Let's Talk Politics! ...With Our Prefrontal Cortex
“When a person is in ‘survival mode’, they cannot logically reason.”
- Karla Hardin, MS LPC
By Karla Hardin, MS LPC
With less than two months away until we vote for president, I thought it was time to weigh in…as a licensed professional counselor.
This election, like none other that I can remember, is the most emotionally charged on record.
I dread looking at social media as I fear what polarizing and derogatory statements will be posted. With emotions so high, we have lost the art of civility and being able to discuss topics with those we have differing opinions.
This polarization has led some to take on long monologues publicly while others shrink and go silent. Honestly, it reminds me of couples and families that have come into my office because they have forgotten or never learned to express themselves without attacking or running away.
How did we get this way?
How do we lose our “sense and sensibility” when we disagree with others?
ANSWER:
We get “triggered” because another person’s strong reaction or opinion threatens our emotional safety and value.
And when we are threatened, we downshift to our primitive brain where our survival instincts kick in.
The four survival styles are fight, flight, freeze or fawn.
FIGHT
The Fight style seeks to get the upper hand when threatened through a “one up” position of intellect, power or control.
FLIGHT
The Flight style tries to perfect themselves to avoid threat but moves toward escape or numbing when they can’t achieve perfection (hence, all the alcohol during Covid-19).
FREEZE
The Freeze style does just that when threatened. This person “holds their breath” and hopes it goes away. The strategy being, “If I refuse to acknowledge it, then it can’t hurt me.”
FAWN
The Fawn style tries to please everyone else hoping their adaptive style will keep them out of the line of fire or attack.
We all do one or more of these styles when threatened.
This is instinctual and helps us keep safe in many situations.
The main problem is that when we are in our survival style, we are NOT in our the highest center of our brain –the prefrontal cortex!
Our prefrontal cortex (PFC) is where we are our best self. We are connected with our needs and who we are, and we are reasoning and make decisions based on our executive skills versus an emotional reaction.
An illustration of how we lose our ability to function as our best self when threatened is seen through what lifeguards discovered.
In the old days, lifeguards were trained to swim out to the drowning person to save them—until the lifeguards were getting drowned by the frantic person!
What was learned from this is when a person is in survival mode, they cannot logically reason (thus, the reason why they would drown the person trying to save them).
In survival, we are only thinking of ourselves and can and will do things that we would never do in our PFC.
Basically, we act like animals in our primitive brain.
So, how can we stay in our prefrontal cortex and talk about politics?
Start with these 3 things:
1. Self-assess which survival style you are.
Your first step is to see how you are handling triggers and take ownership of your own style and how it can be hurtful to others.
Are you emotionally reactive?
Are you arrogant or judging or pushy with your views?
Are you eating and drinking to feel better?
Are you hyper-vigilant to follow rules so you escape criticism?
Are you tense and avoidant when politics comes up in conversation?
2. Upshift to your Prefrontal cortex by:
Calming the body first.
If you are triggered, your body moves to hyper-arousal and is on its way to the primitive brain. You can interrupt this by simple breathing techniques. It may only take four rounds of deep breathing to bring your body back to a neutral state.
Refer to this short video for the Breath Box Technique.
Redirecting your thoughts.
Your goal is to get into your left brain where you are utilizing your executive reasoning skills. When we are “evaluating and reasoning” we stay in the PFC.
Try this exercise:
Pick and watch two contrasting news sources that report the news according to their bias for a week.
List the “issues” they sight and how each supports their views (write this down).
Then at the end of the week, you will see where each side lands and why.
Then the next week, do your own research, comparing the facts and derive your own conclusions.
By doing so you have remained in your prefrontal cortex the entire time and avoided reactivity by simply looking at data.
*RESIST getting agitated and drawing conclusions until you have walked through the entire process.
This process will not only access your best reasoning, but you will understand how others have drawn their conclusions.
3. Address your ultimate need for safety.
Survival instincts are all about trying to keep us safe. So that tells me, I need to feel safe to live my best life.
But how do we do that when we live in an unpredictable world that we can’t control?
I believe this question invites us to look for someone “bigger” than ourselves to put our trust in.
We need someone who is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving and who transcends time and space.
Our hope today, amidst so much uncertainty and danger, has to be in something more than education, better leaders, and eradicating injustice. These are all great but just not enough.
Here are some verses that keep me anchored in these unpredictable times:
Psalm 3:4-6 “I cried out to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy mountain. I lay down and slept, yet I woke up in safety, for the Lord was watching over me. I am not afraid of ten thousand enemies who surround me on every side.”
1 Samuel 2:9 “He will protect his faithful ones, but the wicked will disappear in darkness. No one will succeed by strength alone.”
Hebrews 13:6 “So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”
My personal anchor that brings rest to my anxious soul is:
2 Timothy 4: 17-18
“But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength so that I might preach the Good News in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear. And he rescued me from certain death.
Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.”
While it may be hard…
To go from primitive brain to prefrontal cortex in these uncertain, threatening times, we, as Christians, can bypass our survival instincts by trusting in the all-powerful, almighty God.
He promises us safety, and in turn, our minds can rest!
When we are safe, we can talk about anything –including politics!
Karla Hardin is a Licensed Professional Counselor at Trauma Specialist for Hardin Life Resources
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