Stress is a word we hear all the time, but what does it really mean? One way of describing it is
being triggered into survival mode by a real or imagined threat. It’s when we perceive we don’t
have sufficient resources to cope with the emotional or mental pressures and start to feel
overwhelmed. We can have demanding lives, but if there is capacity to cope with it, we don’t
actually feel stressed.
The underlying emotion is typically fear; we get anxious things will go wrong. We keep expecting
something unpleasant or painful to happen in the future, whether it’s physical, material, relational,
and we stop feeling secure. When our brain gets the message that our safety has been threatened
on some level, it wants to protect us. The brain is designed to help us survive and not to make us
happy.
Amygdala is in charge of the incredibly quick response that gets us out of danger. It’s a small area
deep within our brains that receives signals from our senses. Once it registers a potential threat it
rapidly instructs the body to run away, or attack. This is the fight or flight mechanism we share with
animals. There is also the immobilization or “freeze” response. It’s when animals play dead until
the predator leaves. For us it’s getting paralysed and stuck, like a “deer in the headlights”.
Without the amygdala’s responsiveness to potential dangers, we would have never made it as a
species. Imagine hearing a suspicious sound – if your amygdala is doing its job you run away,
survive, and get a chance to procreate. If you stop to explore the sound however… you could end
up being somebody’s lunch. There is no time to check in with the prefrontal cortex, the more
rational, wiser part of our brain. The amygdala prefers to err on the side of caution to keep us alive.
Throughout history, humanity has been facing physical threats constantly, and being exquisitely
sensitive to danger helped us survive.
The is the reason the brain has a negativity bias. We focus on criticism automatically and ignore
praise. The news is filled with what is going poorly, not what is going well. For the brain, positivity is
like Teflon, and negativity like velcro. Experiencing negative emotions simply means we are
human. Focusing on successes and enjoyable experiences takes effort, while remembering
failures and embarrassments happens automatically. It’s been shown it takes three positive
experiences to compensate for a negative one.
When the amygdala interprets images or sensations as distress, it activates a cascade of
responses. It instantaneously calls the hypothalamus, the brain’s command centre in charge of
bodily functions. The hypothalamus in turn activates the involuntary sympathetic nervous system,
which oversees our response to threat, orchestrating our bodily responses. It’s like pressing a gas
pedal that gets adrenaline going, heart pumping, senses sharpening, getting us prepared to start
fighting, or flee. Once the threat is gone, the parasympathetic nervous system will activate to
allow the body to recover and relax. It’s often described as the “rest and digest” or “feed and
breed” system. The sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system counterbalance and
complementing each other.
Humans have evolved to handle short bursts of stress followed by longer periods of recovery.
The problem occurs when pressure becomes chronic and the stress system goes into overdrive.
Today, we typically don’t fear being eaten or slain on the way to the grocery store. However, our
loyal amygdala is still there, a faithful guardian alerting us of potential threats. We are not made for
long-term sympathetic system activation, because that prevents necessary recovery. Accumulating
tension over time can lead to a whole host of stress-related disorders – anxiety, depression,
insomnia, muscle tension, addiction, cardiovascular and digestive issues. Chronic stress reduces
the capacity for higher cognitive functions. Attention, long-term memory, emotional regulation, and
flexible behavior, seated in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), all suffer. Uncontrollable stress affects the
PFC by reducing its neuronal firing. Simultaneously, the more primitive, impulsive response in the
amygdala gets stronger.
The Personality Systems Interaction (PSI) theory is a framework discovered in 2000 by Prof.
Dr. Kuhl based on over 20 years of research in neuroscience and experimental psychology. PSI
posits humans have four cognitive functions corresponding to activation of certain brain regions.
Activation of a cognitive function underpins a particular way of thought, emotion and behavior.
We can imagine the functions as rooms in the palace of our brains that we can go in and out of.
Each room has a particular atmosphere, lighting, and decoration, with windows showing us
different parts of the world, and representing distinct parts of our inner landscape. We can move
quickly between the rooms, sometimes even in a matter of milliseconds – this is a dynamic, fluid
process. Here we will explore two of the four functions that are linked to stress response, surviving,
and thriving, Object Recognition System and Extension Memory.
When a threat appears, the amygdala activates a function Prof. Dr. Kuhl named “Object
recognition system”, that perceives individual objects in our surroundings as opposed to the
whole. For ease of reference we will call it the blue room from now on. Here the senses are sharp
and alert, we are curious to understand what is happening around us, actively perceiving the
outside world. When the blue room is active we zoom in to notice details and scan the environment
for discrepancies and errors. We get tunnel vision, and only perceive parts of the whole picture.
