Amygdala hijack

Last evening I witnessed a scene of road rage. Unmindful of the line of cars that was building behind his car; the driver got off his car at the middle of the road and started yelling at another driver. 

On another occasion; the four year old daughter of my friend dropped a cup of ice-cream at a birthday party. Though it appeared to be a little inadvertent mistake by the child, the mother reprimanded the child in front of the guests. 

I wondered if such strong reactions were necessary and what triggered such emotional reactions. The closest explanation that I could get is what is termed an "Amygdala hijack". The usual signs of this hijack are that the person exhibits anger, irrational or explosive behaviour. It is said people (like what my friend did) reflect after the incident with "I realise it was inappropriate" or "I overreacted" or "I don't know what came over me". 

So - why do people react differently to similar situations? 

Famous examples of Amygdala hijacks are Mike Tyson’s action of biting his opponent’s ear off (which cost him $3 million fine) and recently Luis Suarez's action at the FIFA 2014.

The Amygdala is a small part of the brain which controls response to a situation. It controls reactions and when not regulated can result in irrational behaviour. The good news here is that the amygdala can be trained and the behaviour can be regulated. It is our choice on how we react to a stimulus. This is possible to learn, however not easy and a person needs to put concerted effort and be sincere in developing the behaviour.

It is said emotions define a person. Emotions shape a man's destiny and define the way he perceives life. With due attention we can change our lives for the better. This subject is dealt elaborately in organisational behavioural studies. We often hear about EQ and about how a person with higher EQ succeeds in an organisation. Though it appears that this research is recent, it can be seen that ancient philosophy deals with this subject more extensively and more holistically.

Going beyond having a successful career, these texts impart knowledge on how to have a balanced, peaceful and meaningful life. There are several verses which deal with emotions in the Bhagvad Geeta, and the second chapter is full of wealth on information on this matter. I have picked the following three verses, however if you are interested go through more verses from the chapter. As these verses are multi-meaningful, it will be better that a good Guru explains the subtleties of these verses.

  

dhyayato visayan pumsah

sangas tesupajayate

sangat sanjayate kamah

kamat krodho 'bhijayate

When contemplating on objects, a person develops attachment to them. From attachment a longing or desire develops, and from the longing, anger grows.

krodhad bhavati sammohah

sammohat smrti-vibhramah

smrti-bhramsad buddhi-naso

buddhi-nasat pranasyati

From anger comes delusion; from delusion the bewilderment of memory; the bewilderment of memory causes destruction of discrimination/intelligence; and from the destruction of discrimination the person perishes (spiritually).

There is another verse which sums up EQ very well:

Yaḿ hi na vyathayanty ete

puruṣaḿ puruṣarṣabha

sama-duḥkha-sukhaḿ dhīraḿ

so 'mṛtatvāya kalpate

The person who is not disturbed by happiness and distress; and is steady in both is certainly liberated.

Acquiring the knowledge from the scriptures is the first step, however assimilating the same, breaking old habits and practicing in life needs real effort. This is easier said than done and will come with practice just like what the EQ experts say.

Cheers