Amygdala Hijacks – Part 3

I am sure you have heard many stories of people performing superhuman feats when in life-threatening situations. Known as the ‘fight or flight’ response and first described by American psychologist Walter Bradford as long ago as 1915, it is basically the activation of our brain’s automated survival mode. Here is how it works:

Your brain’s most important function is to keep you alive. It does so by regulating your heart rate, body temperature and a myriad other physiological functions but also by constantly scanning the environment for possible threats and rewards. What we refer to as our ‘senses’ is in fact a finely tuned network of nerves connecting our brains with our ears, eyes, nose, lips/tongue, skin, and rest of our body parts via the spinal cord. Sensory nerves continuously gather information from the environment and then send it back to the central nervous system where it is assessed for possible threats or rewards. So, as you walk through any unfamiliar surroundings, your brains are already on high alert, even if your travel-weary minds are not consciously aware of this.

When a threatening event suddenly appears, your brain’s limbic systems (the amygdala, in particular) responds in a fraction of a second by activating the sympathetic nervous system which causes a release of hormones such as adrenaline and noradrenaline which in turn ‘supercharge’ them to either fight or flee for survival. As part of this process your heart rate and blood pressure increase, breathing accelerates, pupils dilate, and blood vessels in many parts of your body become constricted to force more blood into the larger muscles where the blood vessels become dilated for better performance. The result: in fully automated “flee” mode you turn around and probably run faster than ever before to reach the safety.

Scanning the Social Jungle

So, what’s new and what does outrunning a startled wild animal have to do with the majority of the world’s population whose only contact ever with predators are on Discovery Channel or in the zoological Parks? Quite a bit – one of the most significant findings in neuroscience research over the last couple of years has been that the same automated neural responses which are activated when we face a physical threat such as an alligator or lion are also activated in social situations. Your brain is not only constantly scanning the physical environment for possible threats, it is also closely monitoring the social environment – wherever you are interacting with other people. When you are enjoying supper with the family; supporting your child at a sporting event; working out at the gym; or trying to hold your own during a meeting at work – the behavior of those around you is closely scrutinized and any perceived threat can trigger the fight or flight response in your brain.

What makes it worse is that threat responses have a greater impact and are far more powerful and easier to trigger than reward responses. In other words, we experience negative interactions with other people much more intensely than positive interactions of similar magnitude. So, when you are in a meeting and you tell someone that they are not performing as expected, the negative impact of that criticism is much greater than the positive impact when, for instance, you thank someone for a job well done. What this amounts to is that our negative interactions can trigger automated ‘fight or flight’ responses at any time and in any place.

Fewer Resources for Clear Thinking

Why is this so bad? In a time when, more than ever before in history we need people to be engaged and motivated and creative in order to give us the competitive edge, fight or flight responses can be a serious detriment to a group or an individual’s success. While a sarcastic remark from a colleague or a scowling manager would hardly send most of us running back to our cubicles, an activated fight or flight mode does have a severely negative impact on our ability to perform. When the brain senses a threat, even in the office, it allocates more of its resources such as glucose and oxygen to the muscles and parts of the body needed to fight or flee (resulting in the same physiological changes as described earlier). As a result, the Prefrontal Cortex – the part of the brain where conscious thought takes place - our ‘working memory’ – receives less resources and its working is thereby impaired (this effect could last for up to four hours after the threat-incident). When our brains are in this threat-induced ‘limp mode’, it severely impairs our ability to:

§  solve problems;

§  make decisions;

§  think creatively;

§  focus your attention;

§  discern between right and wrong;

§  memorize information;

§  recall information;

§  communicate effectively;

§  collaborate with others;

§  understand consequences;

§  cope with adversity;

§  correctly interpret other people’s behavior; and

§  inhibit impulses.

Cavemen in Suits and High Heels

The human race has devised technology which has radically transformed the world we live in and will continue to do so for years to come. We have powerful telescopes that can peer into deepest space; we have super computers that can perform complex calculations in the blink of an eye; we travel faster than the speed of sound; we create data at a scale that could never be conceived before; we have access to nearly all the world’s information via the internet; and we can communicate with just about anyone, anywhere, anytime.

However, in spite of these great advancements our brains are still operating much as it did thousands of years ago when it had to protect us from wild animals. Just how primitive our brains still are in this regard is illustrated by a study in 2011 which found that even when people look at pictures of animals, specific parts of the amygdala respond almost instantly. So, while we are living in this high-tech world of miracles and wonder, our brains are still pretty much in the cave, trying to keep us alive not only by responding to real physical threats, but also to perceived sharks and grizzly bears in the social environment.

