Being in Dubai this past week has brought a sobering reminder of how quickly life can shift.
On Saturday night, a blast happened just outside my window, in the heart of the Palm. It was unexpected and deeply shocking. I spent the next two hours in the underground parking, waiting and listening, feeling the collective uncertainty around me. I know many people across the GCC are navigating similar moments right now, each in their own way, each with their own nervous system response.
When we hear a blast or perceive immediate danger, the sympathetic nervous system activates. This is the body’s fight, flight or freeze response. Adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol are released into the bloodstream. This acute stress response can present as a rapid heartbeat, faster breathing, muscle tension, trembling, heightened hearing, nausea or stomach tightening, dry mouth, or sudden waves of heat or cold.
In these moments, the prefrontal cortex, our rational thinking center, temporarily downregulates. Survival takes priority. From a Jungian perspective, the ego can feel momentarily overwhelmed as deeper autonomic processes take control. The illusion of control dissolves. We are confronted with reality in its raw form. On a collective level, the shadow of destruction becomes tangible.
What many are feeling is not only physical fear, but existential fear. A rupture in the sense of safety we unconsciously rely on.
If you are noticing changes in your body or emotions, please know this is a normal biological response to an abnormal event. There are simple ways to gently regulate the nervous system in the moment:
Look around and name five neutral objects you can see
Feel your feet firmly against the ground
Slow your breathing by extending the exhale longer than the inhale, breathing in for a count of 4 and out for a count of 8
Place one hand on your chest and one on your belly
Speak softly to yourself and remind yourself that you are safe in this moment
Lengthening the exhale stimulates the vagus nerve and helps downregulate the stress response.
In the coming days, after the initial shock subsides, it is normal to experience an increased startle response, sensitivity to loud noises, vivid dreams, emotional waves, or hypervigilance. These reactions do not automatically mean post-traumatic stress disorder. They are often signs of acute stress integration as the body and psyche process what happened.
If symptoms persist for several weeks or intensify into flashbacks, severe avoidance, or panic, trauma-informed support can be very helpful.
Above all, this is a moment for collective care. We regulate not only individually, but together. Check in on one another. Speak openly. Normalize the conversation around nervous system responses and psychological impact.If anyone would like to talk through their experience, their symptoms, or receive additional practices to support regulation, please feel free to reach out. We move through moments like this as a community, not alone.