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Busy, Numb, or Stuck? Your Coping Mechanisms Have a Backstory | NowShift August 12, 2025

Dr Abhimanyou Raathore Season 1 Episode 15

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What if the habits you judge yourself for—the endless busyness, the scrolling to escape, the drinking to numb, the withdrawal from friends—aren’t flaws at all? What if they’re actually your nervous system’s way of keeping you alive?

In Episode 3 of the Trauma Symptoms Mini-Series, Dr. Abhimanyou Raathore, founder of the Antifragilient OS, dives into the behavioral side of trauma—twelve common coping patterns that often go unnoticed as trauma responses. From addiction and compulsive overwork to isolation, self-harm, and chronic procrastination, these behaviors are more than random habits. They’re survival strategies your system created to protect you from pain.

Instead of labelling them as “bad” or “lazy,” Dr. Raathore invites you to see these behaviors for what they are: protective parts—managers, firefighters, and exiles—that stepped in when you needed them most. This shift from judgment to curiosity can be the first step toward lasting change.

If you’ve ever asked yourself, “Why can’t I stop doing this, even when I know better?”, this episode may hold your answer. Tune in and discover how understanding the origins of your behaviors can help you not just survive, but grow stronger through life’s challenges.

A podcast by Dr. Abhimanyou Raathore
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Speaker 1:

Today is August 12th 2025. My name is Dr Abhimanyu Rathore and I am the founder of the Anti-Fragilient Operating System. Here's the anti-fragilient transmission for the day. So welcome back to our trauma series, and today is episode 3 of our trauma symptoms mini-series.

Speaker 1:

Today we are going to go ahead and explore behavioral symptoms, that is, the ways our actions, our habits and our coping strategies can be shaped by past experiences, even when we are not consciously aware of that. So what are behavioral symptoms In simple terms? Let's understand them a little bit better. So trauma doesn't just shape how you feel. It also affects the things we do, often without realizing it. These behaviors can become ways of coping, protecting ourselves or trying to feel and control. So what are such behavioral symptoms? Let's look at them.

Speaker 1:

The first one is addiction. You know. Using alcohol, drugs, gaming, shopping, work, sex or anything else in excess to numb pain or escape feelings. You know that's a trauma behavioral symptom. Second one is lack of motivation, struggling to start tasks or pursue goals. You know even things you once cared about. That's a behavioral symptom. Then the third one is inability to slow down, keeping yourself constantly busy so you don't have to feel or think about difficult things. Fourth one is eating disorder. You know using food, whether by restricting, overeating or purging, as a way to you know cope with emotions or regain control. Then the fifth one is impulsiveness or manic symptoms. You know acting without thinking things through or having bursts of energy and risky behavior that don't feel like you Right. So, in other words, you understand that's actually you blending with your parts. Yeah, all of this is blending with your parts, basically.

Speaker 1:

So let's understand the sixth one, which is inability to manifest. So imagine this, friends, and understand this that you know feeling blocked when it comes to turning dreams or plans into reality, as something invisible keeps holding you back. That is a behavioral symptom of trauma. Then seventh is self-harm intentionally hurting your body as a way to express emotional pain or regain a sense of control. Then eighth is sexual difficulties you know struggling with intimacy, desire or sexual functioning due to past pain or fear. Ninth is social anxiety you know feeling intense fear or discomfort in social situations, worrying about judgment or reaction or rejection. Then tenth is social isolation you know pulling away from friends, family or community, even when part of you longs for that connection. Then eleventh is thoughts of suicide you know feeling like life is too heavy to carry or that the pain will never end. Twelfth is underemployment. You know staying in jobs far below your skills or potential, sometimes out of fear, low self-worth or exhaustion.

Speaker 1:

So if you recognize any of these behaviors in yourself, remember they are not random and they are not your identity. They are strategies your nervous system learned to help you get through Okay and somewhere contributed to your parts being developed Right, whether it's managers, firefighters or exiles. In the next episode we will explore cognitive symptoms. That is how trauma can influence the way we think, decide or see ourselves. Do let me know what you think about today's episode and share it with people so that we have more and more people who understand themselves better, are more compassionate towards their parts and are therefore on the road to becoming anti-fragilient. Thank you so much. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye-bye.