Don't run... The key wouldn't turn in the lock, something was stuck there, and she stupidly poked the key again and again, trying to turn it. in a hurry running away from home, did not close

Walk Cautiously Forward, Run Away In The Happiness Hypothesis, Jonathan Haidt writes that we are all descendants of people who turned the most close attention even at the slightest rustle in the bushes. In a world full of dangers, the over-vigilant and over-cautious survive.

Barrel signals: Attention! Fight, run or freeze? We access our body through interoception, which literally means "perceiving from within". Try to pause for a second right now and feel how your heart beats and how the breaths are replaced by exhalations.

Mechanism: Run, Catch or Kill Avoidance is one of the adaptation mechanisms in the world. No wonder we are so good at it. It was extremely important for cavemen to stay away from animals or phenomena that posed a threat to them - from this

Fight or flight Stress response - "fight or flight" - is the way the body responds to perceived threats, whether the situation is life threatening (like an accident) or feelings dignity(like an exam). In any case, the body is ready to defend itself against

Run if you want to live Louis runs for the University of Southern California, 1938, when he set a National Collegiate Athletic Association record by running a mile

Run if you want to live! Mother from the parent group under the guidance child psychologist, Dr. Chaim Ginot, was clearly aroused. “Doctor Ginot,” she said, “this morning I was so angry! I didn't know whether to hit my son or kill him! If the question is this way,

The better you get your fear under control, the more likely you are to survive and help your loved ones survive.

Extreme situations, unfortunately, are now not so rare in our lives. For someone similar situation violates the whole way of life and for a long time knocks out of the usual rut, and for someone it becomes an incentive for constant growth and development.

In any case, an extreme situation is something that can happen to anyone. And this is what:

It comes suddenly (you will never be ready for an extreme situation, otherwise it will no longer be extreme for you);
- goes beyond the norms of habitual actions and states;
- accompanied by an increase in tension, a progressive change in the situation;
- threatens your health and life.

Derived from human body processes in an extreme situation can be represented as follows: stress affects the sympathetic nervous system, which in turn stimulates the adrenal glands; The adrenal glands respond by releasing adrenaline, hormones, and chemicals.

All this causes rapid heartbeat and breathing, increased blood pressure, muscle tension, dilated pupils and increased sweating. This is a reflex action of the body on the threat. How is this reflected in the perception of a person?

Under stress, the brain selects one primary organ of perception (and most often that is vision). The information that comes to us through the eyes becomes dominant, everything else fades into the background and is suppressed. Probably, you have often heard that in an extreme situation, people start screaming - while they practically do not hear themselves and do not perceive the sounds around them;

Under the influence of stress, peripheral vision is turned off and all attention is concentrated on one object (the so-called "tunnel vision"), as dilated pupils lead to deterioration of vision at close distances;

The reaction to the threat slows down, the person is not able to adequately assess the threat, respond adequately and often becomes incapable of any action;

Motor skills deterioration, worsening fine motor skills and dexterity.

All this leads to the fact that a person turns on three congenital behavioral responses for an emergency:

Bay;
- run;
- freeze.

The "freeze" situation is the most undesirable, as it deprives you of any ability to make decisions and act.

If we consider the remaining two reactions, it turns out that a person either blindly runs away or rushes to the threat. Without self-control, both options usually do not lead to a positive result. Therefore, the most important thing is not to lose control and self-control.

To survive and respond adequately, you need:

Adapt to the situation ("survival of the fittest");
- concentrate and remain calm;
- understand your own fears and overcome them;
- remain optimistic, but prepare for the worst;
- to improvise;
- recover quickly.

If your job or hobby is extreme, then high-risk survival skills should become second nature to you.

This can only be achieved through training, modeling various situations with the help of ideomotor training, various realistic trainings.

It is also necessary to change the perceived level of threat. People react differently to the same situations - the level of tension and fear depends only on you. The better you take control of your fear, the more confident you are in yourself and your skills, the more likely you are to survive and help your loved ones survive.

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In a situation of danger, the instincts assess the situation long before the mind can make a plan of action, and mobilize the body for actions that help us survive: prepare the muscles for fight or flight, prepare massive infusions of hormones into the heart and body to lower the pain threshold and provide us with strength and endurance beyond our normal limits, as well as the ability to lie perfectly still, pretending to be dead, even in a state of readiness for all internal systems to fight or run.

If we were able to avoid death by fighting or running away, then the chances that we will develop chronic anxiety are much lower. The very fact of physical action allows you to utilize all the hormones and muscle readiness for action, plus our brain and body receive hormones of pleasure as a reward for successful actions ensured survival.

