Emotion Vs Rational Brain

During moments of stress, some of us learn to cope through rationalizing, to ease ourselves using logic. We try desperately to talk ourselves out of the depths of the self-destructive rabbit hole that we know and fear all too well. But what happens when our logic and rationalizations no longer work, when our ability to try to reason is strained by biological shackles? I often hear statements like, “I can logically understand that I’m not a terrible person/in danger/responsible/etc., but I can’t help but feel like I am!” or “I totally lost it! The words just came out of me.” We experience emotional hijacking, a lack of autonomy, freedom, and control within our bodies and systems. So how do we liberate ourselves from the biological and evolutionary constraints that are instinctively in place to protect us?

To understand our emotional reactions, we first need to understand two brain regions, the emotional brain, otherwise known as the “animal” or “reptilian” brain, and the rational brain. Unfortunately, these two brain regions are not always in connection to each other, causing a disruption in our ability to respond to a situation consciously.

The Emotional Brain

The emotional brain, serving our mammalian instincts, allows us to fall asleep, experience hunger, become sexually aroused, etc. Within the emotional brain is a group of complex structures forming what is known as the limbic system- responsible for our emotional and behavioral responses. The amygdala or “smoke detector” is a structure of the limbic system. It defines and regulates our emotions and attaches our emotions to memories. Our inner smoke detector instinctively activates the flight-or-fight response, alerting and helping us saddle up in the face of danger. Once danger has been detected, stress hormones including cortisol and adrenaline are released. As our body’s prepare for threat, we might begin to experience rapid heart rate, sweaty palms, goosebumps, shallow breathing, etc. The split-second decision to initiate this response is remarkable evidence of our organism’s intelligence and objective to protect us.

Our ancestor’s threat of predators, starvation, and being exiled from the group may or may not parallel some of the challenges and threats we face today. Sure, you probably won’t be in a square off with a saber-toothed tiger when you walk outside your front door, instead the threat might be psychological. Modern life’s triggers now look like daily life irritants, work pressure, politics, relationship difficulties-the list goes on. The anger, frustration, fear, and stress we experience causes that same smoke detector to alarm and our fight-or-flight system to activate.

The Rational Brain

You know that little voice inside your head that tells you not to send that passive aggressive email to your boss? Or the voice that stops you from slamming your coffee mug on the kitchen table when your mother-in-law comments on how you parent your children? That voice rests safely in the prefrontal cortex of the frontal lobes of the brain. What sets mammals apart from reptiles, is their higher-order brain functions such as sensory perception, thinking, language, etc. It is our moral sensei helping us evaluate our emotions and use our best judgment to consciously respond. The frontal lobes allow us to pause, assess the legitimacy of the danger, and override the amygdala if need be.

Getting the Rational Brain from Offline to Online

As mentioned previously, these two brain regions aren’t always communicating. Meaning, if our emotional brain perceives a threat, all connection with the prefrontal cortex ceases. The normal executive functions that aid us in responding responsibly go offline. With consistent stress and trauma, we can sometimes default to responding from our emotional brains, causing an increase in hyper or hypo-vigilance and a hindrance in our self-regulatory abilities.

We experience emotions in our body. Think about heartbreak for a moment. When you are heartbroken, there is a sort of gut-wrenching feeling. You might feel muscle tension and body ache at the pain that heartbreak causes. To shut down these feelings in our body, we might numb through alcohol or distract by online shopping. We cut off a relationship with our bodies to not endure the stress and pain that modern life inevitably presents. In cutting off this relationship to our bodies, we lack the knowledge of or forget how to cope with the signals it sends us.

Talk therapy is important and can help us understand our responses and triggers, however, we also need to reconnect with our bodies. Body awareness, movement and breath can help us regain ownership of ourselves. When we feel threatened or significantly stressed, acknowledge how your body feels and what it is doing. What signals is it sending you? Is your heart rate increasing? Are your muscles contracting? As you begin to learn these identifiers of fight-or-flight response, you can remind yourself that this is an automatic response, but not necessarily the most logical one. You might try breathing as you are noticing your body, finding a natural and calm rhythm, and helping your system to regain a sense of security and safety. This mindfulness of your body can help you be more present and engaged with your choices and responses. Practices like yoga or martial arts engage our body in a mindful and purposeful way. With significant attention to our breathing and bodies, we can reset critical brain regions that become disturbed by trauma and stress.

Courage, curiosity, and patience can aid us in the process of learning to feel the sensations that are uncomfortable. Embody these qualities as you learn to return to a state of harmony within yourself.