08-4 (2003). Article Title: Effective Stress Management.

• Author: Author: Lynn Johnson, Ph.D.

Utah Bar Journal

Volume 8.

08-4 (2003).

Article Title: Effective Stress Management

August, 2003Last Update: 15/11/04Article Title: Effective Stress ManagementAuthor: Lynn Johnson, Ph.D.Article Type:ArticlesArticlePerhaps anger and fear are practical jokes that Mother Nature has played on us. After all, throughout most of our history as a species, the three stress responses (fight, flight, and freeze) could handle most problems. Hit it with a club, run, or play dead. Our ancestors who mastered those three instincts survived, and we carry the genes of their success.But those three responses come from parts of our brain that are not particularly intelligent.Effective stress management has a foundation in up-to-date understanding of how our brain works. In counseling with clients or in the courtroom, you want to use your brain at its most effective mode. This briefing will help you.We all have moods. Sometimes if a child is acting up, the mother may say, "Oh, he is just in a bad mood right now," and sure enough, after a while, the child is behaving much better. So also with adults. When we are in a bad mood, the world seems dark, but often the mood passes and things look better to us.So moods are like the weather. If your brain is functioning normally, moods will shift from time to time. If you don't like your mood, wait a while, and pretty soon another one will come along, one you like better. But what causes our moods to be high or low, happy or sad? Why do negative moods seem to have such a "hold" on us?The Reptile BrainWe now know that when we are in those bad moods, a particular part of our brain is more "in charge." Bad moods are driven by higher activity levels in the lower areas of the brain. This means simply that when you are angry or scared, you are less intelligent. I realize some attorneys believe the opposite, that anger sharpens their minds. They are wrong; perhaps I can explain why.The lowest area of the brain is the most primitive. We call it the "reptile" or alligator brain. It is a part of the brain that is located underneath the higher thinking part of our brain or the cerebral cortex. It looks somewhat like the head of a golf club, sitting on top of the spinal column.The reptile brain is concerned with three questions: Is it something I can eat? Is it something that can eat me? Can I mate with it?

The reptile brain is an action brain. The emotions that are present are primitive, like rage and fear. You who specialize in criminal defense work have probably run into some clients whose lives were run primarily by reptile brain dominance.So when you are acting in foolish or destructive ways, your reptile brain is most energized, and your higher brain functions are more quiet. Have you noticed that when you have fallen into reacting with anger or fear, you say and do the same old things and you aren't very creative? That lack of creativity is a sure sign the reptile brain is mainly in control of your behavior.The reptile brain is probably 90% to 100% selfish, so when people are being controlled by that part of their brain, you cannot expect...