{"id":8562,"date":"2019-04-09T19:30:34","date_gmt":"2019-04-10T00:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/anger-and-the-brain\/"},"modified":"2019-04-09T19:30:34","modified_gmt":"2019-04-10T00:30:34","slug":"anger-and-the-brain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/anger-and-the-brain\/","title":{"rendered":"Anger and The Brain"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Anger is a message from the body. It\u2019s the body\u2019s response to something it perceives as threatening.<\/p>\n

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You may not even be consciously aware of the threat, but your body alerts you to the danger it perceives, and it does this so you can step in and take urgent action to neutralize the danger.<\/p>\n

Our hunter-gatherer ancestors had to be constantly ready to size up a potential predator and then choose quickly between a fight to the death or a flight to safety. For them, there was no two ways about it\u2014 they would either live or die. But most situations in the modern world are far more nuanced, and they include contradictory elements\u2014danger and safety, excitement and boredom, affection and irritation. That\u2019s why, in today\u2019s world, it\u2019s not always the big things that lead to eruptions of anger; sometimes it\u2019s the little things going on all the time\u2014losing a parking space, getting stuck behind a slowpoke in the supermarket checkout line, stubbing your toe, a waiter dropping a tray of glasses that then shatter on the floor. These are the everyday stressors that overwhelm you and trigger your body\u2019s fight-or-flight response.<\/p>\n

The moment your body perceives a threat, the brain undergoes striking changes. Communication breaks down between the prefrontal cortex, where rational thought and judgment reside, and the amygdala,\u00a0where fear rules the day. Your brain\u00a0gets pumped up on hormones like\u00a0testosterone and noradrenalin and\u00a0epinephrine. It\u2019s the latter two that\u00a0pack the real emotional punch. But\u00a0they also make you more focused\u00a0and alert in response to the threat.\u00a0You\u2019ve probably experienced the\u00a0surge of energy known as an adrenaline rush. This surge helps mobilize your mus- cles as it temporarily sharpens your senses and enhances certain types of memory.<\/p>\n

As this automatic, instinctual response continues, your pupils dilate, your heart speeds up, your breathing becomes rapid and shallow, your digestion slows, and your perspiration increases. Your brain even becomes deprived of blood and oxy- gen as those precious resources are rushed directly to your large muscles so you\u2019ll be ready to move fast if you need to.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You\u2019ll also be feeling especially sure of being in the right, and you\u2019ll be powerfully convinced that it\u2019s important for you to do something right now. And so it starts\u2014the blaming, the arguing, the yelling, the hitting . . . the list goes on. After all, how can you think clearly when your brain is starving for blood and oxygen? Your rational mind is no match for your body\u2019s fight-or-flight response, and it will take you a full 20 minutes to calm down phys- ically and psychologically even after the response has stopped.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing more urgent than danger, and as far as your body is concerned, you\u2019re back in the same neck of the woods where one of your ancient forebears was devoured by a predator capable of extinguishing the entire human species. Your fight-or-flight response tells you that you\u2019re facing a potentially fatal threat, that you must kill it or run away from it as fast as you can, and that you must not allow this threat to come anywhere near you ever again.<\/p>\n

The fight-or-flight response is useful in the short term\u2014it tells you that some- thing is wrong, it opens your eyes to the situation around you, and it focuses your attention on what needs to be changed. But it\u2019s an emergency response, a state of high arousal that your body isn\u2019t built to maintain for very long. When this response endures over time, as it does when you\u2019re in a chronic state of anger, your body starts to break down. Then the same physiological changes that are meant to help you in an emergency start to disrupt your sleep and diminish your appe- tite. Instead of feeling energetic and mentally focused, you lose energy, and your judgment becomes impaired. Parts of your brain stop communicating with each other, and brain tissue shrinks in the regions that control learning, memory, and rational thought.<\/p>\n

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Visit Original Source<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Anger is a message from the body. It\u2019s the body\u2019s response to something it perceives as threatening. You may not even be consciously aware of the threat, but your body alerts you to the danger it perceives, and it does this so you can step in and take urgent action <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a>
Shared by Aaron Karmin, LCPC, Contributing Blogger<\/a> April 9, 2019<\/p>\n

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