This almond-shaped part of the brain is small but mighty. Its significance lies in the fact that it works to regulate our fear. You’ve likely heard the term “fight/flight/freeze”; what you might NOT know, however, is that the amygdala is the initiator of the fight/flight/freeze response.
At the risk of stirring up all the neuroscientists with an over-simplification, the “fight” is anger, “flight” is anxiety, and “freeze” is depression (or more accurately, the disassociation and numbed-out emotions that accompany it). Let’s be honest — have you ever considered that anger, anxiety, and depression have their root in your brain’s FEAR response? Perhaps so, perhaps not. Either way, however, we can’t deny the fact that the amygdala plays a significant and dramatic role in our quality of life.
As your brain processes the world around you, all information filters first through the bottom of your brain via the brainstem, cerebellum, and basal ganglia — aka your “lizard brain”. This is the part of your brain that scans for danger and survival. It is, by definition, instinctual.
From your bottom brain, all information travels upward to your top brain where rational thinking takes place. Rational thinking is what helps you regulate and manage your responses. But here again we can see that the amygdala has an impact, because this little gem of gray matter sits strategically between your lizard brain and your rational brain. For those folks whose amygdala is overactive and overstimulated, the amygdala can become like velcro, catching all the seemingly inconsequential thoughts and experiences and assigning unnecessary (and often inappropriate) fear. This looks a lot like making mountains out of molehills or making molehills out of mountains. So little things like burning a piece of toast get a huge, disproportionate response (like furious anger) and big things like a cancer diagnosis get a down-played, nonchalant response. Sound familiar?
The list of situations and experiences that can activate the amygdala is quite long and varied. Some are little “t” traumas like not making the team or your best friend moving away. Others are big “T” Traumas like abuse, divorce, a medical crisis, or the death of a loved one. The amygdala doesn’t pick and choose what it responds to — fear is fear. Some folks can pinpoint their T/trauma easily while others have no idea how or when it happened. Oftentimes, the fight/flight/freeze response is the only clue we have to indicate that our amygdala is in a state of overactivity or overstimulation.
The good news is that we don’t have to live in this state! IASIS Micro-current Neuro-Feedback is an incredibly useful tool designed to calm the amygdala by introducing tiny micro-currents to different lobes of the brain (most notably the frontal, prefrontal cortex, cortex, and temporal). By strategically and painlessly stimulating these areas of the brain, the amygdala gets the message to settle down and operate in a more restful state. We don’t want to turn off the amygdala because we NEED it, but it’s certainly not meant to function in a state of constant hyper-vigilance.
Are you struggling with anger, anxiety, or depression? Are you feeling numb to your life? IASIS can help! Metroplex Wellness & Counseling offers a suite of services to help you live a healthy, vibrant life, and IASIS is one of them. It helps to reset your brain’s function, allowing it to operate in the way God designed it to function before T/trauma was introduced into your story. As a stand-alone service, IASIS can make a tremendous difference in the way you view and approach life. When paired our compassionate Biblical counseling services, you can have the beautiful hope that comes from living in the freedom God offers. And that’s an amazing place to be!