Managing Psychological Responses to Crisis

In this article I explain how to handle crisis from a psychologically sound point of view.

It starts with regulating your own emotions, then explains to how to calm down an agitated group, and finally provides tips on how to respond publicly to crisis.

I spend most of my time helping people regulate their own nervous systems to move from a constant state of anxiety to consistent calm and focus. On the managerial side, knowing how to notice and regulate your own emotions first, is like putting on your oxygen mask first in a plane. Not only can you not help others when you can’t breathe, you are likely to get in the way.

Starting with yourself, noticing the breath

The breath metaphor is an important concept for several reasons. When we regularly perceive threat and danger around us, we are physiologically likely to breathe more shallowly or to hold our breath. This type of breathing heightens anxiety and sends our nervous systems into the red zone commonly referred to as fight or flight. In the workplace anyone in that state, is likely to act reactively, lash out, criticize, judge and blame. None of these reactions are helpful, so regulating yourself to more accurately see what is happening is the first order of business.

A simple way to regulate emotions is to notice your breath and mindfully slow it down. Practicing this “breath noticing” technique for a few seconds daily, will make it more automatic and available in a stressful workplace situation. During this practice, as your breathing becomes conscious, the blood flow to your entire brain is reset. This translates into appropriate, wise and responsive behaviour.

In a regulated state, you are seeing what is in front of you instead of projecting your strong emotions onto an unsuspecting context.

Now that the importance of “regulate yourself first” is established, let’s move to the next piece of dealing with other people experiencing strong emotions and anxiety.

Calming group agitation by slowing down

Workplace research shows that employees “mirror” their boss’s behaviours, both positive and negative. Since we have what is known as “mirror neurons” , we copy behaviour of those around us and develop patterns in our body movements as a group during collective experience.. Although we are just starting to understand the importance of mirror neurons in management, sales training has been using the basic concept for years. If you slow your breathing, the other person will start to slow theirs, usually within 3-5 seconds. If the other person leans closer to you and shows interest in what you are saying, withing 3-5 seconds, you will lean closer to the other person and start to like that person. We can all use this technique to calm down an individual or group that show signs of agitation.

To calm a group in a situation of fear, anxiety or other strong emotions, remember to:

#1. Regulate your own emotions first. Noticing the breath is the easiest way to get started with this process.

#2. Continue to breathe slowly, and to speak slowly, leaving longer pauses of silence in between words and sentences.

#3. Move slowly and show concern for the others in the situation, acknowledging that they may be feeling bad or that this situation is hard for them.

#4. As the group calms down, keep your movements slow. The emotional flooding will start to leave and people will suddenly look tired and spent. Suggest that everyone takes a few minutes to do what they need to continue to feel calm, thank them in advance and continue to breathe slowly and deliberately.

Human crisis reactions calm with simple “do this” communications

The fear and anxiety present during any crisis can be made better or worse by the leadership’s response. An excellent resource for understanding the psychology of crisis is the ERC CDCynergy article citing Dr. Sandman’s research on the psychology of crisis.

According to his research, across cultures there are known psychological responses of individuals and groups in crisis:

Vicarious rehearsal – the further away the crisis is to you personally, the more you are likely to rehearse what you would do. This results in freeze/fight/flight nervous system responses when there is no actual danger. People feel the terror of an event in their minds and bodies, even though it is highly unlikely they will be affected by it.
Denial – members of the community who are in denial may avoid getting warnings or taking recommended actions, become agitated or confused. They may not believe the threat is real, or not real to them. The key piece to remember in crisis denial, is that individuals in this state have lost their belief that the universe is a rational and orderly system. They need reassurance that the world is still intact.
Stigmatization – community members or the community at large may stigmatize the victims in a crisis, refusing assistance and access to services out of fear that they will be contaminated by association with the victim.
Fear and avoidance – Under the influence of fear individuals tend to show irrational and extreme behaviour to avoid the outcome of the crisis.
Withdrawal, hopelessness and helplessness – Other individuals understand that the crisis is real and affecting them and others. However, they feel the crisis is so large and overwhelming that they withdraw and become hopeless.

So what can you do about these automatic crisis behaviours? According to Dr. Sandman, it appears that of all possible recommended leadership responses to large groups in crisis, giving people something to do is the most universally calming. He recommends giving people a three-part action prescription:

You MUST to X.
You SHOULD do Y.
You CAN do Z.

This type of clarity helps re-order the confusion that arises from panic, and allows people’s nervous systems to start regulating themselves. Here is a simple household example.

When your stove top cooking oil catches fire:

You MUST turn off the heat and cover the pot/pan with a lid.
You SHOULD only move the pot/pan when it has cooled.
You CAN sprinkle the fire with baking soda if it is near by and the fire is small.

Keeping this simple procedure in mind will help you communicate in ways that reassure people in crisis. This in turn assists their nervous systems to return to a more regulated state. Then through the effects of mirror neurons, they co-regulate as a group, and panic is replaced by calm and focus.

Let’s review

Generally, having workplace friendships helps reduce feelings of workplace loneliness. Human beings tend to look for similar humans to create friendships in and outside of work, but they are also attracted to those who are interesting and different.

There are many benefits to having friends with similar cultural norms and behaviours but there are significant downsides if people do not mix across cultures at work, the most obvious being the perpetration of stereotypes and prejudice between groups who do not know each other.

It is important to remember that job security concerns cause people from all cultures to want to protect their economic advantages. To promote sharing of information, employees need to be assured that they will not suffer economically from helping another colleague advance their career. Clear workplace expectations and norms need to be applied to everyone, and modeled by the leadership.

As employers become more intentional about creating an environment of clear expectations and workplace norms, the workplace feels fair and equitable.

When workers have both same-culture friendships and cross-cultural friendships, problems of loneliness and isolation diminish and feelings of belonging and inclusion increase. Common experiences are built. Hospitality and story sharing abound. Kindness and curiosity are evident.

Employees are happier and show better productivity and collaboration in a climate of friendship. The organization benefits from increased innovation and problem-solving, reduced stress and overall wellbeing.

We can all actively promote workplace friendships. Using any of the tips in this article ca be a great way to start!