There’s a reason that advertisers, politicians and news outlets bombard us with fear and anxiety. It works! The easiest way to manipulate us is through hacking our reptilian brain. We call it our reptilian brain because it is mostly associated with fight/flight or “primitive” behavior. It is also our oldest brain and the foundation on which our higher reasoning is built. When we haven’t evolved certain parts of our consciousness we are easily manipulated by various predators. Understanding this deeper psycho-physiological process empowers us to be less reactive.
It is a healthy aspiration to choose love over fear as a driving force in our lives. Though this is a good practice, it is important to acknowledge the importance of the fear response. The Amygdala is a mass of gray matter inside each cerebral hemisphere, involved with the experiencing of emotions. It is also in charge of fight/flight responses so it can easily be hijacked. This can cause us to react in irrational ways and do things we later regret. Advertisers and manipulators know this about the human condition and can use it against us if we are not aware.
Gateway to the Senses
Located in the medial temporal lobe, the amygdala is a gateway of all sensory input from the outside world. Since danger requires instant response for survival, amygdala can override all other responses. This response is called a “Pavlovian” mechanism because this part of the brain works through association.
If a sound in the external world occurs right before something painful happens, you associate that sound with the painful event and then that sound will then later trigger a protective defense response. But if the sound occurs just before food, when you’re hungry, then the sound will be associated with that kind of a positive or a repetitive event. -Joseph Ledoux, the Big Think
The associative brain serves an important function but it is sloppy. Often it causes us to react when we don’t really need to. Not everything from our past that is associated with pleasure or pain is consistent or even rational. We tend to be more reactive than proactive, and respond to association more than from rational thought. It is deeply wired into our biology through thousands of years of evolution.
Marketers and others know that humans are easy to manipulate through fear and association. That’s why a lady wearing a bikini is used to sell sports cars to middle-aged men. That’s also why taking a date to a scary movie, or on a roller coaster, or a fast motorcycle ride creates a deep emotional bond. Through having “made it through” a high-adrenaline or scary experience together you associate each other with “safety”. Most of these responses are happening on a subconscious level, but it doesn’t need to be this way.
Unresolved trauma places us in an unconscious state of reactionary behavior as well. Unless we resolve that emotional trauma, we may react to anything that even slightly reminds us of that traumatic event. Trauma is part of life, and the amygdala is an important part of our brains. So let’s get to know this aspect of being human. This will help us make choices more consciously.
Emotional Hijacking
Emotional hijacking, also known as “amygdala hijacking”, is a term coined by Daniel Goleman in his famous book, Emotional Intelligence, Why it can matter more than IQ. We all know what it’s like to “lose it”, “over-react”, or have an “emotional melt-down” etc. It can be funny to witness in others, or embarrassing to experience in ourselves. There is a sophisticated reason the amygdala has this power over our rational mind.
Sometimes we experience instances of extreme danger. When 1-2 seconds of response time can mean the difference between life and death we need to react quickly. The amygdala is able to hijack the higher thinking centers in our neocortex (which can slow our responses). It can signal the body into a fight, flight, freeze, or collapse response. Sadly, many of us are stuck in this feedback loop most of the time. Meanwhile it is only meant to be reserved for rare, life-threatening instances.
It’s as if our amygdala switch gets stuck in the “on” position. This reactive, fight-flight state is part of our sympathetic nervous system. Whereas our parasympathetic nervous system is when we are resting, healing, and digesting. Our natural state should be the latter, one of rest not reactivity.
Life in the Fast Lane
We live in a fast-paced world and our biology is doing its’ best to keep up. However, our nervous system reacts as if we are experiencing a life-threatening situation almost daily. Here are some examples:
- Driving down the road and a dog jumps in front of the car
- A break-up or divorce
- Death of a loved-one
- Getting fired from your job
- Getting pulled over by the police for speeding
- Not having the money for your bills
Even if we are good at suppressing our physical response, adrenaline and cortisol is released into our system each time. It can circulate in our system for up to 4 hours. This is called an amygdala hijack hangover and leads to chronic stress. This can cause people to be habitually stuck in a reactive mode of anxiety, have panic attacks, and unreasonable phobias.
Bringing Mindfulness into the Equation
Amygdala hijackings bypass our thinking centers. So practices like counting, reading, or problem-solving can re-activate the neocortex and restore balance to the nervous system. By requiring us to use our rational brain we can calm our reactive brain. Reactionary states are associated with the sympathetic nervous system. So sitting and taking 10 deep breaths will help the nervous system shift into parasympathetic mode. This is nurturing and relaxing to our system. Small conscious behaviors can really help us restore balance.
All of the adrenaline and cortisol that is released into our bodies during moments of stress is often absorbed in our psoas muscle. This core muscle is central to fight/flight. There are many stretches in yoga and other methods for releasing the stored stress in the psoas. For example, the brain changes when you meditate. Any daily practice of meditation, mindfulness, breathing, or yoga, will reduce the overall reactivity in your system. This makes it harder for your amygdala to get hijacked.
Closing Thoughts
If it weren’t for our amygdala, we would not be here today because our ancestors would probably have not survived. Though we experience many stresses in life, the majority of them are not life-threatening. So we need to train our amygdala and nervous system to be more relaxed. This is central to conscious evolution, and it increases our emotional intelligence.
The ability to discern what is worth reacting to versus what just needs to be observed is such an important skill to cultivate. It will help you in relationships and will save you money by reducing impulse-buying. This deepening our awareness will give us a better sense of compassion for the irrational behavior in our own lives.
