These are undoubtably strange and difficult times. There seems to be a plenitude of misinformation, confusion and closedmindedness on all sides. The fear that is circulating is palpable. The object of this fear seems interchangeable and variable depending on our individual beliefs and value systems. There is fear of the virus, fear of the vaccination, fear of the “superspreaders”, fear of the “vaccine shedders”, fear of unending lockdowns, fear of ending lockdown, fear of the government, fear of conspiracy theorists, fear of each other and essentially a general fear of the world around us. There is so much fear currently in circulation. As a psychologist in clinical practice, I am interested in observing and understanding the effects of certain states of mind on our behaviour, our relationships and our general wellbeing.
What is happening when we are in a fear based state?
When we experience fear, the amygdala is stimulated. It sends signals to the nervous system to activate the fear response and begin circulating the chemicals involved in keeping us safe. When we are in a fear based state we are essentially functioning from the limbic system. The limbic system is a primitive part of the brain that developed early on in human evolution. The part of the brain responsible for the stress response has been nicknamed the “reptilian brain” because it is the part of the brain which most resembles the brain of a reptile. It is interested in survival and has kept us alive as a species for thousands of years. The secretion of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenalin in the presence of imminent danger ensure that we have the energy to effectively deal with the threat by fighting it off or running away. Once the energy has been exerted and the threat has been averted the fear response should then shut down and the parasympathetic nervous system can kick in allowing us to calm down and recentre.
During the fear response state, we are focused solely on survival of the imminent threat. Our economy of attention favours the limbic “reptilian brain” and shuts off the rest. Our prefrontal cortex is shut down and unavailable to us during the fear response. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for logic, reason, future planning, decision making, impulse control as well as compassion and empathy. This part of the brain developed much later in the evolution of our species and is what makes us fundamentally “human”.
From an evolutionary perspective it makes sense that as life became safer and less threatening we were able to develop the capacity for clearer thinking. When we are faced with an imminent threat like a hungry tiger approaching, it doesn’t make sense to be standing there weighing up the options - thinking about the most logical, effective and compassionate decision that we could make. We would be wasting precious moments that should be used for fighting off the tiger or running away as fast as we can. We need to act impulsively when we are faced with a real and imminent danger. The quick, reflexive nature of the fear response is what helps to keep us alive. Once the threat has gone, we can then calm down and think clearly again.
The problem with what is happening in the world currently is that the threat is pervasive and lingering. It isn’t going away. The fear response isn’t able to shut down and allow the parasympathetic nervous system to kick in. We are living in a state of perpetual fear and readiness. In other words, we have become like reptiles. I see evidence of this in digital conversations, on the street, in the supermarkets. We are on the attack and on the defensive. We are turning against one another and living in fear.
This means that we don’t have access to our all our cognitive functions. We lose the ability for clear thinking, empathy and reason. How can we have a valuable conversation without the openness to hear one another? How can we grow or learn without access to open mindedness, clear thinking or compassion? We can’t. If we continue functioning from the limbic system alone we will continue to be locked into the dichotomous “us against them” dynamics of relating. This is where we sow the seeds for closed-mindedness, bigotry, regression and violence.
It is my opinion that this time offers us an exciting opportunity for evolution. We need to develop and learn new ways of responding to an imminent threat that doesn’t mean the limbic system taking over and shutting down the other parts of our cognitive functions.
The fear response has served us well for thousands of years and will continue to do so in the case of simple stressors. We see a tiger approaching – we get the super human chemical powers – we run for our lives. However, we are no longer living in simple times. Like the rest of modern society, our stressors have become more complicated. We are faced with imminent and pervasive threats that don’t go away quickly. In these instances, the ancient fear response no longer serves us because when the stress hormones are secreted continuously and there is no end to the perceived threat, we lose access to our cognitive functions necessary for sound decision making and we start to develop chronic physiological and psychological disorders.
We need to evolve as a species and find new ways to respond to imminent and pervasive threats that does not involve becoming reptiles. I am not suggesting that we bury our heads in the sand or bypass the fear that we are experiencing. What I am suggesting is that we bypass the fear response and instead find a way to respond to the threat with even more capacity to look at it and hold it – with our whole brain active.
In order to engage the prefrontal cortex, we need to not be in the primitive fear response. There are many known techniques for calming ourselves down in the face of danger and moving from the limbic system into a whole brain state. One of the most simple techniques is to take slow, deep and conscious breaths. There is a simple evolutionary reason for this. When we are faced with an imminent danger and our fear response is active, our breath becomes quick and shallow so that more oxygen can move into our muscles to prepare for the fight or flight as a reaction to the danger. When we breathe deeply and slowly, we are essentially communicating to our nervous system “I am safe”, “there is no threat here”. The fear response can then shut down and the prefrontal cortex can reopen. This is a highly effective way to bypass the primitive fear response.
I want to reiterate that I am in no way demonising the stress response. It is a good system that has kept us safe for thousands of years and will continue to do so. What I am asserting is that we need to find a new way of relating to a threat when the primitive fear response is not appropriate. Again, if a tiger is approaching us looking hungry, we want our breath to be quick and shallow, getting our cortisol/adrenalin hit and running away. That would be an appropriate response. However, we can’t run from COVID-19 (or the vaccine passport) and we certainly can’t run from lockdown. We can’t fight it either. So the primitive stress response does not serve us here and in fact is actually harmful – to our bodies, minds and relationships.
I am not saying that we can’t protest or express our opinions. We can and should in an egalitarian and democratic society. Rather, what I am suggesting is that before we speak or act, we find a way to inhabit our whole self – so that we are coming from a place of being human – fully equipped with our whole cognitive capacity including empathy. This is the way forward, individually and collectively. Self-care and self-soothing practises are no longer an option. They have become a necessity for survival and a key to human evolution. We need to learn to calm ourselves down so we can open ourselves up and begin to function from our highest state of being.
If you would like to learn more techniques for deactivating the limbic fear response system feel free to get in touch with me. I am more than happy to share. We are all connected and responsible for the wellbeing of one another.
Thanks for this beautiful reminder Orly.. x