Chronic Stress as Allostatic Displacement Accumulation: HPA Axis as Displacement Amplifier, Allostatic Load as Φ, and the Physiology of Sustained Wrong Attractor Residency

We apply the Displacement Framework to the biology and sociology of chronic stress, formalizing allostatic load as accumulated displacement Φ_stress = ∫D(ξ_stress)dt and identifying chronic stress as the condition in which the HPA axis has been captured by a wrong attractor: it cannot return to S°_stress even in the absence of active stressors. The Weathering Hypothesis (Geronimus) is formalized as differential Φ accumulation from structural racism as a chronic stressor.

Polyvagal theory is integrated as a mechanistic account of the autonomic displacement pathways. Key propositions cover: acute stress as correct displacement with self-organized return, chronic stress as failed return with accumulating Φ, burnout as HPA exhaustion wrong attractor (flat cortisol), ACEs as permanent basin deformation lowering the chronification threshold, structural poverty as unavoidable stressor that accumulates Φ without access to recovery resources, and glucocorticoid toxicity as the direct physiological mechanism linking Φ_stress to organ damage.

Stress inoculation, social support, and mindfulness-based stress reduction are formalized as basin-deepening and return-path clearing interventions. The framework provides a unified account of why chronic stress is a physiological and social justice problem simultaneously.