Shining a Light on our reactions to the lockdown

Lyn Thiele studied a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland, a Post Graduate Diploma in Counselling at Queensland University of Technology and a Post Graduate Diploma in Change Management at the University of New South Wales. Lyn has worked as a professional counsellor in secondary schools, trained counsellors for the Department of Education Queensland and consulted Government Departments and major organisations in change management. Most recently, Lyn has acquired 96 hours of training in neuroscience which is applied in her qualified work.

When I started my teaching career and studying educational psychology, the brain was regarded as a black box. By that it was meant we were able to observe an individual’s response or behaviour to a certain stimulus, but were unable to determine what processes the brain went through which led to the observed response.

With the invention of the FMRI which stands for functional magnetic resonance imaging, developed in the 1990s, brain activity can now be identified, in real time and is non-invasive. Importantly it shows which parts of the brain ‘light up’ under certain stimulus. Neuroscientific research has now grown exponentially as we learn more and more about human behaviour. The research is now applied in organisations for change management and leadership development. It is this information that I will be sharing from experience and applying to the reactions of Covid-19.

Just as organisation change can result in major disruption, Covid-19 can also be described as a major disrupter to most, if not all, aspects of our lives. How we manage this disruption will have a significant impact on our wellbeing. Insights from research into how our brains react to a disruption such as this will maximise our chances of meeting the challenges that Covid-19 presents.

The neuroscientists have identified what they have called social cognitive needs which all humans have. David Rock has encapsulated these in his framework SCARF. There are five broadly recognised needs; status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness and fairness. In this article the focus will be on certainty and the impact of uncertainty on our brain’s activity. Most people would agree that uncertainty is swirling around us at every level in our society at the moment; from concerns about health, the economy and how well any recovery will be managed as examples. The neuroscientists claim that our brains hate uncertainty and crave certainty; so how do we close the uncertainty/ certainty gap that is a massive part of our world now?

To understand the impact of certainty or uncertainty on the brain, two parts of the brain come into focus; the amygdala or lizard brain, alerts us to threats and is the emotional centre of the brain. The prefrontal cortex or executive function helps us to make decisions, problem solve and seek solutions.

Our brains are in constant flow between reward and threat. The challenge in times of uncertainty is to close the gap between certainty and uncertainty. Broadly speaking; staying in touch with sound and reliable information about what is going on in the world is a good start; doing activities that we enjoy; making plans for the day or week restores some certainty in our life; listening to relaxing music are just some examples.

Activities, such as these, help us to move to our executive function, our prefrontal cortex, and to stay focused on what matters in that moment, day or week.

These activities stimulate the production of the neurotransmitter, dopamine. Dopamine is released when we anticipate a reward, not necessarily monetary, and is referred to as the ‘feel good’ neurotransmitter. Listening or being listened to is also a good dopamine stimulant; so, reach out to friends or family members who are good listeners. On the other hand, uncertainty can lead to what is called the amygdala hijack, so called because this emotionally charged part of the brain takes charge and can lead to a set of behaviours called fight, flight or freeze. While a natural response to uncertainty, we need to find ways to manage these strong emotions before we descend into anxiety and depression, where professional help needs to be urgently sought. Contacting your GP, Lifeline 131114 or Beyond Blue 1800 512 348 are critical first steps.