Startle Responses: When Your Brain Sees Lions Instead of Kittens

A startle response happens when your body triggers the nervous system to kick on and rescue you from a perceived threat through Fight, Flight, or Freeze. Unfortunately, this system can turn on even when there is not a real threat and may linger longer than you would ever like.

Triggered

Our brains try to help us. I say try because it does not always bother to see the bigger picture before it starts pushing buttons on the control panel. The part of your brain called the amygdala tries to protect us from perceived threats. We may not be in actual danger before the incredible autonomic nervous system response kicks in and we go into Fight, Flight, or Freeze. Logic could get in the way of survival if we sit too long thinking before we act which is why initially our bodies cannot tell the difference between a kitten or a lion once the amygdala triggers.

Let’s say your brain perceives a threat like performing in front of others, a predator following you down a hiking path, thoughts about leaving the house, talking to someone, a test, a new change in your life, a reminder of past trauma, a jump scare, or whatever it is that may be a trigger for you. The thing that triggers the system into fearing a perceived threat is different for different people and probably has a lot to do with what you have been through in the past. Without consulting your logical side your body decides which mode works best for this situation.

Fight, Flight, or Freeze

Freeze can look like having trouble leaving the bathroom stall to give a dreaded speech in front of others or becoming impossibly still up in a tree in an attempt to hide from something with sharp claws. Fight can look like punching that guy who popped out a little too close from behind something at the haunted trail or excessively screaming and honking at the car that we thought put our lives in danger when they cut us off. Flight can look like running faster than you've ever gone before when something slithers beside you or abruptly rushing out of a store when you thought you saw what may have been the person that abused you in the past on the next aisle over.

Automatic (And Sometimes Annoying) Super Powers

An activated autonomic nervous system can change the rate at which you breathe, improve your hearing and eyesight, and can even temporarily reduce your perception of pain. That is a pretty impressive automated survival response. Though, it cannot last forever. It takes too much juice. It's meant to be a temporary and quick way to keep us safe. Even if your inner superhero mode kicks in at an inconvenient time it will not last more than about thirty minutes at most. When it shows up uninvited, however, even after the initial response is over you may be left feeling irritated, overwhelmed, or even guilty that those sensations showed up.

Once the effects of Fight, Flight, or Freeze begin to wear off you may be tempted to offer yourself harsh judgment and some pretty negative self-talk. Please remember we do not get to choose our startle responses or what triggered them. We do get to choose how we respond after we recognize what just happened. Once we realize we mistook a kitten for a lion we can start to identify what we need now and how we want to handle this moment now that we have control back. We can practice positive coping skills like grounding techniques and reset our physical responses faster. We can experience relief, become regulated again, and get back to where we want to be.

Learning to Cope

Note: Individuals who have past trauma or experience symptoms that disrupts their functioning may benefit from professional assistance when it comes to recognizing triggers and building up positive coping strategies. Your brain may have learned that certain situations mean you are in danger and so it still tries to "help" by giving you a startle response. Knowing your brain learned to associate this stimulus with danger means you can teach your brain that even though there may be whiskers and claws - this isn't a lion and I don't need you to hit the panic button to keep us safe anymore when this situation shows up. Everybody is different and finding what works for you can take both time and effort, but is well worth the investment.