Understanding the Fight or Flight Response: Why Your Brain Struggles with Imposter Syndrome.

We've all experienced that feeling of your palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy...wait, sorry, got a little carried away channeling my inner Eminem there. But you know that feeling I'm talking about - your heart pounding, muscles tensing up in a stressful situation. This is the body's automatic "fight or flight" response kicking in - an evolutionary survival mechanism that primes us to either confront or flee from perceived threats or dangers. 

The Neurological Explanation

The fight or flight response is driven by the sympathetic nervous system, which acts as the accelerator in times of stress. When a threat is detected, the amygdala (the brain's fear centre) sends a signal to the hypothalamus. This triggers a cascade of events where hormones like adrenaline and cortisol are released to prepare the body for peak performance.

Heart rate and blood pressure increase to pump more oxygen to major muscle groups. Breathing becomes rapid and shallow. Senses become heightened. Digestion slows as blood is diverted away from the stomach to the limbs. This heightened physical state is meant to give humans an evolutionary advantage to fight off predators or flee to safety.

In contrast, the parasympathetic nervous system acts as the brake - promoting rest, digestion, and recovery when the perceived threat has passed.

An Outdated Alarm System For The Modern Day

However, most of the "threats" we face today are not physical, but rather psychological - public speaking, job pressures, fears of failure or harsh criticism...the list is long. In these cases, the fight or flight response is less than ideal.

Our bodies still gear up as if we need to fight a bear or run for our lives. But the stressors triggering this extreme biochemical reaction rarely require an intense physical response. This mismatch between what the brain perceives as a threat and the reality of the situation can cause a lot of inner turmoil and anxiety.

This is particularly relevant for the experience of imposter syndrome. The inner critic and fear of being "outed" as a fraud can activate the fight or flight response, flooding the body with stress hormones and physiological activation that is no longer adaptive or useful.

Finding Balance and Coping Strategies

Since the human brain has struggled to evolve at the same pace as our rapidly changing environments and mental challenges, we must find intentional ways to regulate the fight or flight response for these more psychological perceived “threats”:

• Breath-work and meditation to activate the parasympathetic "rest and digest" response

• Mindfulness to become more aware of our thoughts and emotions without being controlled by them

• Building self-awareness around when we're catastrophising modern "threats"

• Self-compassion to quiet the inner critic fuelling imposter fears

While the fight or flight response will always be ingrained in human biology as a survival mechanism, we can develop strategies to prevent this ancient alarm system from being overly triggered by modern psychological stressors. By understanding the evolutionary roots of this prehistoric instinct, we can employ the right tools to keep the fight or flight response from hijacking our rational thinking when faced with challenges like imposter syndrome that it was never designed to handle.

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