Mind Pilot
Boost your mental health as a first responder or veteran with the Mind Pilot podcast, hosted by Dr. Jana Price-Sharps, a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in trauma and stress management. This essential podcast is designed for firefighters, police officers, EMS personnel, and veterans seeking practical strategies to enhance their mental well-being. Delve into topics like resilience, stress reduction, effective parenting, healthy relationships, coping with anxiety and depression, conquering nightmares, and setting achievable goals. Tune in to the Mind Pilot podcast and empower yourself with actionable tips and techniques tailored for first responders, ensuring greater overall well-being and a stronger mindset on the job.
Mind Pilot
You Aren't Going Crazy: The "Continuity of the Nervous System" in High-Pressure Situations
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Mind Pilot Episode 91
In this episode of Mind Pilot, Dr. Jana Price-Sharps and Dr. Matthew Sharps explore the psychological reality of high-stakes decision-making. Discussing his new book, The Forensic View, Dr. Sharps explains the "continuity of the nervous system"—the biological fact that even trained first responders are vulnerable to the brain's natural stress responses. They discuss how trauma affects the prefrontal cortex, why memory errors during critical incidents are a matter of biology rather than competence, and how understanding these mechanisms can help officers navigate the stress of post-incident investigations.
Key Topics Discussed:
- The Physiology of Stress: How adrenaline drains resources from the prefrontal cortex, literally changing how officers interpret reality during dangerous encounters.
- The Trauma of Scrutiny: How the stress of hostile interviews, media narratives, and repeated questioning can permanently rewrite an officer’s memory of an event.
- Normalizing Perception Errors: Understanding that the brain naturally "fills in the blanks" (like mistaking a manatee for a mermaid or a phone for a gun) is a standard biological survival mechanism, not a sign of mental instability.
Featured Book: The Forensic View: Investigative Psychology, Law Enforcement, Space Aliens, Exploration, and the Nature of Madness by Dr. Matthew Sharps.
