Threat Lockdown

“How little can be done under the spirit of fear.” — Florence Nightingale, pioneer of professional nursing

Key Ideas:

When your mind perceives a potential threat your body immediately prepares to respond. Your body will come out of protective mode only once you’re sure there’s no longer a threat.
The subconscious choice to fight, flee or freeze depends on your brain’s Mental Simulation of the situation. Freezing makes your brain go into Threat Lockdown, hoping the threat will pass you by, and making it difficult to fixate on anything other than the threat.
Threat Lockdown is a response designed to help you defend yourself, but it often malfunctions in today’s environment. Today’s threats are chronic, but less acute than in the past.
If you’re experiencing Threat Lockdown, don’t try to repress it: it won’t go away, it’ll only make the threat signals stronger.
The key to dealing with it is to convince your mind that the threat no longer exists, either by convincing your mind that there never was a threat, or by convincing it that the threat has passed.