Your Spirit Animal in Stressful Times: Snake, Gazelle, Goat or Dog (infographic)
By Nadja Conaghan
A frustrated client yelling at you on the phone. A pressing deadline, long hours and weekend work ahead. Tension in the team. Not seeing eye to eye with a colleague on a work related matter.
When we perceive stress, we tend to go to an automatic response mode to deal with and overcome the situation. There are two main facets in our stress response:
Your behavioural stress response which include your thoughts, emotions and actions; and
Your physical stress response, i.e. things that happen in your body (e.g. stress hormone release, tension in your body, increased heart rate, fast breathing).
There are two different types of behavioural stress response strategies, namely, the active and passive stress response.
An active response is what is commonly known as the fight or flight response.
A passive response would be freeze or submission.
Snake, gazelle, goat or dog – what is your default behavioural stress response?
If we look into the animal world, we can see that some animals have a default response when encountering stress.
Fight
Attack before you get attacked and win the fight fast. A brown snake when threatened, will attack you and may even chase you for miles.
Flight
Run when there is no hope of winning the fight. A gazelle will run when it senses a potential predator.
Submission
Giving in and let the other have the win. If you take your puppy to the dog park and a bigger dog comes along, your puppy may lay on their back as a sign of submission. It is like saying, let’s not fight and I know you are the stronger one and I won’t challenge you.
Freeze
Become invisible and uninteresting to the other. Have you heard of fainting goats? Whenever a fainting goat feels threatened it literally freezes and plays dead.
What is the best response?
Every response can be effective and appropriate. There is no best response. However, some researchers consider that an active response can be linked to resilience. This may be because an active response is from a place of empowerment and control, as opposed to from a place of helplessness and submission.
You have a choice as to how you react. I invite you to reflect and keep in mind:
Fighting and standing up for what is right feels good and empowering – especially when you get the outcomes that you wish for. Yet, sometimes fighting a fight that you cannot win is not the best option. Choose your battles wisely.
Leaving the situation (Flight) can be the best option when things get heated and you are at risk to make irrational decisions and damage important relationships for good. However, running away from a situation again and again may catch up with you eventually and will be more difficult to face and deal with in the long run. So, fight the fire straight away rather than allowing it to spread.
Freezing and staying silent and invisible can be good option to stay out of trouble when everyone around you is shot down. However, this strategy may make you feel like you are a coward, helpless and guilty over time, which may only add to your stress. Stand up for your beliefs and act according to what you think is right.
Surrendering (Submission), compromising and giving in can save relationships and help to move towards a solution. While letting others trample over you, bullying you and taking advantage of you comes with a big cost. Giving in and just accepting how things are makes you feel hopeless and can lead to depression. Don’t be the victim in your story, don’t let others determine how your life will play out. Be the protagonist in your story and be in control of your own destiny.
Reflection
Do you have a default response when encountering a stressful situation? How effective is it? Does it serve you well or is it a hindrance? If your auto-response to stress is not serving you well, how flexible are you to changing this response? Remember you have the choice.