There is an instant reaction which occurs within our brains when we hear yelling, such as angry or hateful yelling. The amygdala, which is an almond shaped core in the center of the brain, responds to fear stresses, and reacts accordingly. In support of our primal instincts to either run or fight, the amygdala takes short term memory from the brain and transfers neurological strength temporarily to ways to get out of a situation, such as if we needed to escape a room or ambush, or if we needed to suddenly and aggressively attack our opponent. According to Daniel Goleman, in Working with Emotional Intelligence, this is known as an “amygdala hijack,” where you forget the rational and sane response to the person who is verbally (or otherwise) accosting you, and instead respond in kind, using sharp or dangerous words, mimicking the physical manifestation of these, which would be attacking the person with your fists and teeth.
Raised voices temporarily puts our emotional responses on recall, just in case we need to react to the situation. Outright yelling can be more aggressive to our brains, and therefore can draw out a much more upset response from us. If you hear yelling, you are more likely to either become quiet and withdraw quickly, or to yell back and move toward the person. Either way, you are in the middle of an upsetting circumstance and nothing seems to be a good solution.
It is already necessary to use professional tones and responses with your customers, but it is just as necessary to use them with coworkers. For this reason, businesses which can maintain a calm level of peace in their workplace are the most successful. Quiet fear is bad, but loud positive excitement can be good. This is true as long as the yelling doesn’t trigger an “amygdala hijack.”
At Mediscreen, we understand how employees who abuse substances can become extremely upset and trigger a domino effect in other employees. For this reason, we recommend that you use our onsite drug and alcohol testing services. Workplace drug testing is the ideal solution for employers who wish to understand their subordinates in a better, more systematic way. Drug and alcohol testing is definitely the way to go if this continues to be a problem. For more information about possible workplace drug testing laws and their application in your industry, call Mediscreen today: (+61) 1300 79 70 40.
