When children leave the green zone, losing control and entering either the chaotic red or the shut-down blue, then they are dysregulated. We can call this state “flipping your lid” because the prefrontal cortex, the upstairs brain, becomes disconnected from the reactive lower parts of the brain that hijack our thoughtful, regulated self. This disconnection is the basis of how the brain in that moment is no longer integrated—the linkage of differentiated parts is temporarily suspended. In that disintegrated state kids need someone, namely you, to step in and co-regulate so they can move back
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