Anxiety and The Brain: Understanding the Freeze, Flight, Fight Response By: Dr. B.

Anxiety

Anxiety is something that we all experience and is often a normal reaction to many different situations (Canadian Mental Health Association, 2019). It can be brought on by many factors, including exposure to new situations, meeting people we don’t know yet, pressures from situations at work, or just by thinking about things that we can’t control.

A manageable amount of anxiety from time to time can be helpful, as it can help us prepare for or finish a task (Canadian Mental Health Association, 2019). Even happy events can cause us to experience anxiety – all of this is normal and a part of the human condition.? It’s common to think that anxiety is a problem that only you have, but that isn’t true. Everybody has this.

Most of us may think that anxiety is only something that adults have to deal with, but actually, anxiety typically starts to present in children when they are about 5 years old (Anxiety and Depression Association of America, 2019).

Children express their anxieties in different ways that adults may not understand.? Problems with behavior can often be traced back to anxiety that children feel unable to express.? It can demonstrate itself as disruptive behavior, shutting down, or elopement and can lead to challenges in classroom management.

Anxiety can become a problem when it becomes overwhelming, unmanageable or comes up unexpectedly (Canadian Mental Health Association, 2019).

A child who seemed “just fine” will suddenly erupt in anger or frustration over something small that seems insignificant, leading to a break in communication and emotional frustration for everyone.

Oftentimes, the children who need the most love will be the ones who express it in the most unlovable ways. Children who experience anxiety may display this through disruptive behaviors such as cognitive rigidity, anger, tantrums or avoidance. Adults can learn to understand this behavior and ease the problem through compassionate ways of dealing with behavior that others find unacceptable. (Miller, 2019).

A child who appears to be oppositional or aggressive may be reacting to anxiety that they cannot articulate effectively or recognize that they are feeling (Miller, 2019).

It is important to remember that when dealing with anxiety, the goal is not to eliminate it completely- this would be impossible. The goal should be for us to manage our relationship with anxiety so that we can live life to the fullest. Let’s look at the way the brain processes these feelings.

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Understanding the Brain

To gain a better understanding of anxiety and why it occurs it helps to have a basic understanding of the different parts of the brain and what they do. It is helpful to understand the brain in two basic parts, referred to as the “downstairs brain” and the “upstairs brain” (Siegal, 2019).

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●????? Downstairs brain:?includes the brainstem and limbic region. This part of the brain controls our basic bodily functions (breathing, digestion and blinking), our emotional reactivity, attachment, reflexive responses and our?fight/flight or freeze mechanism. This is what helps to keep us safe from real danger. (Quinlan, 2016).

The fight/flight or freeze mechanism is controlled by the?amygdala,?which interprets the current stimuli and the environment to determine if there is danger or not.?If there is danger, the amygdala sends out a message to the body to prepare for freeze, flight, or fight.? We prefer to list it this way as that is the most likely response order.? These messages cause bodily changes that we experience during times of anxiety.

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●????? Upstairs brain:?includes the cerebral cortex. This part of the brain controls our decision making, planning, self-understanding, control over our emotions and body, empathy, morality and executive functioning. It is what is often considered to be the seat of the conscious mind. The functions of the upstairs brain allow us to regulate our body, tune into someone else or something else, balance our emotions, have response flexibility, and calm our fear. Our prefrontal cortex contains gabba peptides that help us interpret stimulus in rational and appropriate ways. (Quinlan, 2016)

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The upstairs brain and the downstairs brain work together to allow us to think and feel in a way that is regulated and reasonable. When that process isn’t working smoothly, it causes cognitive problems and affects the decision making process.? It is critical to remember that the function of the lower part of the brain is to shut down the upper parts in order to ensure survival, even when the signal is a misfire!

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What Causes Anxiety?

In some cases, our downstairs brain can make a mistake and interpret that danger is present when it isn’t.?The amygdala then sends out a message to our body to prepare for danger when there is actually little or no danger at all. This is VERY common in anxiety disorders.?(Quinlan, 2016). When this happens, our body is signaled to prepare for fight or flight, and our downstairs brain gets “locked down”, meaning that?we cannot operate from the prefrontal cortex, making us unable to learn?or use our rational, problem-solving skills and makes us unable to question if the perceived danger is actually dangerous. (Quinlan, 2016).

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How can you help your child manage anxiety?

When we notice a child who is struggling with anxiety, it is a natural for us to want to stop or fix the anxiety for them. It is very difficult to watch a child suffer from anxiety, and many well-meaning people may unknowingly make the anxiety worse by attempting to protect their child from experiencing negative emotions. (Hurley, 2019).

The goal of treatment for anxiety is to help children learn how to manage their emotional responses to their anxiety triggers. Avoiding anxiety triggers will not help a child learn to cope, and not all anxiety triggers can be avoided.?Although avoidance may help a child feel better in the short-term, it can actually make anxiety worse over time?(Hurley, 2019).

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Children need to learn how to manage and tolerate their feelings of anxiety so that they can develop coping strategies to effectively manage it. You can help your child learn how to manage their anxiety by helping them develop the cognition skills needed to be successful and overcome their anxiety.

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Managing Anxiety by Expanding Cognitive Skills

Cognitive Flexibility/Tolerance: Teaching a child to be more flexible and handle uncertainties is important for their psychological health and growth. By improving cognitive flexibility, we are improving problem solving skills! To improve cognitive flexibility, we should teach children to do something that is uncomfortable for them on a regular basis. This will build tolerance into the learning process and give the child greater confidence in problem-solving. When children learn to accept uncertainty and the possibility of failure, they face it more effectively.

