What is the cycle of arousal in behavior management?

Answer 1

The Behavioural Arousal Cycle

The arousal cycle of most behaviour has five phases:

• trigger,

• escalation,

• crisis,

• recovery

• depression.

Understanding the cycle helps us to understand our own reactions and those of others.

The trigger phase is when an event gets the behavioural cycle started. A trigger can be an argument or a change of routine, getting information that shocks us or a disappointment. We feel threatened at some level and our physiological system prepares to meet that threat.

The escalation phase is when our body prepares for a crisis with increased respiration (rapid breathing), increased heart rate and raised blood pressure. For some people who respond with aggressive challenging behaviour this phase can be rapid and intense: their muscles tense the voice may become louder or an altered pitch and their pupils enlarge. For other people these responses are repressed and escalation is slower as for example with some individuals who self harm

The crisis phase is when our survival instinct steps in, the fight or flight response. Our body is prepared to take action. Unfortunately, during this phase our quality of judgment is significantly reduced and decisions may be made without the benefit of the best reasoning ability - the part of the brain dealing with rational thought id dramatically inhibited during this phase! Action takes the form of challenging behaviour e.g. aggression, self harm, head banging or drug misuse, eating disorders etc

The recovery phase takes place after some action has resulted during the crisis phase. The body starts to recover from the extreme stress and expenditure of energy. The adrenaline in our blood leaves gradually. Quality of judgment returns as reasoning begins to replace the survival response.

The Post-crisis Depression Phase is the point when the body enters a short period in which the heart rate slips below normal so the body can regain its balance. Awareness and energy return to allow us to assess what just happened. We may begin to feel guilt, regret or emotional depression.

Conclusion

The response to any challenging behaviour must be based on a well informed assessment of the cause and nature of that condition. Identifying the 'trigger' is clearly an important part of intervening in challenging behaviour. Likewise our understanding of the nature of the crisis phase - when rational thinking is repressed - is important in shaping how we respond to an individual exhibiting a challenging behaviour.