If you had to use Die, Freeze or tactics Submissions attacker, survival depends on the ability to temporarily enter the frozen physical and numb psychological state. This occurs when the instincts decide that active physical action will significantly reduce the chances of staying alive, and in the eyes of the attacker or predator, one must appear motionless, dead, or willing to do anything. At the same time, the activation of all systems continues inside the body: the heart is pounding, there is a lump in the stomach, the muscles are tense - in case you need to urgently rush off into a fight or on the run. Emotions at the same time, too, are all put on pause.

Die is the most extreme form Freeze", that is, a fainting state. In this case, the instinct of self-preservation cuts down the body in order to avoid living a painful death. Often in such states, a person needs an urgent health care otherwise he will really die. "Scared to death" is just about that.

Not only a direct physical threat, but also psychological trauma cause reactions in the body Hit, Run, Freeze, Die. After such an injury, the body and emotions may remain partially frozen for days, weeks, or even years, and this often goes unnoticed. Such people usually say that they feel "stuck" in life and that they cannot move in the direction they want. Trauma patients who survived thanks to Freeze or Die, often blame themselves for not running away or engaging in combat, even though at the time of the traumatic event, this type of vigorous physical action could very well result in serious physical injury or death. And besides Freeze and Die there was really no choice.

Panic and anxiety are human problem

In the animal kingdom, disturbing animals or animals with panic attacks. A hare that managed to escape from a fox or escape death by pretending to be dead recovers quickly and continues its normal life. People are different. human brain cannot shake himself off and move on, because he begins to constantly replay experienced dangerous situations, especially if the body is still partially in a frozen state. Phenomena, people, events, smells, objects that remind of the trauma experienced immediately cause the same acute reaction, as it was at the moment of the original trauma, even if the conscious part of the brain does not fully understand what is happening.

Techniques for removing the body from the "Freeze" state

These three actions can help when the trauma had to be endured with the help of " Freeze":
1) Turn your head around to look for possible sources of additional danger
2) Tremble and tremble (as mentioned earlier, both are signs that the danger is over and the body has begun to recover)
3) Movements from the "run" or "hit" series (even if they can only be done in a microscopic amplitude)

Just talk about a terrible event and get support in this case not enough - it is necessary to include bodily actions in the process.

On the emotional level the feeling of endured danger can be expressed in tears. This is the part natural process restoring balance after injury. Feelings of sadness or rage may also appear.

Our body is not designed to constantly replay situations of trauma from the past, it is designed to find the fastest and most easy way to the restoration of physical well-being.

Anxiety Reduction Techniques

The first step is to evaluate your stress level. Move from your head to your body and study the sensations caused by stress to assess its level: low, medium, high, acute. Pay attention to the heart rate, in the palm of your hand, the sensations in your stomach and the temperature of your whole body. Then choose one of the exercises:

1) Setting for safety (all levels of stress)
Breathe deeply and look around. Tilt your head to the right and left. Look up and down. Turn back. Mark anything that looks safe, beautiful, and soothing. Pay attention to the body if it is too cold or too hot and take care of it. Check how comfortable you sit / stand. Repeat all steps if required.

2) Decreased Intermediate Anxiety
Use the VIVO exercise from the previous post

3) Reducing acute anxiety
The task of the exercise is to activate the parasympathetic system.

a. Imagine that you are an alien who first booted into human body and knows nothing about him. Tune in to the feeling of security "I am now calm and safe." Look around for signs of safety.

b. Find in the body only those sensations that seem pleasant. Look for them in your arms, legs, palms, and ears. They can be very small and inconspicuous. Sit comfortably in a chair or armchair. Place both feet on the floor so that they feel a hard surface. You can also hug yourself and rock back and forth as if lulling.

If pleasant sensations are not detected, make yourself a cup of herbal tea or take a warm bath, and then scan the body again. If it doesn’t help, you can remember something pleasant in every detail: where, how, what you were wearing, what the weather was like.

in. You need to focus on pleasant sensations for three minutes, and then get up from your chair and move for three minutes. Shake your arms and legs. Publish different sounds- from growling to loud inhalations and exhalations. Make sure you are not cold or hot.

d. After completing the exercise, keep your attention on the pleasant sensations. Give yourself the task of paying attention only to them, and avoid focusing on unpleasant sensations or thoughts.

Our brain is an amazing mechanism. Its potential continues to amaze scientists. Each time they seem to rediscover this amazing organ. The brain can higher functions, achievements and accomplishments, however, only a small part of people have truly realized themselves and revealed their internal reserves. Those who have achieved truly amazing success are very few. What prevents a person from using his mental functions qualitatively?