Quickly, we spot what doesn’t fit into our perception of the world, what is new, different, or a
potential threat. We are attuned to noticing problems. At the same time, we can’t step back to see
the forrest from the trees meaning we can spiral into negative thoughts. The blue room is a novelty
and error detector. When in it, our mood ranges from curiosity and alertness to melancholy, fear,
worry, and anxiety. The underlying assumption of residing in the blue room is that we are not safe.
However, the blue room is needed for a multitude of reasons. It helps us to be cautious, precise,
curious, to improve, spot problems, be sensitive to nuances, and the environment around us. It can
reduce the complexity of the world by distilling it into simpler objects. The brain operates in
cognitive shortcuts – it’s faster and more effective. The problem is when we jump to the conclusion
about something being a threat too soon. Chronically overstaying in the bloom room can result in
states of depression.
How to recover from stress?
How do we get out of the blue room, once it stops being useful? By going into the complimentary
yellow room. Prof. Dr Kuhl calls it Extension Memory, as this is a vast, extended network of
neuronal connections. Its activation improves intuitive decision making, cognitive flexibility,
creativity, engagement, and resilience; all great resources to combat stress. The yellow room is
thought to be anchored in the hippocampus, and mainly the right side of the prefrontal cortex
(PFC).
The hippocampus is a complex brain structure involved in learning, memory, and imagining the
future. It plays a significant part in regulating our emotions, which is a cornerstone of mental health
and well-being. PFC is the seat of executive functions. These include decision-making, working
memory and social behavior, and expressing our personalities. It orchestrates thoughts, emotions
and actions top-down, aligning them with our internal goals and plays a big role in changing how
we feel by downregulating blue rooms’ negative emotions.
Information is processed in parallel in the yellow room. This means we connect diverse ideas into a
meaningful whole, which underpins holistic and creative thinking. We evaluate complex situations
by integrating diverging points of view, to help flexibly navigate the challenges of life.
The yellow room is like a rich internal library of our experiences, creating the fabric of the Self.
To access it we need to tune into ourselves, and get into contact with what is meaningful to us.
Personal identification is the key that opens the door of the yellow room. It allows us to act in
alignment with our core values in an intuitive way with little conscious effort. Spontaneously, we get
absorbed and engaged in activities that matter to us. When people say “just be yourself,” this is
what they mean.
Given our experiences are stored in the yellow room, if we have too many painful memories we
often resist going in. When it feels overwhelming to go into the self, please stop and seek
professional support. The psyche has good reason to avoid accessing the self, so be gentle with
yourself. Go slowly, and compassionately.
The blue and yellow room are complementary brain functions forming the axis of self-
development. In the blue room we see parts, in yellow we perceive the whole. Blue discovers
what is different from expected or needs improvement. Yellow uses these insights to fuel growth in
a cohesive way and expand our perception. In short, blue detects the problem, and yellow solves
it. If we stay in yellow only, we will not have incentive to grow, as we feel all is well and why bother.
If we stay only in blue, we are anxious and cut off from our resources. Integrating the qualities of
both cognitive functions allow for authentic and sustainable self-growth and our experience
becomes greater than the sum of its parts.
How to thrive?
Stress has adverse impact on our brain by weakening the resourceful, wise PFC and hippocampus
(yellow room) and strengthening the reactive amygdala activation (blue room). However, studies
have shown the effects of stress are reversible. This is due to the brain’s ability to change, learn
and adapt based on experience. Neuroplasticity is the mechanism that underpins this malleability.
Whatever though or action we repeat becomes more strongly representing in the brain, and what
we don’t use weakens.
When we apply ourselves to regulating how we feel and think, to calm down the amygdala and
strengthen access to the yellow room, and become more resilient and resourceful. This activity
requires conscious effort, and practice. As a result we learn ow to self-soothe and regulate
emotions. Yellow already has the resources to break apart effects of stress. These resources
simply need to be activated. Otherwise, they stay dormant, and blue runs rampant in our brains,
creating worries.
Whatever helps us get into a state of relaxed awareness unlocks this function’s stress-combating
abilities. Given the highly individual nature of the yellow room, it’s deeply personal how we get in.
This can change over time as we grow – being an intuitive function, we cannot push ourselves to
enter it. In the same way we can’t command ourselves to fall asleep, or to be creative, or to relax,
we must allow for conditions for it to happen in a spontaneous way.
