A whiff of cat fur - how stress can kill play
Let me tell you a story about… stress. Unlike the dark fairy tales of the Grimm brothers which originate from folklore this one is straight from the lab. I first heard it from my university professor and an incredibly inspiring TED speaker, Ms Ewa Hartman, during one of her lectures. To me, it perfectly illustrates the works of our brain and how stress can kill play.
Two rats were joyfully playing, jumping around and wrestling each other. Don’t know if you know but… when rats are excited they can actually laugh!! When rats play they re actually experimenting while exploring their strength and agility.
One day, a small tuft of cat fur was placed in the rat’s play space…
Within seconds, the rats’ fear systems were activated by the presence fur and their play was completely inhibited. Prior to the fur - the rats played an average of 50 times in 5 minute sessions. After the cat fur, play dropped to zero. It took three days for the rats to even begin to play again but they never returned to the playfulness of their ‘pre fur’ sessions.
This little story reveals a relationship between the behaviours triggered by positive emotions (excitement) versus the negative emotions (fear). When one system is activated, the other shrinks down. So once fear is triggered it is hard to turn it off, it takes quite some time to re-ignite positive emotions. In all species that have been studied, playfulness is inhibited by negative emotions.
Why is it important?
So we talked about rats but what about humans and our higher-order cognitive functions? Do we display the same inhibition between our positive and negative emotions?
I recently read an interesting research of Anna Steinhenge from London Business School, where she showed that when employees interpret their arousal from a competition as anxiety (triggering their Fear System), they are less likely to select creative behaviours to solve problems, and more likely to be unethical. When people interpret their arousal from a competition with excitement (positive emotions), they are more likely to select creative behaviours to solve problems and less likely to be unethical.
What it tells me as a people’s manager is that fear and stress are incredibly damaging and can lead to compromising, unethical and damaging behaviours within the team. As leaders we should prioritise creating environments for individuals to safely experiment, create and fail. We must also be sensitive and aware of the threats stress and pressure can bring to general wellbeing, achievement and growth. Most importantly, if organisations want to inspire creativity, innovation and peak performance - leaders need to activate people’s positive emotions. When employees get a ‘whiff’ of bullying, being punished for experimenting - fear dominates and human potential is squandered.
“When we are stressed, our brain can make us believe that all our processes and goals are doomed. This is how stress stops our will to change. ”
More facts on (work) stress
after just 20 minutes, stress can be harmful
is makes our brains less intelligent
when stressed, certain parts of the brain switch off
it causes blind spots, you miss essential things
it is as contagious as a cold
Can stress be good?
Let’s not deem stress as only damaging and bad as it can also be a positive thing. In moderation it helps with our motivation and productivity. Check out the below Stress curve: it shows how our performance level can rise, peak and fall as demands increase. It shows how some stress can help us work at our best but also what happens when stress becomes too much.
If you have low demands on your time you might experience boredom and a lack of motivation resulting in a low performance level. You’re not feeling stressed, but you’re not working well either.
As demands or challenges increase, the line goes up. You feel busier and more motivated. If demands continue to increase you can eventually find yourself at the top of the curve. You’re coping with your demands and feel fulfilled by the challenges. You’re performing at your best.
Unfortunately, there’s a point where demands can get too much and too stressful and your performance can start to decline. Some demands are now not being met. At this point you can start to feel exhausted, anxious and overwhelmed. You might experience burnt out, especially if the demands do not decrease.
“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.”
How can we fix it?
Here are a few key points which seem simple and straightforward but may actually require a longer time to practice and implement. It’s not always easy to recognise when we are overstimulated, stressed or burned out. Taking a closer look at how our bodies react to demands can be an indicator of where on the stress curve we currently are and if we need to take a moment or a longer break to restore balance. Please remember that stress in not called a silent killer for no reason and that no job, salary or status is worth you compromising your wellbeing and health.
We must practice our ability to handle stress, to manage our emotions and reactions to stressful situations.
We must learn to take feedback/criticism as a potential to improve our performance and skills.
We must learn how to communicate to be understood and to set boundaries and expectations.
We should be able to say no, nurture work-life balance and have time for rest and hobbies.
I really hope that you enjoyed my short article and learned something new.
Do keep on mind that you are not alone in the journey of exploring what your brain is capable of and how great your life could be. I am here and I would love to help! Click here to schedule a quick chat. Speak to you soon!
