Are you on red alert? Why it happens and how you can calm down your stress response
We all need smoke alarms in our homes to keep us safe and to alert us to any fires in good time. However recently one in my home became too sensitive and kept going off due to a speck of dust or a tiny spider being near it. It was telling us that there was a problem…..but there wasn’t really. It’s just the smoke alarm couldn’t tell the difference between a real fire and a false alarm.
The amygdala or human alarm system
Our brains can be like this. Our amygdalas (the fight and flight alarm part of our brain) are primed to spot threats. We want our alarm system to be going off when we face a life threatening situation (which was essential for early man to fight off wild animals and other tribes.) But our alarm system being triggered is not so helpful when we are facing a presentation at work or when we’re stuck in traffic or feel slighted by a friend.
What happens when we are in red alert
The sympathetic nervous system becomes activated when the amygdala senses a threat. This involuntary response impacts on the whole body in its focus on fighting off the potential threat. This causes the release of adrenalin and cortisol. The heart rate increases along with breathing speed and may make people feel sweaty, sick or need the toilet. This is helpful in those life threatening situations but in modern life can often cause the build up of stress.
It is also important to note that when we are in red alert our brains can not think as clearly. We can feel panicky or indecisive.
How to bring ourselves back from feeling on red alert
Once we are triggered into feelings of stress or panic it can be hard to calm ourselves down. We need to activate our parasympathetic nervous system to bring ourselves back to a more settled state. The parasympathetic nervous system can be referred to as the ‘rest and digest’ state as when we are in this mode the body is working to allow us to settle and feel more balanced.
Steven Kotler, talking on the podcast ‘Feel Better, Live More’ with Dr Chatterjee (episode 315 or 189) explained good ways of bringing yourself back from triggers are calming breathing exercises, exercise or practising gratitude. I have written more about the benefits of exercise and gratitude in previous blogs.
Reducing the build up of stress
A huge part of my work with my hypnotherapy clients is helping them reduce stress so that they are less easily triggered and have more capacity to deal with difficulties. This is not always easy and everybody needs to develop their own particular tool kit to best help them cope with stress. As a broad rule though it is helpful to consider what activities you enjoy doing and bring you joy, who you like spending time with and what gives you a sense of purpose.
I also work with clients to help them develop a more positive outlook. This is through a combination of solution focused discussion and the benefits of hypnotherapy on a subconscious level.
Find out more
If you would like to find out more or have any questions please get in touch. I continue to run my free online guided relaxation once a month which is a great opportunity to see me in action if you were wondering what hypnotherapy (whether online or face to face) might be like.