Social/Emotional Learning and our Brains - Part 2
The role of our brains in thoughts, feelings, and actions
Goals for today:
What is the Fight, Flight, Freeze
(F,F,F) response?
The fight-flight-freeze response is your body’s natural reaction to “danger”.
It’s a type of stress response that helps you react to perceived threats or danger, like an oncoming car, growling dog, or addressing a large group of people.
What is the Fight, Flight, Freeze
(F,F,F) response?
The response instantly causes hormonal and physiological changes.
These changes allow you to act quickly so you can protect yourself.
It’s a survival, automatic instinct that our ancient ancestors developed many years ago, yet continues in us today.
How the Fight, Flight, Freeze (F,F,F,) response works
The amygdala, in your feeling brain senses “danger”
Your amygdala signals the hypothalamus (both are in your feeling brain) which stimulates the autonomic nervous system (ANS).
The ANS consists of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
How the Fight, Flight, Freeze (F,F,F) response works
The sympathetic nervous system drives the fight-or-flight response.
The parasympathetic nervous system drives freezing.
How you react depends on which system dominates the response at the time or which brain pathway is strongest in you.
How the Fight, Flight, Freeze (F,F,F) response works
When your ANS is stimulated, your body releases adrenaline and cortisol, the stress hormones.
These hormones are released very quickly, which can affect several areas of your body.
How the Fight, Flight, Freeze (F,F,F) response works
HEART RATE. Beats faster to bring oxygen to major muscles.
LUNGS. Breathing becomes rapid, which also makes it more difficult to breath or feel like you are getting oxygen.
EYES. Peripheral vision increases so you can notice your surroundings and your pupils dilate and let in more light, which helps you see better.
EARS. Hearing becomes sharper.
BLOOD. Blood thickens, which increases clotting factors. This prepares your body for injury.
SKIN. Your skin might produce more sweat or get cold. You may look pale or have goosebumps.
HANDS and FEET. As blood flow increases to your major muscles, your hands and feet might get cold.
PAIN PERCEPTION. Fight-or-flight temporarily reduces your perception of pain.
Usually, your body will return to its natural state after 20 to 30 minutes.
Psychological Explanation
While the fight-flight-freeze response causes physiological reactions, it’s triggered by a psychological fear.
The fear is conditioned, which means you’ve associated a situation or thing with negative experiences and it has developed over time.
The thing that you’re scared of is called a perceived threat, or something you consider to be dangerous. Perceived threats are different for each person.
When you’re faced with a perceived threat, your brain thinks you’re in danger. That’s because it already considers the situation to be life threatening.
As a result, your body automatically reacts with the fight-flight-freeze response to keep you safe.
Where can this happen?
The fight-flight-freeze response can show up in many life situations, including:
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