The Price of Your Roar

From the brain’s perspective, workplaces become ‘enemy territory’ if leaders or co-workers behave in a way that trigger constant threats. In such conditions, people are simply not able to perform at their best. Over time they become chronically stressed (an enduring fight or flight condition) and as a result even more sensitive to perceived threats. Thus a negative snowball-effect is created where critical success factors such as job satisfaction, trust, motivation, engagement, productivity and the overall well-being of individuals all diminish as their brains are constantly engaged in a fight for survival. The cost in terms of results and revenue could be considerable.

Here is the best part: It is true that when faced with a perceived threat (even non-physical threats) the brain reacts PHYSICALLY and shuts a lot of thinking (preparing the body to do battle); however, the brain also does the exact opposite when it perceives an opportunity and lights up the brain, releasing "feel-good" neuro-peptides and increasing brain function.

As leaders, understanding this gives us the opportunity to change our behavior in order to minimize the negative effect that it might have on those around us. While changing behavior is often difficult, neuroscience research is showing that rewiring our brains and changing our behavior is indeed possible. By practicing the principles of neuroscience in combination with the Quantum Physics of Beliefs, we can stop being the predators which others run away from, and instead become the catalysts of positive engagement.

Understanding how people’s behavior and our interactions in the social environment impacts our neurological processes is also a powerful starting point to manage our own brains and minimize negative responses such as stress, anxiety, emotional thinking and aggression. (Please read my other blog posts for some practical tips on how to practice these principles.)

Now, here's the REALLY interesting thing... we have found that the axiological (HVP/VQ) Personality Profile identifies exactly which way(s) of thinking are likely to perceive things predominantly as threats and which ones will see opportunities. Then, we can teach people how to shift their perspective from threat to opportunity in a heartbeat. This is even beyond Emotional Intelligence.

Knowing what the brain is doing is good. Being able to willfully change how you think is even better. The power of neuro-axiology lies in giving people the ability to transform themselves in an instant, rather than having to either release or suppress the stress. It empowers people to shift perspectives and go from stressed to blessed in a heartbeat.

In our daily lives, we connect with our stakeholders, processes, and polices with every transactions. We know what can be done better and what frustrates our shareholders and how we can improve the customer experience. Even so, we work for hierarchical organizations and although we say that titles don't matter, they matter from a fear perspective. We have many leaders that lead from a more traditional (and antiquated) management style - controlling, monitoring, delegating, etc. Our leaders don't realize that they are leading from a perspective that creates 'fight or flight' responses for their employees and our employees revert back to the safe mode of just doing what they are told. Although the fear response leaders evoke from their followers is unintentional, I believe that this article may help raise a great question for today's leaders, "Rather than trying too hard to change those around me, maybe it's my behaviors I need to change to create a safe environment in which my followers can change."

Namaste!

Quantum Physics of Belief - Emotional Hijacks

Following my radio talk on Quantum Physics of Belief – Emotions last Saturday on #BlogTalkRadio, a former coaching client of mine (who wishes to remain anonymous but, nevertheless permitted me to share his story) reminded me of his experience and posed a question on Amygdala Hijacks. I thought it appropriate to extend this discussion to shed some more light on this topic. BTW, the response for the radio talk was overwhelming. Thanks to all of my listeners and eMBC Blog readers for your continued support and helping to inspire me to write more.

Most of the books I read about the brain and emotional intelligence talk about an emotional or amygdala hijacking, which is what you see when the boss loses it and goes on a rant. It’s not pretty, and almost always makes the hijacker look pretty stupid. Amygdala hijack is a term coined by Dr Daniel Goleman in his 1996 book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ.

My good friend, Dr Joel Bomane from Sunny Southern France often talks about Amygdala in his weekly radio shows, ‘The Brain Odyssey’ series as part of the VoARadio Network on #BlogTalkRadio. According to Dr Bomane, the amygdala is the brain’s radar for threat. It is very handy when hunting for food: it triggers a survival response faster than you can say “hungry tiger.” The problem is that we no longer run into tigers, but instead encounter angry coworkers and bosses on the prowl. But the amygdala makes no difference between a threat to our survival and a threat to our ego. Same response: fight or flight. And for many of us, we don’t think it’s manly to turn and flee, so we engage in verbal jujitsu akin to World Heavy Weight Wrestling. But when in the grips of a hijack, the amygdala makes mistakes. It only receives a fraction of the data available.

The term amygdala hijack describes any situation in which a person responds inappropriately based on emotional rather than intellectual factors. The amygdala is the emotional center of the human brain and can create split-second responses when a person is threatened. An inappropriate emotional response to a perceived threat is thus called an amygdala hijack.

The amygdala is part of the brain for many of the higher vertebrates. It regulates the fight or flight response that is key to the survival mechanism for many animals, including humans and other primates. At the moment a threat is perceived, the amygdala can override the neocortex, the center of higher thinking, and initiate a violent response. In the wild or in the presence of actual physical threats, this can be a life-saving function. In ordinary day-to-day living, however, this amygdala hijack can inspire impulsive responses the person will later regret.

