Amygdala Hijacks, Professor Gates and the Cambridge Police
Let me say from the outset, that this is one of those posts that I've debated writing. Let me also say what I'm not writing about. I'm not writing about racial profiling or who was right or wrong in the situation of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates being handcuffed and arrested by Cambridge, Mass. police officer Crowley in his home last week. You've probably heard the story by now that after returning to his home from a trip, Gates and his cab driver were jimmying a stuck door to get into the house. A neighbor who observed them working on the door called the police. After Gates was in his house, Officer Crowley arrived and asked Gates for his ID. This is the point at which their stories diverge in terms of who did or said what. One thing that is clear, however, is that the situation escalated to the point that Gates was led out of his house in handcuffs.
The key phrase for me is that last sentence is "the situation escalated." I've been doing a lot of reading on this case the past couple of days and have been surprised that I've seen nothing on the role that one or more amygdala hijacks likely played in the scene at Gates' house. If you're not familiar with this phrase, I believe it was first developed by Daniel Goleman the author of Emotional Intelligence and many other books on the topic. The amygdala is a small part of the brain located just above the spinal cord that stores emotional memories, particularly those associated with fear. It's where the fight or flight response resides. If you're in a situation that feels threatening to your physical being or your ego, it's the amygdala that stimulates your reaction to either fight or get out the heck out of there. The fight or flight response was probably really useful for our prehistoric ancestors who had to deal with the occasional sabre tooth tiger. It's usually not a particularly useful response in today's world. When the amygdala kicks in the adrenaline surge it releases can overpower or hijack the logical, critical thinking skills that come from the brain's frontal cortex.
Given the tense situation at Gates' house and the outcome that resulted, it's not hard to imagine that one or probably both of the men involved suffered from some form of amygdala hijack. We're all going to find ourselves in situations where we're going to feel threatened from time to time so what can we do to prevent a reaction that leads us to say or do something that ends badly? Here are a few tips:
- Mental preparation: Sometimes we know in advance that we're going to be in a conversation or a situation that is likely to set us off. In those cases, it's a good idea to take some time in advance to ask yourself, "What am I trying to do in this situation and how do I need to show up to make that outcome likely? How do I want to respond when that person does something that pushes my anger button?" By thinking it through in advance you're using your frontal cortex and are preparing it to help keep your amygdala in check.
- Notice your physical reaction: Sometimes we don't have time to prepare, we're just suddenly presented with a situation that makes us feel threatened in some way. When threatened or angered, most people have physical cues that they're headed down that path. It could be a tightening of your jaw, a flush feeling in your face, your vocal cords tightening up or something else. If you notice that, it's a cue to step back and move on to the next tip which is...
- Breathe deeply and intentionally: This actually oxygenates your brain in a way that will reduce the effect of the chemicals stimulated by the amygdala and give your frontal cortex a chance to operate more normally.
- State what's happening: If you can either say out loud or to yourself, "I'm getting angry here," you put yourself into more of a role of self-observer rather than actor. It can be easier to make thoughtful choices about what to do next if you can decouple yourself from being the actor.
- Try to see the other person as a person rather than a threat: Once you've decoupled a little bit, ask yourself a few questions about the other person. What are they thinking? What are they feeling? What do they want? Shifting over to their perspective will get you out of your own reactive mode and will put you in a better position to solve the problem.
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Executive coach Scott Eblin’s goal is to help you succeed at the next level of leadership. Throughout the week, he’ll offer his take on the leadership lessons in the news and his advice on your most pressing leadership questions. A former government executive, Scott is a graduate of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and is the author of The Next Level: What Insiders Know About Executive Success.
Why has this been made a racial issue? Gates should consider the police were protecting the (his) home from a possible breaking and entering. Gates should have immediately shown his identification without the hassle. It seems Gates is sensitive about the color of his skin to blow this out to such extreme proportions and for the president to interfere is ridiculous! I hope the president has time to perform his presidential duties! To put the shoe on the other foot; how would Gates reacted to black officers upholding the law the exact way the white officers did? Why isn’t Gates mad at his neighbor for calling the police? Didn’t they recognize him? When God looks at you he does not see the color of your skin only what's inside!
B Schell Posted Monday, July 27, 2009 9:59 AMScott:
Great post! Another tip is to count to 5...slowwwwwwly. This helps you to slow down and use the rational part of the brain. So, after recognizing and stating what's happening (to yourself or out loud), count 1...2...3...4...5.
Thanks again for the tips. (I'm having flashbacks to the Georgetown leadership coaching program.)
K. Scott Derrick Posted Monday, July 27, 2009 5:29 PMThe problem is that the police should have known this, and should have been trained in the practices you describe. The sensitivity of Black men to police authority is way old news, and professional police organizations have long since trained their officers to be aware of it. The puffed up defensiveness of the Cambridge Police reveals a guilty knowledge of their failure. The inflammatory of some media and political figures demonstrates their continued moral bankruptcy.
Bob Schilling Posted Monday, July 27, 2009 9:41 PMWho cares! I'll be glad when Gates' 15 minutes of fame is over and done.
Heaven forbid if he chokes on his beer as that may be claimed to the public's fault since we are paying for that beer.
What a nonsensical waste of time and money.
The really sad result of this entire debacle is that the lady who thought she was being a good samaritan gets the brunt of the criticism while the real culprits have a beer with the President.
What a screwed up society we have become.
Potato Man Posted Thursday, July 30, 2009 9:33 AMThere were black officers present and they are supporting Sgt. Crowley, saying he did nothing wrong. This is nothing but Gates playing the racial victim card and the country is sick of it. If I were Crowley, I would have told Obama to keep his beer and mind his own $*&% business. The only mistake made here was the President shooting off his mouth...again.
FedUpFed Posted Friday, July 31, 2009 7:50 AMI agree with Bob; the police should be TRAINED to know how to deal with citizens who "lose their cool." We can debate the appropriateness of Mr. Gates' reaction all we want, but the bottom line is that it was the police officer who had a professional duty to stay calm.
My friend is deaf; he gave me a very good example. What if the police yelled "stop" and (of course) he didn't hear it; would they be allowed to shoot him? No, the police didn't shoot Gates, but they still over-reacted, so I could see her point.
Charlie Posted Friday, July 31, 2009 10:35 AMDon't choose
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Devin Frasier Posted Friday, August 27, 2010 12:25 PMWithout knowing exactly what happened it's difficult to know whether this sort of state control would have helped. Maybe gates went to get ID and the cop thought he was going for a gun. What is clear is that fear, and quite possibly some sort of fear disorder triggered by the amygdala led to an escalation of tension in a situation that should have been easy to resolve.
Alex Posted Thursday, September 30, 2010 12:15 PM