Source status: established anatomical and physiological term.
The autonomic nervous system helps regulate organs and bodily processes involved in mobilisation, recovery and adaptation to changing conditions. Its sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions can interact in more than a simple on-off seesaw.
Activation is not automatically danger, and settling is not automatically safety. A subjective sensation may be compatible with several physiological processes; it cannot diagnose an autonomic state on its own.
Different from: Polyvagal Theory. The autonomic nervous system is established physiology. Polyvagal Theory is one proposed framework for interpreting parts of that physiology and remains scientifically disputed.
Related: Arousal; Regulation; Vagus Nerve; Polyvagal Theory.
