Gut instinct in Emergency Response and in life
‘Going with your gut’ or indeed having ‘a police(man)’s nose is definitely a thing. We say it all the time, whether it be about a dodgy person in a position of perceived power (see previous blog on psychopaths), or whether someone ‘likes-you’-likes-you when you sense a little flirtatious fizz, or even just which direction to take at a frustratingly unsigned T Junction surrounded by poorly managed hedgerows and no satnav signal (yes, I live in Dorset). Some of us are told, when it comes down to it, whatever process, guidance or resource isn’t there to help with a particular decision on the spot, to trust your instinct. We nod and pull that agreeable pensive face in a timely way. But what does it actually mean and can we do it better?
And worst of all (what many of us might not dare ask out loud), what if we get it wrong?
It’s a well-known fact these days that we have neurons in our stomach (this is more commonly spoken about now in terms of biomes and bacteria and digestion and annoying social media advertisements that try to convince women that they need to lose weight by pooing more – but they say ‘pooping’ to make it sound cute and all-American). Neurons in our stomach are actually part of a much more complex system which includes neurons in our hearts (hence the term or something being ‘heart-felt’ and a sense of heartache associated with loss) and also something called the vagus nerve (I speak about that in The Policing Mind and how useful it is for the job).
These neural pathways are inside our bodies, running up and down our spine. The vagus nerve is a mind-blower (highly recommend downloading more on polyvagal theory such as this link here) and basically is responsible for our gut instinct and our ability to read other people. The beautiful thing is that you can actually train it up to get better, which is more than a little handy for those of us whose job is it is to make sense of other people’s behaviour (which is the job of being human for most). There are specific techniques out there: ranging from literally just splashing your face with cold water (there’s a reason people have done this forever as a way of re-setting themselves after something challenging) to managing heart-rate variability using fancy gadgets. The strongest influence on getting the best out of this clever, intuitive nerve is to make space for what it’s telling you. Making space for and tuning into how we process information is also called meditation. *(Cue everyone zoning out, getting irritated and wanting to resume doom-scrolling at the mere mention of the word. Hang in there if you dare)*
It's OK, I get it. Emergency Response brains aren’t wired for patiently and inwardly watching their thoughts, they are about action and responding to external threat.
Well, sadly, that is precisely my point.
If we want our actions in the face of threat ‘out there’ we need to be able accurately read what is going on ‘out there’. And sometimes it’s not always clear. There may be a process that hasn’t worked out, a failure of protocol or a lack of resources. There may just be some really fricking random behaviour unfolding in a person right in front of you that you need to manage.
Our brain might be doing somersaults as we try to figure out a decision.
It’s moments like these that sometimes our gut is all we have. But it’s also moments like these that are very stressful and it’s not always easy just to switch to ‘going with your gut’.
That’s why training it or learning to watch your thoughts and listen to your own body can really help you upskill.
So, if that’s the solution, how is it going for me? Here I am preaching away in typical Dr Jess fashion, but really I need to ask myself – why am I writing about this and what can I say from my own experience?
Well, I guess it came from a session I had with one police Senior Leadership Team this week (some of it came from that). I was explaining that we think we make best decisions in our heads based on processes we know and information we can rely on, and that bodies are there to help us physically do what we need to -and sometimes emotions pop up (but we try not to let them dominate). And that is how I default to approaching life. But it’s totally arse-upwards.
This is why we struggle in Emergency Response work and in life. I’d heard on a podcast (I think it was Being Well or maybe Happier as it usually is either one these days) that there are times that actually what we need to do is reverse this flow of how we make decisions .
- Bodies give us our first clues about what is going on (neural feedback from our bodies)
- Then we can feel emotion (which start as chemical messengers such as adrenalin, dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and the like)
- Reading the body and the sensation then objectively guides our decisions
So that’s what I explained. And I’ll be training on the Executive Leaders Programme at the College of Policing next week so I’ll let you know what response I get. It’s not always welcome, reminding people that the (sometimes uncomfortable) body sensations and the (sometimes unnerving or noisy) emotional responses are actually there to give us information. But they are going to happen anyway because it’s our amazing nervous system trying to help us out to tell us what is going on when sometimes the external cues are just not there for whatever reason.
How does this play out for me? Well, I need to get on and do this better myself. I did start learning to tune into my own body’s ‘tells’ when it came to simple stress. Last year was horrific in many ways for stress and I learned that a rapidity in heart rate and a cold sensation in my stomach and then an agitation along the back of my shoulders was generally an indication I was about to either panic or …. Lose my sh**. Anger is not something I’ve really experienced much of before but I know when the amygdala trips out in fear and stress, it can tip into rage in extreme circumstances, so I got used to it. (Sadly the cats didn’t, so I got a grip).
This year is better. This year the huge external stress has relinquished (I’ll face more in different ways and home life ways this year as I am a carer, so I know we have some challenges ahead). But for now, I have some steadiness to really start tuning in a bit better.
I think my barrier is that sometimes I tune in to my gut instinct- usually about someone (not some ‘thing’ like an event or a prediction) and then I feel a bit bad for judging them. So I then try and think the opposite of them and see how that feels. Usually, my brain tells me in no uncertain terms “Errr, no, Jess that is totally NOT what is going on with this person” and I follow my gut. There are times the pause enables me to be objective and think “OK, so your gut is telling you this but there is the possibility that there is other stuff going on here that you haven’t picked up on yet, so don’t rush into anything – just wait a second and look for more information”. That can be really helpful.
SO even just a gut instinct enabling you to stop and take a moment in the world of Emergency Response might be the smallest but most valuable win.
I’m no Emergency Responder by occupation but as you know if you’ve worked with me, I do kinda throw myself in to the world. I have, I would say by default, a brain that is an emergency-responder. That’s what growing up with developmental trauma does, then making really dodgy job choices for 25 years ; )
Oh, there we are, we’ve gone full circle and we’re back to psychopaths. Time I left it there.