These responses are hard-wired into our DNA. Research now expands this survival response to include 6 Fs: Fight, Flight, Freeze, Flop, Friend, Fawn. Threats, real or imagined, activate our fight/flight response. The antidote to falling into this destructive pattern for leaders is self-awareness.
The problem is that these unconscious reactions manifest the very thing we are trying to avoid. An overly vigilant action that lashes out at others in an attempt to feel safe.
These responses are “normal” under abnormal circumstances like a global pandemic.Ĭracking down on productivity via spyware is a fight response. Understanding how we “work” can make sense out of what may otherwise look like strange behavior (like executives installing spyware). My colleagues and I ground our work in human physiology. When we understand common, predictable reactions to trauma, stress, and uncertainty, we increase our capacity for awareness, intentionality, and compassion.Ĭompassion for ourselves and compassion for others. It is helpful to understand our universal, human responses to trauma and prolonged stress. We are in the midst of a collective trauma.
#Fight flight freeze fawn flop friend series#
Nurturing and establishing trust with a survivor, and allowing them to “steer the ship”, can save their day, career, or even their life.PRODUCTIVITY IN THE TIME OF PANDEMIC? My contribution to part of a series of articles collaborating with colleagues, Dana Bilsky Asher PhD, and Steve Lunz. It is so important that we believe, validate and support our friends who are survivors. When a victim is silenced and disbelieved, the impacts of their trauma increases. Healing occurs when power is restored to the survivor. We call this state the “resiliency zone”. Our brains are like plastic: with therapy and proper self care, we can regulate our nervous system, and bring our amygdala and prefrontal cortex back to its normal, functioning state. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to function while our nervous system is in a prolonged heightened state. When we feel threatened, our amygdala enlarges, and our prefrontal cortex (the part of our brain that allows us to concentrate, analyze, organize and multitask) shrinks. Our amygdala shrinks and grows depending on the state of our nervous system, and is at its smallest when our environment feels safe, controlled, and predictable. The amygdala sends signals to the hypothalamus, triggering emotional responses. It is most debilitating when we experience a real or perceived threat alone. Trauma often occurs in toxic power environments. Trauma can manifest as overwhelm, intense feelings of things seeming out of control, feeling helpless, and even change the way we view the world and ourselves. We now know that our reactions to trauma, such as PTSD, hypervigilance and disassociating, can actually be life-saving. For example, we are expecting to drop the “D” from “PTSD” (post-traumatic stress disorder) in the not-so-distant future. Some common responses to trauma are fight, flight, freeze, fawn, and flop. As science advances, so does our understanding of trauma. There is no way to compare a single trauma to anyone else’s, or imagine what it’s like to be in anyone else’s shoes, because every human is unique, and everyone’s response to trauma is different. Trauma is our physical and emotional response to toxic stress.
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