On some levels, the human brain does not distinguish between a genuine threat to life or health and a subjective threat, such as loss of job status. While the latter might not even result in a change of income, a person who values a job highly may respond to such a status change as if it were an actual threat. If he or she takes inappropriate action against a co-worker or supervisor, however, the result could be a demotion or even the loss of the job. This illustrates Goleman’s three-stage definition of the amygdala hijack: emotional reaction, inappropriate response, and later regret.

And in today’s workplaces, most of our dangers are symbolic, not physical threats. So we react in ways we often regret later.

Let me give you an example of an event that took place sometime ago with one of my coaching clients and this could vividly explain what we really mean by an Amygdala Hijack.

I was working with an executive who found himself flooded by his emotions and was pleased with himself for adopting a recovery strategy whereby he cut himself off from any emotional content. He was surprised when our coaching conversations explored the downsides of both behaviors and opened the door to a third way of behaving.

One day, my client was planning to work at home, in order to make a medical appointment in the morning and to avoid a two hour round-trip commute to be in the office for the afternoon. That noon, he received a call at home from one of his peers, another member of the executive committee, who said he had to come to work. The firm had to decide how to address employee concerns about leaving early due to weather risks from hurricane Gustav [August 2008 in Florida]. The situation was complicated because the management team in the parent office, located in another state, did not want their distribution operations disrupted and were insensitive to the weather potential and the employee concerns.

My client reacted strongly and rather rudely to his peer. He did not like to be told he had to come in and was acting out his indignation. He was not attuned to his peer or to the employees. To his credit, he caught himself when he remembered the principle that leaders are expected to lead by example and chided himself that he should not be asking others to do something he was not willing to do. He shared this with his peer and then went to the office, checking in on the various departments and being visible.

As we debriefed this event, it became clear that he had been triggered by being told “he had to.” He got flooded by his emotions, driven by his implicit memories of being told he had to do things. Once flooded, his only strategy to regain control was to go for a full tourniquet block on his emotions. While he prided himself on being able to “shed his emotions” and then make a principle-based decision, we discussed how much he lost by both his initial reaction and then by his secondary reaction. The initial reaction, blasting a peer with his emotional outburst, cost him relationship points with this peer. His secondary reaction, shedding all emotion, left him incapable of being empathic with his peer and left him devoid of any curiosity. My client described himself as being in a state of “brain lock.”

Another pathway would have been for my client to be aware of his emotions without acting out on them. This requires a certain detachment. He then could be curious about the context. It turns out that his peer was the only company officer on-site and that she was very uncomfortable with the decisions that needed to be made. He could have learned more about the issues, as she saw them. An empathic conversation, one that did not happen, could have built relationship and provided insights into alternative courses of action.

Following the pathway of keeping perspective and not acting out on emotions could have provided my client with access to other ways of creatively thinking about the situation. Leading by example is great, but other factors also come into play. Ironically, his emotional flooding left him starving for data.

This is a classic amygdala hijack. Dr Daniel Goleman, noted for his work on emotional intelligence, explains how the flood of hormones from the amygdala leads our brains to bypass the normal pathways for higher functioning and throws us into an escalating pattern, where we see things through our fight/flight/freeze lens. When this happens to us, this flood of stress-related hormones leaves us feeling like we have lost 20-30 IQ points. That is not something most of us can afford to do without!

Here are the five top amygdala triggers in the workplace, from Tony Schwartz’ book The Way We are Working Isn’t Working:

1.    Condescension and lack of respect

2.    Being treated unfairly

3.    Being Unappreciated

4.    Feeling that you are not being listened to or heard

5.    Being held to unrealistic deadlines

Especially in today’s climate of economic uncertainty, on the tail end of an ugly recession, there’s a lot of free-floating fear in the air. It doesn’t take much to trigger fear of family security, which is enough to get anybody seriously upset.

If you find yourself struggling with on-the-job stresses that are triggering either the emotional flooding or the emotional tourniquet responses, Goleman advises mindfulness training, such as meditation, to reduce the likelihood of an amygdala hijack. Meditation and similar exercises, such as tai chi, encourages a person to focus on his or her surroundings and process mental data in a calm state of mind. With practice, this kind of thinking will become second nature and can allow a person to retain a sense of calm focus even during crises. Here are some specific steps that one can incorporate in your training to minimize such Amygdala hijacks:

1.    Pay attention. Notice when you are in the middle of a hijack.

2.    Use deep breathing to gain time and space. This lets more oxygen into your brain and lets your rational brain begin to work.

3.    Use a mantra or self-talk, like “I’m okay; this isn’t a real threat. Give me a second to come out of it.”

4.    Ask for a few minutes, a time break, as in: “Let me get back to you on this.”

Hijacks can last a few seconds or a few minutes, but the sooner you break its spell, the better you’ll feel. You’ll learn you can keep in control without losing face.