Amygdala Hijack

An “amygdala hijack” occurs when your amygdala responds to stress, activating the fight-or-flight response.

Not all sources of stress trigger a strong response: In cases where there isn’t an immediate danger and you only perceive a mild threat, the frontal lobes (located within the brain’s cerebral cortex, an area of the brain that regulates voluntary actions like reasoning, thinking, movement, decision making and planning) can often override the amygdala so you can approach the situation rationally.

In the case of a strong and immediate (perceived) threat however, the amygdala overrides your frontal lobes, severely limiting your intelligence and ability to reason. When this happens in a social context (such as in an argument) this typically results in people behaving angrily, making them irrational and likely to act on impulse without consideration for their words or actions.

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