The Physiology of Sustainable Queer Activism: Staying Regulated While Creating Change By Payam Ghassemlou, MFT, Ph.D., SEP

 

Most members of the queer community who are paying attention are aware of the urgent need to address the critical issues surrounding attacks on the rights of LGBTQ+ people. In my somatic therapy work with concerned queer activists who are deeply passionate about making the world a better place, I have noticed a recurring pattern: this sense of urgency is not simply held as a conscious awareness; it can become a chronic, lived bodily experience. What begins as an understandable response to hateful acts against members of the LGBTQ+ community can become deeply embodied, shaping how a person’s nervous system responds, even when they are no longer consciously focused on an immediate threat.

The urgency to fight to protect our rights can become so deeply embodied that it overrides the body’s need for rest, recovery, and self-care. We can remain aware of the urgent need to create change without becoming physiologically stuck in a state of urgency. When socially conscious people who care deeply about making the world a better place begin to neglect respite and remain in a constant state of activation, their bodies may eventually bear the consequences. Prolonged stress and ongoing physiological activation can contribute to exhaustion, burnout, sleep problems, digestive problems, chronic fatigue, and other stress-related health consequences.

Effective activism does not require us to remain in a constant state of emergency. Caring deeply about the rights of LGBTQ+ people and taking time to rest are not opposing forces. Respite, recovery, and regulation are essential to sustaining ourselves so that we can continue creating meaningful change over the long term. Chronic dysregulation can weaken our efforts toward liberation by chipping away at our sense of vitality and our capacity to remain engaged.

Some gay activists have shared with me that they feel unable to take a break from being angry and mobilized around the injustices affecting marginalized communities such as BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities. Stepping away from that state of mobilization can bring up guilt and even a paralyzing sense that they are betraying their values. This approach to activism can cause the body’s capacity for mobilization to override its capacity to rest and recover. In the long run, such an approach is not sustainable.

The human stress-response system is adapted to respond to challenges, but it is not adapted to sustain prolonged activation indefinitely. In many cases, continuing to fight despite the body’s need for a break can eventually result in profound exhaustion. Collapsing from exhaustion is not the same as restorative rest. For some people, extreme exhaustion can involve withdrawal, immobilization, or a shutdown-like state. Many activists can become caught between prolonged mobilization and exhaustion, moving between these extremes rather than finding a sustainable state of regulation and recovery.

Mobilization and withdrawal are both important protective responses, and each can serve a function depending on the circumstances. The problem arises when these responses become prolonged, inflexible, or difficult to shift out of these states. When the body remains in a chronic state of activation or exhaustion without adequate recovery, it can place significant stress on the body and contribute to burnout and other stress-related health consequences.

The need to fight for our rights is very important. There is no question about that. Those of us who are awake and paying attention can respond to the critical issues of our time without ignoring the importance of nervous system regulation. No socially conscious person who cares not only about the rights of LGBTQ+ people but also about global issues such as climate change, ecocide, threats to democracy, and racism should ever have to choose between fighting for the well-being of humanity and the Earth and protecting their own health and well-being.

We can care about LGBTQ+ rights. We can care about the rights of other marginalized people. We can remain informed and involved. We can operate from urgency physiology when that is the necessary platform from which to take action. And we can practice self-care to replenish ourselves.

By “urgency physiology,” I mean the heightened state of attention, arousal, and mobilization that can arise when we perceive a threat or feel that immediate action is needed. There are times when this state is appropriate and necessary. The goal is not to eliminate urgency or become detached from the realities around us. The goal is to develop enough flexibility to mobilize when action is needed and to shift toward recovery when the immediate demand for action has passed.

Nervous system regulation and standing up for marginalized communities can both be part of sustainable activism. Personal and collective healing are interconnected. Taking care of our capacity to remain engaged, responsive, and connected is not a retreat from activism; it can help make activism sustainable.

The key to effective activism is developing nervous system flexibility—the capacity to move between states of urgency when action is needed and states of respite and recovery when restoration is needed. Developing this flexibility requires understanding how chronic stress, trauma, and nervous system responses can interact, as well as using somatic approaches that can help us recognize when we are becoming stuck in patterns of chronic activation, defense, or exhaustion.

Effective activism does not mean caring less. It means developing the capacity to care deeply without sacrificing our ability to recover. We do not have to choose between liberation and our own well-being. We need both.

 

© Dr. Payam Ghassemlou, MFT, Ph.D., SEP

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (Psychotherapist), providing online therapy in California, Oregon, and Florida.

www.DrPayam.com