Emotional Brain Logic

By Author: Joe James
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The part of our brain that controls our emotions is located in an area of the brain called the sub-cortical region. You are unaware of most of the functions of your emotional brain. Scientists who have studied the emotional brain tell us that its main concern is self-preservation. Ever on the alert, the emotional brain constantly asks the primal question: "Is it safe?"

The emotional brain has only a sketchy awareness of the external world. The thinking brain is able to synthesize all incoming information into a coherent whole where the emotional brain seems to rely more on very broad categories of information. Ever have a gut feeling about something, but couldn't quite put your finger on why you felt that way? That's your emotional brain at work.

There are three very important things to keep in mind about the emotional brain:

1) It has a memory whose job it is to record all important threatening things that have happened to you. Your emotional brain makes judgments of the good or badness of situations and people based on its memories. This is why one situation may be very triggering to one person ...
... but not to another.

2) It stores information into very broad categories. All higher level synthesizing of information happens in your cerebral cortex while your emotional brain works on very broad categories e.g., man/woman. Certain words or situations are viewed as either safe or not safe. Your emotional brain works on such a basic level that it is oftentimes unable to differentiate between reality and fantasy. Ever wonder why you get so emotionally involved in movies when you logically know that you are watching pictures on a wall of people pretending to be someone else? Its because your emotional brain can't really tell the difference between those pictures and reality.. Its up to your thinking brain to sort out the details and to temper the reactions of the emotional brain.

3) It gets incoming sensory information before the thinking brain does. This means that before your thinking brain is even aware of something happening your emotional brain has run an analysis and decided whether a situation is threatening or not. Why would your brain be designed this way? Think about it, if you are out walking in the woods one day and a bear jumps out at you, you don't want to calmly mull over your options, you just want to GET THE HECK OUT OF THERE AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE!!

When threatened in some way your emotional brain has four responses to choose from:
* Attack
* Submit
* Freeze
* Run

How the Emotional Brain Works in Everyday Life

Let's look at an example from everyday life. Suppose you are at home watching tv when there is a knock on the door.  Opening the door, you find its your neighbor Sally who has dropped by to say hi and to visit a bit. Instead of greeting her with open arms you find yourself resenting the interruption. In fact, even though she has never done you any wrong, something about her has always made you feel on edge. What is that?  As it turns out, she bears a resemblance to your second grade teacher who picked on you when you did not know the answer to a question and would then embarrass you in front of the class for not having the correct response. You do not make this connection consciously, all you are aware of is feeling on edge and ready to snap at your neighbor anytime she is present. However, your emotional brain, incapable of telling the difference between your teacher and your neighbor, recognizes the similarities and has you on a level of high alert.

The emotional brain's reactions are not limited to physical similarities. It can react similarly to loved ones based upon a tone of voice, a certain body posture, even certain situations.

Flooding

The last thing you to know about your thinking and emotional brains is that your emotional  brain can only take so much stimulation before the dam bursts and takes over.  This is a condition known as flooding. Sometimes a trigger is so strong that we become instantly flooded. More often than not, flooding builds up over time. You wake up and stub your toe. Traffic is bad, you arrive late at work and the boss gives you a hard time for it. You are dealing with customers who are upset all day, but can't react. The pressure has been building all day. When you get home you find your son has blocked the driveway with his car and you lose it.

The take home point here is that while some triggers are instantaneous, most have been building for a long time and can be interrupted long before they reach the breaking point.

This is why an important part of an anger management program should be focused on becoming aware of how triggered your emotional brain is and how to calm it before it hits the red zone.
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