Amygdala Hijack!

Hello, we are progressing through my blog series

10 Things I Would Tell ANYONE

#5: Amygdala Hijack!

Okay, this topic gets me kind of amped! Because once I learned this, I finally had an explanation for all – well, most – of my horrible, terrible past behavior when I lost my mind and reacted like a psycho in a situation that maybe didn’t merit that kind of response.

Yeah, I know. Anyway, that’s why I’m currently acting like a psycho trying to get everyone I know to think about this! So pay attention!

If you don’t know already, you need to know about amygdala hijack. I only found out about it in recent years and man, I wish I had known about it earlier. So “Gurgle” it yourself to find out more, but here’s the Google AI-generated explanation:

An amygdala hijack is a term used to describe when the amygdala, the part of the brain that controls the fight-or-flight response, triggers this response without justification. This can lead to an intense emotional reaction that may be out of proportion to the situation. (I’m not giving it a proper citation because it is Google AI. See how lazy clever I was?

The best example of this, obviously, is road rage. When you feel like someone has cut you off and in about a millisecond you feel intense rage and you feel your foot mash the accelerator and you feel your hand coming up to make an obscene gesture, that’s amygdala hijack. Did you need to react that way? No. Did you, seemingly without control? Yes. That’s amygdala hijack. Your brain was hijacked in a way that caused you to lose control over your decisions and your behavior.

So now that you know this information, you can put it to use. Think about the circumstances that you sometimes face in life that can make you fly off the handle. The next time you find yourself in that circumstance, try to step in front of your fight-or-flight impulse – it’s only a fraction of a second so you need to give this some real thought beforehand – and keep yourself from overreacting. Try to get in the practice of just taking a breath before you react.

I’m trying to do just that as part of my identity overhaul. I’m trying to move away from the selfish bastard I’ve been generally to someone who is considerate and loving towards everyone, all the time. I have to fight my bastard-ish impulses! I have to take a breath before my amygdala can sabotage me.

And in the road rage example, you rarely have all of the information anyway. Maybe the other driver was distracted by someone else in the car. Maybe a kid threw a shoe at their head. Maybe they swerved to avoid another driver or a road hazard. Maybe their GPS didn’t give them adequate time to plan ahead. Maybe they never saw you because you were cruising in their blind spot. Maybe some people are driving without consideration of anyone else, but maybe some people aren’t, right?

And one more tip. Sometimes I get frustrated when I’m in a hurry and then a slowski pulls out in front of me. And then after they get out of the way I can’t get through the 4-way stop. And then the next four lights all turn red before I can get through them. And I’m like, “What the heck?!” But then I think, you know, maybe God is just trying to slow me down. Maybe I’m not paying enough attention. Maybe there’s something up ahead that I need to be late to. And honestly this helps me to slow down and drive more carefully and relax, and to be grateful also. The next time you can’t get somewhere the way you want to, maybe that’s on purpose…

I encourage you to give all this some thought. That’s it! Cheers!

Your friend,

Rock Rockstead is sometimes thought to be an author, blogger and artist, among other titles of varying character. Don’t judge so harshly though; he’s trying.