Caught up in a violent attack, would you be a hero – or would you run? Both can be valuable | Emma Kavanagh

The's destructive attack on train passengers Last weekend in Cambridgeshire was shocking. There is talked about heroes who risked their lives to help others, and those who hid to save their lives. If you're anything like me, you'll ask yourself: What if it was me? How would I cope? And who will I be when the worst happens?

Some of us imagine that we will rush to the rescue, fighting off our attackers. Others, perhaps the more realistic among us, envision escape, trying to get out of the situation as quickly and efficiently as possible. Most of us would like to think that we will control our urge to run long enough to offer help to those in need.

People tend to think of “fight or flight” as the body's natural response to danger. But the reality is much more complicated. We humans are a social species, which means we also have “look after and make friends“Drive. You see this all the time in emergency situations. In fact, my experience in police psychology has shown me that one of the biggest challenges in dealing with any disaster, be it a plane crash or a threat to a school, is managing all the people who will inevitably gather at the scene: the people running towards the danger. Not to confront it, but to get to our loved ones. When we are in a life-threatening situation, we have an instinctive desire to attract those we love to us. We also have a built-in desire to protect those who have suffered.

So, what turns a person into a helper? The first thing to remember is that running away does not mean cowardice. If someone comes at you with a weapon, fear is rational, flight is adaptive. Removing yourself from the situation is the smart thing to do. But once you do, new opportunities will open up for you. You may not be the one to attack the attacker, but I'm willing to bet that once you do what evolution programmed you to do and remove the danger, you will return to those who suffered and offer them help. This is the lean and befriend response in action. Remember that few things create connections as quickly and powerfully as danger. Once you overcome the immediate threat, the survival of those around you will likely become your top priority.

It also depends on who we see ourselves as. Do we imagine ourselves as a hero? It may sound silly, but what we imagine can create a pattern of behavior, a mental model that gives us a template for how to respond in a crisis. Schemas are incredibly important in fast-paced situations. When our stress response is strong, we lose the ability to think rationally. The part of the brain that controls rational thinking (the prefrontal cortex) receives less blood flow when we are in a highly stressful situation. So instead, we rely on other parts of the brain (especially the limbic system) that are responsible for things like instincts, emotions, muscle memory, and schemas. The presence of an existing scheme that includes our assistance will go a long way in creating this behavior.

It also matters whether we have experienced emergencies before. In my experience, emergency services and military personnel often great in a crisisbecause they have learned to suppress the immediate stress response, to calm down long enough to assess the situation and see what needs to be done. But anyone who has learned to manage their fear response can function well in a situation like this. The truth is that surviving previous crises provides us with valuable lessons. It tells us that we can survive terrible things and survive.

Another factor is how closely a person identifies with someone who does good things. Some people spend a lot of time thinking about what value they bring to the world. Other people don't do this. If yes, then you have a better chance I want to help because it's just who you are.

The truth is that disasters, for the most part, happen quickly. Moments may seem like hours, but they will pass in the blink of an eye. And then you stay alive in the worst of times. If this happens, then it is normal that not everything is ok. In the immediate aftermath of a life-threatening event, most of us will fall apart. Even if it's not for long. If you've been struggling with painful memories, difficulty sleeping, nervousness, tearfulness, or anger since your trauma, know that it's the human stress response doing what it does best. Your brain has encountered the most incredible and terrible circumstances. Now he needs to build a place to store this experience – a new circuit in which you will survive. It could be bumpy process.

But we also know that for most people, these feelings will subside over time as the initial stress response subsides and you incorporate this new part of yourself into your understanding of who you are. Sometimes, if your stress response persists, you may need some help to help you cope with your feelings. Remember that terrible moments affect each of us differently, intertwined with our past experiences and current situations, creating a unique reaction for each affected person.

It is extremely important that permanent scars are far from a given. People caught up in horrific events like those in Cambridgeshire last weekend are likely to never forget. But they adapt. Many people who have lived through the worst of times and now have a survivor identity report an experience a sense of post-traumatic growth in the long term. This doesn't mean that they don't wish it hadn't happened, that they didn't have to go through it. But because they survived it, the person they became became stronger than the person they were before.

• Emma Kavanagh is a psychologist who worked for many years in the police and army. Her books include How to Be Broken and The Psychopath Effect, due out in 2026.

• UK charity Intelligence available on 0300 123 3393. In the US call or text. Mental Health of America by calling 988 or chatting at 988lifeline.org. In Australia, support is available at Beyond Blue by phone 1300 22 4636, Life line 13 11 14 and in Male line by phone 1300 789 978

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