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WHAT ST


T IS THE BIOLOGICAL TRESS RESPONSE?


The stress response is a complex and nuanced response that affects all parts of the body and brain and is driven by various hormones produced by the body. Two hormones involved with stress triggered by conflict are adrenaline and cortisol. We are aware of the adrenaline response because we can feel an increase in our heart rate and sweaty palms that accompany the response. Cortisol is subtler and we are usually unaware that the response is underway and how it impacts our judgment.


Adrenaline ramps up very quickly and diminishes quickly, but cortisol uses a different, slower pathway in the body -- through the blood stream rather than through the nervous system. That means that even when cortisol begins to drop after a stressor, it can linger for as much as two hours, or more if it keeps climbing after the stress trigger is over. If you are subject to multiple stress triggers in a short time, the cortisol level will build on itself, getting higher and higher.


The stress response evolved to help an organism deal with threats. It prepares the body to fight or take flight. Moderate levels of cortisol help people focus and sharpen all our physical and mental abilities. The problem comes in when the cortisol level builds up beyond this positive (eustress) stage and begins to have negative impacts on mind and body (distress).


WHAT ARE STRESS TRIGGERS IN CONFLICT SITUATIONS?


SS TRIGG TUATION


Threats of physical danger, from seeing the proverbial saber tooth tiger, to seeing a fast moving car approaching as you cross the street, trigger the stress response. In addition, social threats also trigger the response, including feeling insecure in an unfamiliar setting, feeling subordinate to more experienced opponents, fearing a loss of status, and feeling disrespected. High emotions also trigger the stress response.


Conflicts that arise in community associations are usually settled by direct negotiation between the disputing parties or by litigation. Both negotiation and litigation present many stress triggers. Individuals in a negotiation may feel unprepared or less competent than their opponent and this will trigger stress. Just seeing a person when there is a history of conflict can be a trigger. Thinking about a previous conflict, confrontation or discussion is also a trigger. Litigation also involves many of the same triggers and adds on triggers that arise when a lawsuit is initiated as well as many triggers in an unfamiliar and highly formalized courtroom.


WHY WORRY ABOU STRESS RESPONS


UT THE NSE?


When the stress response is triggered repeatedly and cortisol levels rise, we evaluate our opponents as being angrier and more threatening than they appear to a less stressed individual. We also become more fixed in our positions and less likely to be able to see things from another’s perspective. These changes occur in everyone and we are largely unaware that they are happening.


As a result, a conflict between members of a community association or between members and management can be very hard to resolve. When the people involved in the conflict confront each other, the stress response is triggered over and over again and the chances of compromise or resolution diminish. Litigation always produces a winner and loser and almost always results in destruction of the relationships between the opponents. Neither of these outcomes is good for opponents who live in close proximity.


HOW CAN MEDIATION IMPROVE THE SITUATION?


MEDIATI E SITUAT


Mediation inserts a neutral party into the discussion. Parties to a dispute mutually select a mediator and arrange for a convenient time and place for the mediation session. Mediation is voluntary and non-binding. Parties are free to leave a mediation at any time and are not obligated to enter into an agreement unless they fully accept its terms. It also means decisions can only be made by the parties – the mediator has no power to impose a solution.


Mediators have many tools to minimize the stress response during the session that are not available in direct negotiation or litigation:


1. Mediators build trust and rapport with both sides to a dispute. Once that trust is established, the mediator can talk frankly to each side without making the party feel defensive. Without breaking neutrality, the mediator provides a protected space for discussion where both sides are less susceptible to stress triggers.


2.Mediators model calm to set a more peaceful atmosphere and use tools like acknowledging high emotions to minimize stress triggers and reduce emotional responses.


3. Mediators provide a structure for discussion. Mediators can design a process that fits the type of conflict and the comfort zones of the parties. Mediators can also separate the parties at any time if emotions start to run high and stress begins to build.


4. The mediation session slows down the discussion and gives parties who are subject to many stress triggers at the start of the session time for cortisol levels to diminish before they are called upon to make decisions.


| 


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