Bring your nervous system back to the present. Grounding isn't meditation — it's giving your body concrete present-moment signals: textures, sounds, temperature, movement.

Grounding may feel like it "doesn't work" at first — especially if safety was rare in childhood. Effect accumulates with practice. Train this when calm so it's available when you're not.

5-4-3-2-1 Sensory

Name 5 things you see · 4 you can touch · 3 you hear · 2 you smell · 1 you taste

Breath anchor

Inhale 4 counts. Hold 1. Exhale 6 counts. Repeat 5×. The longer exhale activates the parasympathetic system.

Physical anchor

Press feet into the floor. Feel your weight in the chair. Put both hands flat on a surface. Say "I am here. It is [date]."

3
Complete the survival movement (physical)

Help your nervous system finish the incomplete physical response. The body needs to complete the movement it was mobilized for. Match to your 5F response:

FIGHT — anger, rage, irritability Push palms hard against a wall with force. Exhale sharply. Let the body complete the resistance movement. Say: "I can protect myself."
FLIGHT — anxiety, urgency, restlessness Shake legs vigorously. Brisk walk. Stomp feet. Discharge the mobilization energy.
FREEZE — paralysis, fog, unreality Very slow gentle movement. Rock your body. Micro-movements to "thaw." Orienting — slowly look around the room, naming objects.
FAWN — pleasing, disappearing, no boundaries Say your own needs and wants aloud. Practice: "I don't want to." "I have the right to say no." "My needs matter."
FOLD — collapse, apathy, hopelessness Gravity anchoring — press feet into floor, hands into wall. Feel your own weight. Very gentle movement, not forcing energy.

Steps 1–3 work with the body. Steps 4–6 need more cognitive capacity.
Only continue when your nervous system feels somewhat calmer.

Every time you notice regression — that is already a skill.
Every time you do one thing from this list — that is already work.
← Home
Self-Compassion Phrases
Say aloud, whisper, or internally. You don't need to believe them immediately — just say them. Tap a phrase to highlight it.
Self-compassion ≠ positive thinking. It's the ability to be on your own side in pain — without denying it or exaggerating it.
Recognition
"This really hurts right now. I notice how heavy this is."
Common humanity
"I'm not alone in this. Many people feel exactly this."
Kindness
"What do I need right now? How can I take care of myself?"
Acceptance
"I allow this feeling to be here — without fighting it."
Safety
"Right now I am safe. This feeling will pass."
Support
"I deserve support — the same as any other person."
Inner child
"I see you. You survived then — and you're surviving now."
Reminder
"Regression is not a weakness of character. My nervous system was injured in childhood. This is not my fault."
Letter to inner critic
"I see you. You were trying to protect me for a long time. That way of coping helped me survive then. Now our reality is different. I don't need that protection in the same form anymore."

Compassionate letter practice

Write to yourself as you would to a close friend who is going through the same thing:

Describe the situation or feeling — without judgment, just as a fact
Remind yourself: many people experience this. You're not alone.
Write what you would say to a close friend. Address those words to yourself.
← Home
📓 Journal
Log of regression episodes — helps identify patterns and triggers over time.
← Home
Common Traps
In regression, intuitive self-help usually makes things worse. Know these patterns.
✗ Telling yourself "everything's fine"
✓ "I feel bad right now, and that's okay" — denying pain increases tension
✗ Demanding to "pull yourself together"
✓ "My nervous system is in regression" — prefrontal cortex is offline, that tool isn't available
✗ Looking for the cause in the present situation
✓ Remind yourself: the cause is in the past, not here — the current connection is false
✗ Analyzing which childhood experience triggered this
✓ Regulate first, analyze later — insight requires stability first
✗ Trying to find the trigger right now
✓ Accept: the trigger doesn't matter right now — impossible to find often, and failing increases self-criticism
✗ Fighting negative thoughts with other thoughts
✓ Work with the body, not the thoughts — source is neurobiological, not cognitive
✗ Isolating and waiting for it to pass
✓ Use a regulation technique — nervous system won't calm itself, it needs help
✗ Blaming yourself for "going into regression again"
✓ Regression is not a character weakness — self-criticism in regression is regression inside regression
✗ Making important decisions
✓ Postpone — you're temporarily functioning with a child's resources. Decisions made in this state almost always need revision.
Watch for the self-criticism trap: "I'm not doing this right" or "nothing is helping me" — those thoughts are also regression thoughts, not an objective assessment of reality.