Regulating Your Nervous System as an HSP During Authoritarian Times

Regulating Your Nervous System as an HSP During Authoritarian Times

How to Stay Centered in Chaos and Build Small Systems That Protect Life

When a fascist movement is rising—or when a society is in visible breakdown—Highly Sensitive People (HSPs) often feel it first and feel it hardest. Your nervous system is designed to detect subtle shifts: danger, threat, emotional undercurrents, injustice. This sensitivity is not a weakness. It is an early-warning system.

But without regulation, that same sensitivity can lead to chronic overwhelm, dissociation, panic, or burnout—especially during times of political violence, repression, or revolution.

This piece is about how to stay present, clear, and ethically grounded during chaos. Not by bypassing reality—but by stabilizing your nervous system so you can act wisely, protect others, and help build humane alternatives on a small, sustainable scale.