Abduction Of The Amygdala
Have you ever felt hopelessly carried away by a very powerful emotion that has made you lose control? Have you ever gotten carried away and said things that you later regretted? Have you ever felt that it was an emotion that directed your brain? If you have answered yes to any of these questions, it means that you have been abducted at some point by your amygdala.
The amygdala hijack or “Amygdala Hijack” is a term coined by psychologist Daniel Goleman to explain these types of uncontrollable emotional reactions. Goleman, as an expert in emotional intelligence, tells us that the secret of our becoming irrational has to do with the momentary and immediate lack of emotional control because the amygdala takes over in our brain.
What is the amygdala?
The tonsil is a subcortical structure located in the inner part of the medial temporal lobe, which is usually easily recognized because it is shaped like an almond. Together with the hippocampus, hypothalamus and the orbitofrontal cortex they are part of what is known as the emotional brain or the Limbic System.
The Limbic System regulates physiological responses to certain stimuli, that is, all its structures are essential for the emotional control of human behavior. But what makes the amygdala stand out within the Limbic System is that it is key to survival, because its main function is to integrate emotions with the response patterns corresponding to them, either at a physiological or a behavioral level.
Although the most important thing to understand its capacity for emotional abduction is to understand that the amygdala not only produces an emotional reaction, but that, due to its connection with the frontal lobe, it also allows the inhibition of behaviors.
What can we do in these situations?
You may have heard the saying that “when you are angry count to ten, but if you are really angry count to a thousand.” This is a very smart strategy because, when you start counting, you activate your cortex, the front and logical part of your brain, which, as we have said before, is inhibited during emotional hijacking.
So if you start counting when an intense emotion caused by stress arises, you can distance yourself from it, give yourself space and understand what is happening in that moment. You can reuse the logical part of your brain to avoid those impulsive responses produced when you are under the hijacking of the amygdala.
Another strategy that usually works is to focus on your breath consciously, the typical mindfulness breathing. As your attention is focused on your breathing, each time you take a breath, you bring yourself to the present moment and remain calm. You activate your parasympathetic nervous system, which inhibits the sympathetic nervous system, which is the one that is activated during the experience of the amygdala sequestration.
In short, to be able to get out of the amygdala sequestration when an important stressor activates it, you have to put space between what has happened and the present moment. It is highly recommended to carry out activities that activate the logical part of your brain or others, such as mindfulness, that focus you on the present and teach you new ways to experience the emotion you are feeling.
