Our autonomic nervous system, which is the nervous system responsible for stress and burnout, has two parts to it; the sympathetic (fight-and-flight), and parasympathetic (rest-and-repair). What you will come to understand by reading this article is that you are a completely different animal in each of those states.
WHAT HAPPENS IN OUR BODIES? Remember that our brains are not designed for joy and happiness, they are designed for SURVIVAL. Our brains were also designed in the days when we lived in caves and our biggest threats were predators out on the plains. When a lion jumps out from behind a bush and gives chase, our brains activate our nervous system to go into fight-and-flight for immediate efficiency of physical speed and agility. Our brain’s only focus is to get us across the savannah and up the nearest tree, any function that will slow us down or use up precious energy is shut down.
What does that mean? It means that all those important functions that keep us young and healthy are temporarily suspended, think about how much energy your immune system uses to heal you when you are sick, often we can’t even get out of bed we are so lethargic, so your immune system is put on hold, your brain will prioritize running speed over healing a septic wound or a chest infection at that moment to keep you alive in the short-term. Your digestion is also on hold, your hormonal system is on a back burner, cell detoxification and reproduction of new cells is on a go-slow.
This is all good if you are only in fight-and-flight for the minute or two it takes to get up a tree, or to not be the last one in the group to get up a tree. Once the lion has gone on his way, you can climb down the tree and share your narrow escape with your friends back at the cave with the laughter that returns your nervous system back to rest-and-repair state, so your health and wellness is back on track.
We may not have lions waiting in ambush any more, but our brains treat the threats we have at work as if a lion is chasing them. Threats such as: deadlines looming, a business loss, a performance appraisal, a message from the boss to come to her office, the person in the cubicle next door competing for your promotion, messages on social media that undermine you in some way. These threats cause the release of stress hormones all day long, not only for the few minutes it takes to get up a tree. It is this daily, prolonged exposure to stress hormones circulating through your body that inhibits your body’s ability to heal and thrive. If this continues for a few years your system becomes depleted until your body’s ability to cope physically is exhausted.
WHAT HAPPENS IN OUR BRAINS? First let’s consider the brain in its calm state, if you read studies that use an fMRI scanner to observe the brain during experiments you will find that when the brain is in rest-and-repair state the whole brain lights up and is integrated. The front talks to the back the left talks to the right and all your human superpowers are online: logic, planning, memory, emotional intelligence, creativity, problem solving, etc. In this state we are incredibly resourceful and emotionally agile, however, if we feel threatened and our nervous system shifts into fight-and-flight the fMRI scanner shows a different pattern, only the mammalian and reptilian parts of our brain are engaged, those parts of the brain are responsible for fight, flight, and freeze, which is essentially ATTACK, DEFEND, OR STONEWALL (shutdown), and when you look at how we are treating each other these days what do you notice about our interactions? , We are either attacking, defending, or stonewalling.
Let’s go back to the lion chase so you can see the brain’s perfect survival strategy in action. While you are running from a lion the brain does not want you wondering about which tree would be the most aesthetically pleasing to climb, it does not need you to be contemplating your to-do list, nor wondering whether you resolved the conflict with your spouse that morning in the most emotionally intelligent manner. It wants you totally focused on threats and escape, that’s it. What does this mean about your ability to navigate a highly sophisticated and competitive business environment? And how does it affect the way you interact with family and friends when you get home after a stressful day?