The monster inside of us

Self-doubt has many names: lack of confidence, insecurity, shyness, low self-esteem, lack of self-confidence and so on. But a rose, whatever you call it, smells just as wonderful, and in our case, just as prickly. Is not beautiful flower but the sharp thorns of self-distrust. back side confidence. Fear. Self-doubt is a fundamental barrier because it keeps us from getting started. When it is not clear what to do, it becomes scary. Fear blocks action and instills a sense of vulnerability. A person begins to doubt his own abilities, ingenuity, strength, success. Attention switches from what needs to be done to self-defense, and this leads to a dead end.

How to spot an obstacle

A certain barrier provokes characteristic behavior person. In the case of self-doubt, it is hesitation. Primary action: you hesitate The person is ready to act, but does not dare to take a step. He stands on the edge of the springboard and thinks he should jump, but he doesn't. He stops moving towards the goal.

What are the signs of self-doubt?

Do you believe that...

…problems are bigger than your ability to solve them.

Do you think that you lack the skills, talent or strength to cope with the task.

… you have nothing to offer.

What you have to say has no value; you cannot influence the lives of other people, give something good to the world, and what you want to communicate is of no interest to anyone.

… you try your best.

You take the burden on your own, so as not to overstrain. It seems that much in life is not available to you, so you need to moderate your appetite.

... when you want to object, you have to agree, especially at work.

Even when you feel right, you'd rather be seen as sweet and accommodating than confrontational. You won't approach your boss about a promotion career ladder or pay raises. Don't talk about problems. You follow all the rules, but you seem lacking initiative, insecure, devoid of aspirations.

Hidden Mechanism: Failure to Suppress Fear

One of the most important functions brain - to protect the person. When the brain detects a threat, it activates the sympathetic nervous system, the part of the nervous system that controls the acute stress response, better known as the fight-or-flight response.

This ancient neurological mechanism prepares the body to respond to a potential threat. As soon as a person is placed in a situation that could threaten their well-being, this primitive part of the brain sends signals to different areas of the body to prepare them for a response. The heartbeat, pressure, breathing rate, the work of the sweat glands, blood vessels, bladder, muscles change - everything must function so that a person either copes with the threat, or can run away in the opposite direction with the maximum possible speed. When the brain comes to the conclusion that there is no threat, it hangs up the sympathetic nervous system, and hyperactivity disappears.

The concept of "fight or flight" was introduced in 1929 by Walter Cannon, who described the reaction of animals to danger with this term. Over time, scientists discovered a similar mechanism in humans, it includes a chain of four possible reactions, which is conventionally called: "freeze - run - beat - give up." The first reaction is to freeze. Faced with a potentially dangerous situation, a person focuses on the stimulus and tries to figure out how to proceed.

For example, if you are walking through a forest and notice a fire, it is clear that the fire is a threat to you. You put off other things and turn your attention to danger. Then comes the choice of reaction: fight or flight. If it's just an unextinguished fire, you can stomp it. If you have a raging element of a forest fire in front of you, you will run with all your might in the opposite direction with a cry for help.

Although the dangers have changed, the reaction of the brain has remained the same. As soon as he notices a threat, he activates the reaction "freeze - run - hit - give up." Faced with something potentially dangerous, a person freezes. Then he starts thinking about what to do next. Depending on how serious the situation seems, he can either fight or retreat. And if neither one nor the other can be done, the person gives up, remaining in a numb state.

If he decides that there are neither opportunities nor resources to solve the problem, it will gradually absorb the person. For example, it became known that your company plans to reduce staff. You freeze, stop and listen. What's next? Join the fight, fight? Go to the boss and find out the details? Analyze labor contract and performance indicators to find arguments in your favor? Or maybe pick up the pace and show how valuable you are? Or is it better to run away? Start looking for another job, claim compensation and prepare an application for unemployment benefits? If you can't force yourself to do any of the above, surrender mode will kick in.

How to overcome an obstacle

Self-doubt is caused by fear. It turns on when the brain begins to respond to anxiety, although there is no real danger. To avoid this, it is necessary to train the brain to suppress unnecessary fears. The purpose of the following strategies is to cope with fear. To turn off the automatic occurrence of fear, you need to accustom yourself to this emotion. She is more likely to appear in the new and presumably dangerous situation, and after repeatedly encountering an unusual task, the brain stops overreacting and gets used to it. In other words, if you periodically put yourself in situations that you fear the most, you can overcome fear and, as a result, overcome the barrier. The fight against doubts is an increase in self-confidence. Threats are no longer terrifying, and challenges are no longer perceived as unsolvable and exorbitant.

No need to be modest

It is not easy to promote yourself to yourself because you are your own most critical critic. But if you fail to convince even yourself of your own value, others will fail, and even more so. Develop the habit of praising yourself regularly. Remind yourself of your good qualities and rejoice in them. The following three exercises should make you remember strengths. The more seriously you take them and the more you think about them, the more you will be surprised by the results. Feel free to share your thoughts with someone you trust.