Question about a symptom of an amygdala hijack

dusty53

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Question about the state of an amygdala hijack

Hi guys, just had a question about a symtpom of an amygdala hijack.

Just in case someone tries to correct me on terminology, I will say that multiple terms have been used for the experience that I'm asking about: Amygdala hyperactivity, Prefrontal hypoactivity, Hyperarousal, Hyperviligance, Fight or Flight, but the one I'm most familiar with is the Amygdala hijack.

These can be seen is mental disorders/illnesses such as ptsd. Now that that's out of the way, I have a question about this experience. During a severe amygdala hijack, it is apparent that the Prefrontal cortex becomes impaired, or can even shut down. Now, with this being said, I have a question for you guys who have experienced a severe amygdala hijack before.

During an "episode" of this, did people still experience intrusive thoughts? Not so much intrusive memories about the past, but moreso intrusive thoughts about the future, or maybe the situation at hand, or even just paranoid ideations? I'm curious if this is a symtpom of amygdala hijacks.

I'm sure people experience these things differently, but I'm curious. I know the prefrontal cortex shuts down during a hijack, and I've been told that's where intrusive thoughts come from.
 
Amygdala hyperactivity, Prefrontal hypoactivity, Hyperarousal, Hyperviligance, Fight or Flight
Broadly speaking, there’s 2 different types of brain-experience you’ve identified:

1) the persistent, underlying over-arousal of the amygdala
AND
2) the fight flight response.

People with PTSD have an over-active amygdala, and an under-active frontal lobe. This means we get triggered into the fight-flight response much more easily and frequently than should happen.

When that fight-flight response is triggered, it’s a short episode, like a panic attack, where our sympathetic nervous system spikes. And all the other activities in the brain (like intrusive thoughts and paranoia) are basically put on ice until that passes.

The rest of the time, our amygdala continues to control waaaaay more of our thought processes than you would see in a normally active brain. And it’s got more of an influence on those thought processes (like assessments of risk and perception of self) than it should have (because it’s primitive and emotional and doesn’t assess things all that well).

The rest of the brain is still able to work, just not as well as it would if the amygdala wasn’t as active. We’re not necessarily in fight-flight mode, but we’re a lot closer to tipping over that edge than we should be ideally.
 
Broadly speaking, there’s 2 different types of brain-experience you’ve identified:

1) the persistent, underlying over-arousal of the amygdala
AND
2) the fight flight response.

People with PTSD have an over-active amygdala, and an under-active frontal lobe. This means we get triggered into the fight-flight response much more easily and frequently than should happen.

When that fight-flight response is triggered, it’s a short episode, like a panic attack, where our sympathetic nervous system spikes. And all the other activities in the brain (like intrusive thoughts and paranoia) are basically put on ice until that passes.

The rest of the time, our amygdala continues to control waaaaay more of our thought processes than you would see in a normally active brain. And it’s got more of an influence on those thought processes (like assessments of risk and perception of self) than it should have (because it’s primitive and emotional and doesn’t assess things all that well).

The rest of the brain is still able to work, just not as well as it would if the amygdala wasn’t as active. We’re not necessarily in fight-flight mode, but we’re a lot closer to tipping over that edge than we should be ideally.
Ah, thanks for all the info. So it's impossible to have intrusive thoughts during a fight or Flight correct? Well a follow up question I have is, during a fight or Flight response, do any "intrusive" things happen? Whether they be images, or similar?
 
Typically no-ish. There are very few absolutes with neurology.

Intrusive symptoms are things that happen in our brain (our central nervous system).

Fight/flight is actually something happening in our autonomic nervous system (the rest of our body - the ANS is all the nerves that run around your body controlling breathing, circulation, hormone levels, digestion, etc). That’s outside our brain entirely.

The fight/flight response is when the amygdala decides, “f*ck this shit”, and starts giving the body emergency orders without allowing the more complex parts of our brain to respond (which is why we aren’t problem-solving the situation when this happens, we’re just throwing fists or sprinting away, etc). That’s all happening in your ANS.

Which makes it sound like a hard No answer to your question.

But…

The rest of your brain is still working, just on a more eco-mode, or sleep-mode. Shit is still getting processed, somewhere, to some degree at least unconsciously. When we come out of fight/flight, it’s a gradual transition back to regulated, rather than a clear regulated/not regulated experience.

fMRI scans of people having flashbacks suggest that the amygdala actually plays a huge part in that cognitive experience! Those types of experiences, intrusive thoughts, paranoia, etc, are too-much amygdala,

Fight/flight is actually a description of something happening in an entirely different system.

That doesn’t mean the 2 can’t occur together. Just that, typically, that level of arousal in the ANS that is usually associated with fight/flight means there’s not very much in the way of conscious thought going on. Paranoid thoughts may trigger a fight/flight response, but typically, those thoughts exit stage left while we’re actually throwing fists at our enemy.
 
but typically, those thoughts exit stage left while we’re actually throwing fists at our enemy
OMG... The sudden CLARITY is/was one of my top reasons for thrill seeking, and picking fights I had a chance of winning.

(Picking fights outside my weight class? A snowflakes chance in hell of winning? Whole 'nother thing. The clarity of being absolutely in the moment, no future, no past, just NOW was a bonus, not the primary intent.)

During an "episode" of this, did people still experience intrusive thoughts?
When my anxiety is running hot, which *usually but not always* means my hypervig is also kicking in? Yes. Intrusive thoughts to the hilt. Past. Present. Potential Futures.

The further along the spectrum I am? (Past various levels of anxiety into Fight/Flight) Nope!

Panic attacks can be a shit show if I allow my mind/emotions to join in, instead of divorcing them from the physiological response, & remaining calm as I back my body down.

But fight/flight? Are clear blue skies. Absolutely uncluttered by bullshit things that don't matter.
 

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