13 January, 2014

2-1-15 the human mind: Threat lock-down

When we were cavemen and we are faced with a death threat, our bodies instantly enter the "Threat Lock-down" mode. Our bodies prepare to:
1-     Fight  
2-     Flee
3-     Freeze
What do we choose; we make a very fast mental simulation and what expectation has the most chances to do. If we can overcome the threat we fight. If we can save our lives by outrunning the threat, we flee. If neither one is possible we freeze in the hope that the threat won't notice us
-          That is what our bodies ate toned to do for hundred thousands of years and unfortunately till now
-          The threat nature has changed a lot nowadays: now it is 99.99% of the time not a life-or-death issue, and it lasts looonger than the old threats (chronic vs, acute)
-          So the threats nowadays are not threats in the literal way and should not be treated the same way

As we can't now fight of run away from the threats in our lives, the only thing our minds are accustomed to is to FREEZE
And freezing is the worst thing to do in today problems. It just prevents us from start solving the threat in a rational, logical, high-brain way

Unfortunately, we are toned to
-          Deliver our control units to our mid-brains when we are faced with threats
-          Stay focused on the threat instead of the solution as long as the that fake threat exists
 What we need to do:
1-     Know that if isn't a matter of life-or-death then it is not a threat
2-     Detach ourselves form immersing into the experience and don't shift our controls from the high brain to the mid-brain
3-     Solve the threat: mainly by
a-      Eliminate the threat: you will need this option very rarely and this leads to life-decisions and huge life structural changes
b-     Deal with it as a normal stress thing (perceptual control): that you have been out of your comfort zone and you need to fix this
-          Describe the problem
-          Know the goal
-          Understand the why
-          Take decision\s

Note; see what I am trying to do here, REINTERPRETATION; giving you info, filling some planks and trying to make you reinterpret the profound experience in you and trying to look at it in a different way. Hope this works (Y)  :) 

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