🕯️ IFS and Dysregulation

Everything IFS
Oct 30
1 min read

Dysregulation is the body’s alarm system stuck on high or gone completely numb. In IFS, it means protectors are working overtime to manage sensations they once had no power over.

A hyperaroused part may flood the system with anxiety or rage to stay alert.
A collapsed part may shut everything down to conserve energy.
Both are strategies, not malfunctions.

IFS doesn’t label these states as bad—it listens.

“Who’s turning the volume up?”
"Who’s turning it all off?”

When Self approaches with curiosity, protectors realize they no longer have to guard the body alone. Slowly, regulation returns—not from forcing calm, but from trust rebuilding inside.

Dysregulation in IFS is never failure. It’s the body remembering what danger felt like and waiting to know it’s over.

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