What happens when we become emotionally hijacked?
During an emotional hijack, our thinking brain gets paralyzed, which means our IQ drops, we lose the ability to make complex decisions, we no longer see other perspectives and our memory becomes compromised — Not the most helpful scenario in social settings.
What is emotionally hijacked?
An emotional hijacking occurs when something in your environment triggers a stress response. It might be your partner raising their voice, a work colleague criticizing you, or someone giving you a fright.
How do I stop being emotionally hijacked?
Pause — and take a breath. While the other person is speaking, take the time to focus on your breath. Simply focusing on long deep breaths takes you out of your head and into the body. If you stay in the head, you are likely to let your emotions get the best of you, as you will be operating out of the amygdala.
How long can an emotional hijack last?
It takes the chemicals that are released during the amygdala hijacking about 6 seconds to dissipate. Using this time to focus on something pleasant will prevent your amygdala from taking control and causing an emotional reaction. Breathe. Become aware of your breath and slow it down.
What does emotional hijacking look like?
When you are emotionally hijacked, you tend to have less perspective and poorer judgment, while making more errors. At the same time, you feel more certain you are right. Responding more effectively in these situations requires emotional intelligence. Recognize your feelings.
What happens when your amygdala becomes triggered?
Fight-or-flight as a response to a threat When a person feels stressed or afraid, the amygdala releases stress hormones that prepare the body to fight the threat or flee from the danger. Common emotions that trigger this response include fear, anger, anxiety, and aggression.
What happens when your frontal lobe is damaged?
As a whole, the frontal lobe is responsible for higher cognitive functions such as memory, emotions, impulse control, problem solving, social interaction, and motor function. Damage to the neurons or tissue of the frontal lobe can lead to personality changes, difficulty concentrating or planning, and impulsivity.
How to deal with someone who is hijacking your emotions?
Recognizing what triggers an emotional hijack is an important step in dealing with emotional hijacking. Once you are aware of your triggers you can take steps to diffuse your reaction. Spend some time thinking about what situations or people trigger your emotional hijacks, how you felt during this situation and what you felt like afterwards.
How does emotional hijacking affect your physical health?
In extreme cases it can cause high blood pressure and even heart problems. Therefore, emotional hijacking can have a very bad affect on a person’s mental as well as physical health. Instead of facing the negative consequences of emotional hijacking it is much better to try to prevent it as much as possible.
Where does emotional hijacking occur in the brain?
Most of the time, a person regrets getting into such an act. Research shows that such emotional explosions are neural hijackings. In such a moment, a center in the limbic system (a part of the brain), the amygadala, the seat of all emotions in the brain, takes over the neocortex.
What does clear glass mean in emotional hijacking?
To best understand emotional hijacking, remember the Clear Glass concept. Simply, a clear glass means you are experiencing no elevated emotions. A cloudy glass means slightly heightened emotions, while a red glass means elevated emotions. Emotional hijacking moves your glass from Clear to Cloudy OR Red.