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Whether it’s a car accident, explosion or someone collapsing, it’s common to notice bystanders standing wide-eyed in shock. Knowing what to do in a crisis and applying it when a real-life scenario occurs are two different things. Read on to discover why most people freeze during emergencies and how you can train your brain not to.

The Psychology of Freezing in Emergencies

Freezing is one of the brain’s automatic survival responses. This is a physiological response which is common when your body and mind feel threatened or fear potential consequences. While freezing might seem counterintuitive during a crisis, your brain can rely on this for these various reasons:

• Your brain is preparing you for the next action to take.
• To provide a better perception of your surroundings should you act.
• To keep you safe from possible danger.
• To dissociate from a traumatic event means making it less real, thereby reducing its impact.

What Freezing Feels Like

While freezing when someone is choking or during a house fire can delay lifesaving decisions, it might be something that’s not easy to control. This reaction isn’t about just standing still. It can include feelings of:

• A racing or pounding heart.
• Shallow breathing or feeling like you can’t breathe.
• Blank thoughts or inability to speak.
• Tunnel vision.
• Failure to move your limbs.

The Hidden Dangers of Freezing

Freezing in a moment of crisis can lead to severe consequences for you or the victim who needs immediate help. Whether it’s performing CPR, calling emergency services, or evacuating a building, the moment you stop dead in your tracks, it could have devastating outcomes. Moreover, once the ordeal has passed, you might be left with feelings of guilt or shame when you realise that you didn’t react appropriately, especially when you knew what should have been done to avoid potential danger.

How To Train Your Brain Not to Freeze

It takes intention and repetition. Here’s how to shift your brain from freezing to action:

1. Visualise Emergencies Before They Happen

Did you know that you can train your brain the same way that first responders do? By repeatedly imagining what you’d do in various emergencies, you condition how your brain should act when faced with multiple scenarios. The science behind this is that your brain doesn’t differentiate much between events that you have imagined and those that are real. So, when you mentally rehearse, staying calm or taking decisive action during an emergency, you are rewiring your survival response.

2. Practise Stress Simulation

This technique exposes you to controlled stressful situations to help your brain build tolerance when faced with a real-life crisis. You can participate in various simulations, such as first aid training, joining fire drills, and disaster preparedness courses, to help you become accustomed to dangerous scenarios that require an immediate response. The more often your brain faces simulated danger, the more it adapts to a way to react rather than freezing when faced with emergencies.

3. Have a Step-by-Step Response Plan

In most cases, you will notice that you freeze when you feel overwhelmed by having to make too many decisions, which can cause panic. Having a step-by-step action plan can help you break away from feeling stuck when you must react. For instance, you can remind yourself that the first thing to do in any emergency is to send an alert on your FREE-to-use iER App and then assess your surroundings to determine if you need to evacuate or assist any victims.

4. Don’t Panic

Panicking can be your worst nightmare because it shuts down your rational thinking, flooding you with fear. However, staying calm can help you navigate the crisis and help you make more informed decisions. When faced with a high-stress situation, remind yourself that:

• You are in control.
• You should only focus on one thing at a time and ensure you don’t overwhelm yourself.
• Regulating your breathing can help you stay calmer.

Emergencies rarely come with warnings or specific timeframes. However, when you have the proper mental preparation, you can train yourself to move, act, and even lead when bystanders don’t know what to do. Most importantly, receiving the appropriate basic training can also help you navigate stressful situations.

Ensuring you download the FREE-to-use iER App can also improve your chances of providing help to those in need during a crisis. You can have instant access to over 18,000 medical and non-medical emergency responders when you send a general or silent alert in a state of panic. Download it from the Google Play Store, the Apple App Store, or the Huawei App Gallery today to stay emergency-ready 24/7.