Amygdala Hijack — Control Yourself or Suffer the Consequences
Travis Simlinger
Workshops in your company: mental health, communication skills training, burnout, evidence based training to improve life quality and profits.
Have you ever lost control of your emotions and did something in the heat of the moment that you later regretted? Perhaps you "lost it" at someone—to such a degree that later, you said to yourself, “what was I thinking?”
I know I certainly have, especially when I was younger and hadn't yet developed my Emotional Intelligence.
When we experience this flood of emotions, and realise later we were not thinking as logically as perhaps we possibly could have, we are describing the symptoms of an “Amygdala Hijack”.
The danger is this:
We, to varying degrees, act on these emotions that were not based on our full capacity of logic!
These varying degrees can be regretful but not significant, to completely life altering.
So this is worth spending a few minutes to understand (why don't they teach the important big %'s in schools?!)
Quick anatomy lesson:
The amygdala is a structure of the midbrain (also called the "emotional brain") that is responsible for, among other functions, alerting the body in survival situations. When we perceive a threat, the amygdala alerts the body for an emergency, bypassing other circuits, and signals for stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol to flood our system, immediately preparing us for fight or flight.
Of course, this is very useful, or adaptive—our very survival depends on it—when there is a real physical threat.
Today, psychological threats caused by the pressures and stresses of modern life often trigger our fight-or-flight response in maladaptive ways, as I expound below.
Why we experience this Amygdala Hijack?
Referencing the graphic: When you see, hear, touch, or taste something, that sensory information first heads to the thalamus, which acts as your brain's relay station. The thalamus then relays that information to the neocortex — the “thinking brain”. From there, it is sent to the amygdala which produces the emotional response. This progression is the normal arrangement. Of most importance is that the signal passes through through the neocortex. The neocortex is responsible for reasoning, planning, intellectualising, critical thinking and analysing, among a host of other so-called higher functions.
However, when faced with a perceived threatening or stressful situation, the thalamus sends sensory information to both the amygdala and the neocortex. If the amygdala senses "danger", it makes a split-second decision to initiate the fight-or-flight response before the neocortex has time to overrule it. That is, our emotional brain has hijacked our thinking, logical brain.
The Amygdala can have us spring into action before the slightly slower—but more fully informed—neocortex delivers its more refined plan for reaction.
The crux of the matter and why this is important:
This lack of discernment caused by avoiding the critical thinking part of the brain, can, of course, have disastrous consequences.
Amygdala hijack causes one to operate a long way below one's potential, by not accessing one's full intellect.
Amygdala hijack can cause smart people to make incredibly stupid decisions!
And, as I often assert:
We are constantly making decisions;
it is our decisions that shape our entire lives.
So...How do we defuse this 'Amygdala Hijack'?
The first step to improvement is always awareness. You now know what an Amygdala Hijack is.
The trick is to catch yourself when you feel this flood of emotions (and often physical reactions will also serve to remind you — rapid heart beat, feeling 'shaky', sweaty palms, etc). When you notice the fight-or-flight response has been activated, your goal is to calm down and take control.
Remind yourself that what you’re feeling is an automatic response, not necessarily the best or most logical one.
Breathe! Breathe slowly and evenly. Think about the speed and rhythm of your breaths, and focus on what’s going on in your body as you inhale and exhale. Deep rhythmic breathing signals the parasympathetic nervous system to calm the body down.
Label and acknowledge your current emotion. E.g., "I'm feeling angry"
MOST IMPORTANT! Ask yourself some very specific questions. This directs attention back to the cortex, as you are forcing the thinking part of your brain to regain control. What questions you ask is where the real art of Emotional Intelligence comes in.
Whatever you ask, your brain obediently searches for an answer.
So be very careful what you ask! For example, if you ask: "How could this person be so stupid?" your brain will loyally search for reasons. This may not be the most self-serving approach (apart from stroking your ego).
Instead, try questions along this line:
- "How am I making myself stressed, angry, upset, triggered?"
- "What must I believe to be triggered by this event or person?"
- "What are my actual specific thoughts about this event or person that I am experiencing right now?"
So meta-cognition.
Because it's actually never the event or person that upsets us, but instead it is our thoughts about the event, the meaning we attach to it, that causes our emotional response. Bringing these thoughts from the subconscious Amygdala, to the conscious neocortex, is what we are doing. With practice, this becomes a new habit. This is what we refer to in CBT and REBT as Emotional Responsibility, which really is at the root of Emotional Intelligence.
I hope this short article was helpful for some of you and may even explain some 'out of character' responses you've witnessed in other people — never in yourself though, of course ;)
Travis Simlinger
(Personal Coaching—If both parties determine that we can work together, and you have goals or challenges I know I can help you with, I guarantee you I'll provide value that will save you years, if not decades, of trial and error learning, research, etc, if you apply it).
