A BIT OF READING...

Fear reflects a cognitive process that engages our deeply engrained survival response. This is an automated response designed to keep us safe. When people feel threatened, they tend to fight or flee, or for some, freeze completely. All of these responses are designed to protect us from harm. These actions indeed increase our chances of survival when faced with threats in our environments such as predators, like we faced back in the beginning of human evolution. 

Behaviours such as bullying as well as the diminished mental wellbeing of someone who has been subjected to bullying, are related to a fear-based response triggering our survival brain. The survival brain has one sole job: SURVIVAL. Just like a reptile’s brain, it is a very small brain with limited functions. It governs predominately automated responses to promote survival. There is little higher thinking or reasoning when this brain is engaged. 

Our survival brain is very important in keeping us safe from harm. The problem is, it was designed to engage in short bursts to protect us when there is imminent danger not in a chronic, prolonged setting. When we are faced with ongoing threats (real or perceived) the chronic engagement of the survival brain results in diminished mental wellbeing. The impact of the survival brain being continually engaged or triggered can be severe.  We can only put up with being in a space of constant alertness for so long without it impacting on our general ability to function.

To further complicate things, the survival brain does not host logical reasoning. Meaning our interpretation of threat can become obscured which can lead to the perception of threats that may not actually reflect reality. This can lead to major complexities both in the context of the workplace, as well as in people’s everyday lives. The altered state of reality can feed a pattern of survival responses, engaging a looping effect, leading to chronically diminished state of wellbeing. In extreme cases, this is the space where suicide can be perceived as the only way out.

Wellbeing in relation to any fear based triggers is dependent on taming that survival response. 

The first step to being able to move to a place of logical reasoning, is to disengage or satisfy the survival brain that we are no longer in imminent danger. From there we then can engage the mid brain/emotional brain, which is where we can begin to make sense of things. With safety and meaning explored, we can only then engage the neocortex (the thinking brain) where truly detailed reasoning and solution focussed thinking occurs. 

A few tips to supporting someone who has their survival brain engaged:

• First off check for real threats that require immediate action.
• Provide the space for the person you are supporting to talk through what is going on for them (when and as they want to), they may need to go over things over and over; this process enables making sense of the situation no matter how difficult.
• Validate their feelings. Validation simply is about affirming that what the person you are supporting is going through is valid. Validation is different from agreeing with what the person is feeling or how they are responding to a perceived threat. The worst thing you can do is place judgement on their reaction based on how you would react differently. Everyone is different and when the survival brain is engaged, all well meaning advice will do is turn you into another ‘tiger’ that needs to be escaped or fought. For someone who has a freeze response, they may shut down communication completely.
• Offer practical steps where appropriate/required. Crisis response is the one area where directive action is appropriate and helpful. As we have learnt, the survival brain engaged can compromise cognitive reasoning. In the event where action is required, it is appropriate to be directive to help the person make a decision. For example, ‘Joe needs to know about Mary's behaviour toward you. I will support you with that conversation as soon as he gets out of his meeting. Let's take an early lunch break until then.' 
• As the person moves to a space of disengaging the survival brain, they then can explore the alternative meaning. This is the space where finding their own experiences of tough times from their past can be helpful. For example, ‘I have had other troubles and I have gotten through them’, ‘I couldn’t see it at the time but now I see how this has made me stronger’ is the type of alternative meaning that can be explored. This also facilitates the building of resilience.