Living In Trauma-Code Orange

If you’ve ever taken an awareness course, you’ve probably learned about Cooper’s Color Codes of Awareness.

White: Completely unaware. Sleeping or resting heart rate. 50 - 100 beats per minute.

Yellow: Relaxed but aware and alert. Normal heart rate.

Orange: A potential threat is identified and heart rate escalates. Approximately 115 beats per minute.

Red: The threat is verified and heart rate increases. 115-145 beats per minute.

Black is when a threat presented itself and you had no plan and you froze, fled, or fought with no conscious thought. Heart rate skyrockets, 145-175 beats per minute.

While the significance of each level is important, let’s focus on ORANGE.

In Code Orange…
Awareness is heightened. Threat focus is maintained. Adrenaline is released to prepare us for fight or flight. Fine motor skills are still intact. Breathing and heart rate are increased. Muscles get more oxygen. You’re prepared to act and have the most chance of avoiding any threats that may present themselves.

For those who have suffered trauma, long term or not, “code orange” can become the norm as our brain scrambles to evolve and protect us.

In a recent training, it was explained in a way that made perfect sense. The explanation truly helped put into perspective the absolute importance of healing and managing trauma for overall physical health.

Consider the person who drinks 2 energy drinks a day and the impact of constant nervous system arousal. The heart beats faster, blood pressure is increased, pupils dilate, and vasocontriction is induced to divert blood flow away from vital organs. Sure, we’re more alert but it’s a forced and constant state of alertness. Hence the “crash” once it wears off.

In the same sense, when we live in code orange due to unrelenting trauma responses in relation to real/perceived threats or relived emotional triggers we are constantly micro-dosing our system.

Think of all the important variables within the body that are monitored and regulated by the nervous systems. Heart rate, blood pressure, the contraction and relaxation of muscles throughout the digestive tract, gland function, sexual function and orgasms, hormones, physical and brain development, body temperature, hunger, thirst, plasma volume, and electrolyte-water balance.

Certainly, we can understand how the impact of emotional trauma can become huge factors in our overall physical well-being, especially over the course of years. The question is, how do we stop LIVING IN ORANGE once we get to a place where our safety is secure?

Therapies such as psychotherapy, EMDR, neurofeedback or biofeedback are all great methods for tackling trauma. There are also things you can do all day long to facilitate better mental functioning, which can also boost physical health. Some of these may include practicing mindfulness and grounding exercises. Even exercising, developing a routine, deep breathing, yoga and meditation practices are designed to work with your limbic system to improve function.

Depending on your current level of function, what’s accessible, and how you want to tackle your trauma there are options! Whichever method you choose, be sure to consult your doctor and/or therapist and set a plan for healing.