The devastating attack on train passengers in Cambridgeshire last weekend was shocking. There has been talk of heroes who risked their lives to help others, and of those who hid to save their lives. If you are anything like me, you will be asking yourself: what if that were me? How would I cope? And just who would I turn out to be when the worst happens?
Some of us imagine that we would vault to the rescue, fighting off attackers. Others, perhaps the more realistic among us, anticipate flight, extricating ourselves from the situation as quickly and efficiently as possible. Most of us would like to think that we would stay our urge to run, lingering long enough to offer aid to those in need.
People tend to think of “fight or flight” as the body’s natural responses to danger. But the reality is a lot more complicated. As humans, we are a social species, which means we also have the “tend and befriend” drive. You see it all the time in emergencies. In fact, my background in police psychology has shown me that one of the biggest challenges in deal
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