Freshers Freeze
Unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures.
A sentence way too familiar now with the pandemic measures sweeping around the globe, COVID-19 news being bombarded onto us by every means of communication possible. Scarily, we now live in a world where news (censored or uncensored) is spreading at a much faster rate than the disease itself. Yet, not to worry, what I am referring to is a way more personal affair, one that each and every one of us experience more often than we would have liked to.
Anyone who has ever sweated over an exam or a looming deadline knows what stress feels like.
Chaos.
Sheer panic.
Time and space disentangle, and cortical executive functions dissolve away with surging levels of adrenaline and cortisol. Everything freezes. “Freshers Freeze”, may be an even more common occurrence than the infamous “Freshers Flu”.
Let’s face it. Life as a Fresher can be remarkably hazardous. There is a constant background anxiety stemming from the unfamiliar “Am I fitting in? What? Where? Whoops, is the exam actually next week?”, which makes anyone more susceptible to a crisis mode even at the verge of the slightest hint of emergency. In response, the human brain can behave in a way that appears momentarily rational but may in fact be disastrous. Diving deeper into our thought processes may minimise the unknown and help us stay more rational in the face of an immediate problem.
Briefly, we can think of the human brain as a tripartite structure:
The brainstem is structurally reminiscent of the reptilian brain and it plays a crucial role in controlling the fight, freeze or flight response when confronted with a crisis.
The limbic system is located in the mid-region of the brain. It is the prime driver of our emotional reactions and as such functions, much like in the brains of other mammals.
Lastly, residing in the frontal region of the brain is the neocortex, which is the most evolved part of the cerebral cortex and mediates higher-order functions that we associate with being human, such as cognition, language, spatial reasoning and logic.
When stress hits us, the cerebral cortex can be emotionally hijacked by the more primordial limbic system or the brain stem. What this means is our behaviour is now a product of an unfiltered, instinctive control mechanism. An emotional mayhem at the least desirable moment. Basic brain functionality is severely disrupted; attention span is non-existent and learning and memory are severed. It is almost as if your brain is on autopilot with your mind repeatedly screaming ‘red alert’.
So, what do we do? Sit there and watch the automatic control take us to whichever destination?
(Hell NO!)
Good news is you can consciously choose to help yourself through this – whatever “this” may be – believe it or not our brainpower is more capable than we think. The key is to let the neocortex get back on duty and dictate action control under conscious awareness. Mindfulness helps dampen the actions of the limbic system. When you are training to be mindful, what you are actually doing is letting your neocortex communicate with and reorganise the remaining parts of your brain. You switch to a calmer state of rational thinking.
Whatever happens next acts as an unforeseen opportunity to reinforce growth and learning. By learning to silence certain parts of your brain, you reroute back to the anti-anxiety pathways. In other words, you have a say in how you response to a situation rather than a mere knee-jerk reaction. No, how you rewire your thought patterns may not really change the circumstances out there but yes, it does change the way you experience them.
Unprecedented encounters do call for unprecedented responses.
And the human brain is no exception.
