The Mel Robbins Podcast Nervous System Reset: Do THIS Every Day to Rewire Your Brain From Stress and Anxiety
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Apr 27, 2026 
Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, pediatrician and former California Surgeon General, explores how childhood adversity can wire an overactive stress response into adult life. She talks about why people shut down, procrastinate, or feel sudden dread. The conversation highlights ACEs, toxic stress, buffering, and simple daily practices like “I’m here” that help the nervous system feel safer.
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Trauma Is The Body's Stress Response
- Nadine Burke Harris says trauma is not the event itself but the body's biological response to overwhelming stress.
- A seven-year-old stopped growing after a sexual assault at four; therapy helped normalize stress hormones, growth, and asthma.
ACEs Predict Adult Disease Beyond Bad Habits
- The ACE study found childhood adversity predicts adult depression, addiction, heart disease, and lung disease in a dose-response pattern.
- Even after removing smoking, drinking, diet, and inactivity, about half the risk remained from an overactive stress response itself.
Why Early Adversity Requires More Buffering
- Buffering helps the body re-regulate after stress through safe relationships, hugs, therapy, and calming practices.
- Nadine Burke Harris uses a teeter-totter image: earlier adversity shifts the fulcrum, so adulthood requires much more buffering to regain balance.