We will explore four ways to get into our yellow, and also how to nudge others into theirs,
offering support during stressful states.
- Feeling safe enough
When feeling threatened, we immediately enter the blue room. Therefore we need to establish a
sense of feeling safe enough to allow us to walk into the yellow. Setting appropriate boundaries to
ensure we feel sufficiently secure is essential. This can mean taking time out, saying no, or asking
for support, removing ourselves from an overwhelming situation, or reassure ourselves that things
are indeed ok. If we tell ourselves all is well, we might not solve the problem, but we do create a
sliver of calm. Then, we can find a solution.
When helping someone, start by asking what they need, and listen. It can be practical or emotional
support. Asking someone to think of their needs helps them connect to their yellow room.
- Naming and exploring emotions
Compassionately acknowledging how we feel is the first step of handling stress. Naming an
emotion has been shown to decrease activity in the amygdala and the correlated emotional
reactions. Approach the feeling with curiosity, a sense of wonder and exploration. Suspend your
judgement. Our emotions always have a good reason to appear, even if it doesn’t seem logical at
first glance. If we look deeper, feelings are trying to communicate something to us. Repressing
emotions is akin to trying to make hunger go away by ignoring it. Giving ourselves emotional
nourishment relieves the discomfort, not avoidance. Similarly, if we respond to the underlying need
that an emotion is signalling to us, the tension dissipates. Emotions want us to act, set boundaries,
integrate, soothe, accept, reflect, grieve, connect, rest, support, or care in a different way. We all
have very good reasons to feel the way we feel, depending on our histories, experiences, beliefs,
and the characteristics of our nervous systems.
We will never be able to truly know what another person is going through. Genuinely validating
another’s perspective without judgement and offering our full presence and empathy can be highly
transformative. People typically know what could help them. Often, they need comfort and support
to regulate their emotions. Once they feel calmer, they reestablish access to their creative
resourceful selves. This allows them to navigate and solve complex situations. Sometimes the
other person might need a nudge to snap out of a passive or anxious state. Sharing a feel-good
activity together or distracting the person creates a break from the “blue” spiral of thoughts. Meet
the other person where they are, then nudge them in a way that respects their process. - Telling a different story
Research has shown that the detrimental effects of stress are in part due to the story we tell
ourselves about our experiences. Changing our mind about stress will impact the body’s response.
What we tell ourselves about what is happening to us changes the way we respond to it internally.
If we want to reframe the narrative, we can ask ourselves explorative questions to help us broaden
our perspective; “What is the one benefit of this situation?” , “Can I be absolutely sure what I’m
seeing is true?”, “If someone I cared for were in the same situation as me, what would I tell them?“,
“If I could control as little as 1% of what’s happening, what would I do differently?”, and similar. The
yellow room can integrate adverse experiences in a meaningful narrative that aligns with the big
picture. We have choices over how we interpret situations. We are the only thinker in our minds.
We have never been taught that we can change our internal experience. Observing our states and
changing how we feel takes some time to develop. A way to train is can be a simple visualisation
practice. Imagine a difficult situation happening, and then visualize yourself responding in a
different way. Our brains can’t tell the difference between a real situation, and an imagined one, so
the neuronal pathways of the better response will start strengthening and get easier over time.
Once you have a good connection with the other person, and there is relief from the grip of anxiety,
explore with them what they see as being under their control. This will create a sense of
empowerment. Another technique to trigger this is to ask how they would respond to a loved one if
they were in the same situation, as this will connect them to the resourceful mature part of them. - Breathing, stretching, movement
The yellow room is closely connected to the body. Embodiment activities become a doorway to our
real selves. When we feel threatened, our muscles contract, our breath quickens, and our
shoulders hunch to protect the neck and chest. We can release stress by reverse engineering this
process. Change the bodily response by purposefully breathing slowly, opening the chest and
shoulders, and doing large stretches to signals safety to the brain. Physical activity in general is
one of the few things that has been shown to relieve stress, and it takes only half an hour of
aerobic activity a few times a week.
When helping someone, go for a walk, ideally in nature. Have them move, stretch and breathe.
Changing body positions helps change the perspective. You can’t go wrong with movement.
There are many more ways to deal with stress, and learn from it. An inquisitive mind,
experimentation, reflection and willingness to explore will help build our unique toolkit that works
for our yellow room. Ultimately, compassion is the key that unlocks our brain’s resources to thrive.
https://www.circostrada.org/en/ressources/cs-lab6-publication