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Then again, maybe we shouldn’t blame stress on technology and taxing jobs. Maybe if we weren’t fretting over 350 e-mails in our inbox, then we’d worry about something else because we have primitive, monkey brains.
In “The Emotional Brain,” Joseph LeDoux, a professor of neuroscience at New York University, explains the “fear system” in laboratory animals and humans. The almond-shaped clump of tissue called the amygdala can be a real troublemaker. Whenever you sense potential danger (26 voice-mails on your cell phone coming to life like the Nutcracker), the amygdala triggers an “oh, crap!” reaction, pumping adrenaline and other (not so great) hormones into your bloodstream.
A fraction of a second later, the higher, more educated, evolved, sophisticated (Harvard professor type) region of the brain gets the signal and takes on the case, digging for the truth, sometimes accusing the amygdala of being an over-reactive alarmist. Unfortunately we experience the fear more vividly than we do the rational response, and make decisions based on the immature brat of an amygdala.
The trick is teaching the amygdala to chill out while you get the real story from the upper regions of the brain, where you’ll get a more thoughtful, considerate analysis.
In other words, try not to act like a monkey.
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Therese Borchard is the author of Beyond Blue: Surviving Depression & Anxiety and Making the Most of Bad Genes and The Pocket Therapist: An Emotional Survival Kit. Subscribe to Beyond Blue, visit her website, or follow her on Twitter @thereseborchard.
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Therese Borchard is the author of Beyond Blue: Surviving Depression & Anxiety and Making the Most of Bad Genes and The Pocket Therapist: An Emotional Survival Kit. Subscribe to Beyond Blue, visit her website, or follow her on Twitter @thereseborchard.
posted March 23, 2007 at 3:39 am
As someone who spent a large portion of their childhood kicked out of the house by a very, very unstable mother, I’d say this is probably part of the best advice I can give on how not to end up like your parents. I’ve avoided suicide several times by just giving that thought a day (or week) to go away, and I’ve slowly learned to do the same for my temper. If you’re thinking violently, give it a week, see if you still feel that way. It’s just an emotion that passes away.