I am overcome by nervousness & anxiety
If you experience acute stress in the workplace, either some of the time or all the time, you're not alone. By acute stress, we mean a reaction commonly known as the fight or flight response. As human beings, our bodies are hardwired to react to threatening situations in a certain way. As long as we've been around, we've had the same response to stress.
Imagine being a caveman who's just encountered a saber-toothed tiger in the brush. According to scientists in human behavior, you have at that moment two choices. You can stand and fight the tiger, or you can take flight and get out of danger as quickly as possible.
Now, the saber-toothed tiger has long been extinct. But it can be a metaphor for the sudden stresses that you encounter every day: a traffic jam when you're late for work, a presentation to the board of directors, an interview with your boss when a promotion is on the line, a co-worker who pushes your buttons every time you meet, a dysfunctional workgroup, a downsizing, a "right-sizing," a transfer? The list goes on and on, and every time you come in contact with one of your personal tigers, the fight or flight response kicks in.
What happens to your body during fight or flight? Here's a partial list.
- Activity is cut off in areas at the front of your brain concerned with short-term memory, concentration, inhibition, and rational thought. This is why you sometimes freeze in the midst of a confrontation and spend hours playing out what you "should have said" long after the event is over and your tiger has gone back to its lair.
- Your heart rate and blood pressure increase. Your breathing becomes more rapid and your lungs take in more oxygen.
- Your blood flows faster, fueling your muscles for what's ahead. But the blood flow is diverted away from your skin, so your skin feels clammy and your palms are sweaty.
- Your mouth gets dry and you may have trouble getting the words out. You might even experience muscle spasms in your throat, which make it difficult to swallow.
- Your digestive system shuts down, giving you a queasy stomach.
All this because we are hard-wired to deal with fight or flight whenever a threat to our well-being is imminent. Or we perceive a threat to our well-being.
Workplace success depends on your ability to manage your tigers in a positive, constructive, and professional manner.