Self-Regulation:?Teaching a child how to manage distressing emotions and destructive impulses can be done by increasing self-regulation skills and by teaching a child how to pause before reacting to a situation. (Savva, 2016)

“Moment of pause” strategies can be used to help rid the body of unwanted psychological states like anxiety. For a child to control their anxiety they need to be taught how to find baseline and self-regulate. In response to anxiety, a child may enter a hyper or hypo aroused state and will not be able to learn. To help a child return to baseline there are many different strategies that can be used.

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●????? Hyper-aroused [excited]:?benefit from?proprioceptive stimulation?to return to baseline. [balancing activities, blowing a feather in the air, breathing exercises]

●????? Hypo-aroused [low energy, lethargic]: benefit from?vestibular stimulation?to return to baseline. [water activities, swinging, skiing]

Learn by doing: Oftentimes, what feels comfortable is easy and people are prone to stay in situations that are certain and comfortable – even when these situations are bad for them. We need to teach children to experience things that they are uncomfortable with and to be exposed to new experiences. Each time a child faces something difficult and is successful with the challenge, it is a gain for “learning how to learn.” Progress is made by facing fear.

-Fear will keep you here-

Problem Solving vs Ruminating:?Teaching a child to focus on how to solve a problem is much more beneficial than allowing them to ruminate or worry about something that is bothering them. When children get into an action mindset, they learn better and are able to release things that aren’t helpful.

Mindfulness:?Teaching a child how to experience being in the present moment is important as they will have an easier time recognizing their needs and attending to their emotional states. Research has shown that mindfulness can lead to positive changes within the brain that relate to areas such as enhanced attention, improved emotional regulation, reduction of stress and improved self-awareness. (Holzel, Posner & Tang, 2015)

Positive Expectancy Language:?It is important to teach our children how to have an attitude of gratitude so that they can experience something pleasurable on a regular basis. We can do this by asking a child to name three things they are grateful for. This shifts awareness immediately, allowing for a better outlook in daily life. Small happiness events lead to greater satisfaction.

If you expect success, you will achieve it. All people are capable of success!

Growth Mindset:?we should always strive to teach our children to have a growth mindset so that they are empowered to make positive changes.

●????? Fixed mindset?–?things are permanent (life/situation) “life will happen to me”-This limits the way a child is able to learn.

●????? Growth mindset?–?continue to develop, learn, grow. “I will create my life”-opens the door to continuous learning and positive outcomes.

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Practical Skills to Help Manage Anxiety

1.??? Smile!?This helps to signal the brain that all is okay and can prevent the amygdala from being triggered.

2.??? Diaphragmatic Breathing: this triggers the parasympathetic nervous system and activates the relaxation response, which is the opposite of the ‘flight or fight’ response.

3.??? Engage in things outside of your comfort zone: this helps to increase?cognitive flexibility.

4.??? Laughter: anxiety is serious and laughter isn’t! Laughing can help to signal the amygdala that there is no danger present.

5.??? Inversions/Bending at the waist: this helps to increase blood flow to the brain and pushes serotonin out of the stomach and towards the brain.

6.??? Alternate Nostril Breathing: (in right, out left) this helps to coordinate the right and left brain hemispheres and triggers the parasympathetic nervous system (relaxation response)

7.??? Things that put pressure on the stomach, neck and ears: there are a higher percentage of proprioceptors in these areas, and this will help to regulate and calm your nervous system.

8.??? Connect with and help others, practice appreciation: this releases serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin, which prohibits the amygdala from creating the stress response.

Our goals with a child who experiences anxiety should be to increase independence, expand cognition skills and teach self-regulation skills so that the child can learn to be successful and learn how to manage their anxiety.

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For More Tips and Strategies check out www.core-methods.com and www.thebehaviorbootcamp.com

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References

Anxiety and Depression Association of America. (2019).?Childhood Anxiety Disorders.?Retrieved?from:?https://adaa.org/living-with-anxiety/children/childhood-anxiety-disorders

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Canadian Mental Health Association. (2019).?Anxiety.?Retrieved from:?https://www.heretohelp.bc.ca/q-and-a/whats-the-difference-between-anxiety-and-an-anxiety-disorder

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Holzel, B., Posner, M., & Tang, Y. (2015).?The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation.?Nature?Reviews Neuroscience. Vol 16. Pp 213-225

Hurley, K. (2019).?Building Coping Skills in Children with Anxiety.?Retrieved from:?https://www.psycom.net/kids-coping-skills-anxiety

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Miller, C. (2019).?How Anxiety Leads to Disruptive Behavior.?Retrieved from:?https://childmind.org/article/how-anxiety-leads-to-disruptive-behavior/

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Savva, G. (2016).?Self-regulation: breaking the cycles of anxiety, stress and panic.?Retrieved?from:?https://www.counselling-directory.org.uk/counsellor-articles/self-regulation-breaking-cycles-of-anxiety-stress-panic

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Siegal, D. (2019).?Upstairs Brain Downstairs Brain.?Retrieved from:?https://momentousinstitute.org/blog/upstairs-and-downstairs-brain

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Quinlan, K. (2016).?Let’s Talk About Your Brain And Anxiety.?Retrieved from:?https://kimberleyquinlan-lmft.com/episode-12-lets-talk-brain-anxiety/

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