Mental Health

Here’s How to Deal with Amygdala Hijacks Effectively.

Though they may be challenging, some viable options exist to deal with this condition.

The most noticeable symptoms of amygdala hijacks are experiencing strong, mixed, uncomfortable, and confusing emotions.

Our thoughts and biochemistry trigger emotions. Most of the time, we are not aware of emerging feelings. They seem to come from nowhere. Our thinking brain perceives situations much slower than our limbic system (emotional part), where the amygdala resides.

Things happen so quickly that we get caught off guard.

Learning to address the symptoms and coping with amygdala hijacks may contribute to our emotional intelligence and emotional fitness, thus to an enjoyable life.

Managing emotional triggers requires recognizing them first, then having a plan to address them. Emotional triggers may grow fast, intensify, and may cause amygdala hijacks. Awareness of uncomfortable situations and understanding the triggering factors is a good starting point.

The most uncomfortable emotions we experience from amygdala hijacks are anxiety and fear. There is no mystery to anxiety and fear. They are emotions created by the amygdala, an embedded part of the emotional brain, a.k.a., the brain’s limbic system.

The primary function of the amygdala is to maintain survival. Understanding the function of the amygdala is essential to coping with anxiety, fear, and other uncomfortable emotions.

Fear and anxiety look similar to us, but they are two different emotions and conditions. Dangerous situations create fear. However, anxiety can occur without real life-threatening situations when no fear is associated. We can feel anxious without experiencing fear.

Anxiety might occur when there is no real danger. Thus, it creates a paradoxical situation for human life.

There is a critical point to consider here. We need to understand the nature of the amygdala. It is not in our conscious control. This constraint of not being in our conscious control makes it paradoxical and difficult for our lives. It puts us in a vulnerable position of being controlled rather than controlling our emotions.

The amygdala is an alert system in the brain. It is not part of the cognitive system. This means that we cannot control the amygdala directly with our thoughts.

The common question is, knowing the amygdala is not part of our thinking brain, can we do anything about it?

We cannot directly affect the amygdala with our thoughts. However, we can influence the amygdala with our conscious thinking. It is the concept behind taming the amygdala.

The power of the amygdala is to notice threats before our thinking brain can see them. However, our thinking brain can also create alerts and activate the amygdala. Our negative thoughts have the power to activate the amygdala.

The amygdala observes and senses the risky situations and perceptual dangers that may affect our survival. I am not referring to the real threat here. The possibilities are coded in the amygdala. Each person may have different amygdala codes based on prior learning and other life experiences.

The rigid amygdala codes include common survival threats such as sudden noise, extreme physical pain, and suffering.

The amygdala has strong and fast neural connections to our nervous system, endocrine system, and vital organs. It is essential to know that the amygdala acts much faster than the neocortex does.

Our neocortex is a specific part of the cerebral cortex (thinking brain). The neocortex is the most recently evolved thinking part of the cortex.

We are only able to experience the symptoms after the amygdala is activated for many conditions and reasons. The neocortex can have no clue during the amygdala activation period. Our neocortex runs much slower than the amygdala. Thus, we don’t have direct control over the amygdala.

On the other hand, our neocortex, which is part of our thinking brain, is within our control. By using the capabilities of the neocortex, we think, rationalize, plan, and execute actions.

Ironically, our valuable neocortex has no idea about the working mechanism of the amygdala. There is no direct connection between the neocortex and the amygdala. The amygdala overwrites the rules and has no time to wait for the neocortex to develop some solution. Our thinking brain only knows the amygdala has generated alerts when our anxiety and fear symptoms start manifesting.

Therefore, it is not always possible to control our anxiety and fear when they are triggered. Without knowing this biological fact, anxiety and fear can be seen as mysteries. In reality, anxiety and fear are emotions generated by the activation of the amygdala alerts.

So what can we do?

I want to share my personal experience with taming the amygdala briefly.

Anxiety is a very complex human condition. I experienced mild anxiety a long time ago. For excessive anxiety, medical professionals provide medication and other treatments. I didn’t need medication. I did not want to use medicine to deal with my mild anxiety. Instead, I tried to tame my overactive amygdala because I knew it was the root cause.

I learned that we could tame the overactive amygdala to some extent. There are various techniques.

A well-known technique to tame the amygdala is gradual exposure to anxiety-creating conditions and situations. For example, if driving in heavy traffic creates anxiety for us, we may continue driving for at least a short period by being aware of the symptoms.

Being aware of these feelings and using our thinking brain to rationalize the situations can rewire the amygdala code.

The repetitive exposure approach can continuously rewire the amygdala code by creating new neural pathways and reducing over-activation in those conditions and situations.

Even though our thinking brain part cannot stop the amygdala from generating anxiety and fear instantly, the repetitive exposure approach can be a powerful tool to tame the amygdala.

One practical way to use our thinking brain is to observe our anxiety patterns, record them, and address the symptoms with a mindfulness plan. This natural and straightforward approach can help rewrite the amygdala code for a preventative anxiety state.

The causes of anxiety can be illogical because our amygdala does not operate based on logic. The amygdala works on images, sounds, and biological reactions, which can pose a risk or danger to our survival.

For example, a sudden scary sound or an appearance of a hazardous object out of our awareness can activate the amygdala instantly. As soon as the amygdala senses a risky or dangerous situation, it releases neurotransmitters and potent hormones to fight, flight, or freeze.

These high volumes of hormones in our bloodstream can be the root causes of our anxiety and fear. For example, excessive adrenaline, epinephrine, and cortisol in the bloodstream can be the primary causes of our anxiety. These hormones can energize us to be alert and ready to run and fight the situation.

When we understand that anxiety-producing hormones can increase in our bloodstream, we can use our thinking brain to take the necessary measures.

We know that physical exercise can burn excessive adrenaline and provide us with temporary relief. Hence, workouts, especially in aerobic form, can be an effective strategy to cope with anxiety to some extent.

Taking a few deep breaths and mindful muscle relaxation, with visualization techniques, can also help us reduce and balance these hormones.

These simple and practical techniques can help us to move from the fight, flight, or freeze mode to a stable state.

From my experience, a useful technique in taming the amygdala was using the capabilities of my thinking brain. To this end, I used gradual exposure to anxiety-creating situations with mindfulness, positive self-talk, questioning my perceptions, and living in the moment with full attention.

This practical, emotional coping technique is commonly used by CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) practitioners. I came across many studies proving the use of CBT is as effective as anxiety medications. In my opinion, learning and practicing CBT can be critical because it can address the root causes. Whereas medicine can only address the symptoms.

Using these practical techniques and making them habits, we can be our therapists for coping with anxiety to some extent. This approach saved time and money.

Anxiety is a broad, serious, and complex condition. There are still many unknowns. Thus, chronic and overwhelming conditions certainly require assistance from medical professionals. Getting treatment can be essential for some of us.

From my experience, knowing the symptoms and root causes of amygdala hijacks and taming the amygdala reduced the effects of symptoms naturally.

Reducing effects can alleviate stress, bring us to a stable state, and increase the quality of our lives. With reduced anxiety, fear, and other uncomfortable emotions, we can taste sustainable joy and experience a healthy and meaningful life.

Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.

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