Emotional arousal

Emotional arousal makes us functionally stupid

If the emotion is very strong our brains can automatically shut down our rational process entirely and we may find ourselves acting entirely on impulse. Strong emotions such as intense fear may immediately put us into a primitive "fight or flight" state where our body is set up to either fight or flee for survival. Our thinking may take on an "all or nothing" or "black and white" style. We lose the ability to discriminate and see shades of grey. This is an innate mechanism for ensuring our survival. When our ancient ancestors were suddenly faced with an aggressive tiger, nature favoured those who did not stop to think about the colour of its fur but ran for their lives. This can happen subconsciously - see the APET model.

But this same mechanism is at work to a lesser degree in everyday situations. This diagram illustrates strong emotions turning off access to the higher cortex (our rational mind).

The effects of amotional arousal - animated

Anger makes us stupid

Have you every tried to hold a rational conversation with someone who is extremely angry? Intelligent people who have become extremely angry will also be incapable of thinking clearly - everyone who is not with them is against them. This is black and white thinking in action. An angry person is incapable of determining "shades of grey" (e.g. considering compromise) until they have calmed down.

Love makes us stupid

How rational can you be when first falling in love? Shakespeare recognised the madness of love. High levels of any emotion stop us from being able to think rationally and this is by nature's design. A perfect example of black and white thinking is "He/she loves me, he/she loves me not". It has to be all or nothing - nothing in between has value. In this state "He/she loves me when I do this..." is completely and utterly irrelevant.

Sadness makes us stupid

If you feel that your life is a total failure, that you were born with an inability to function properly in the world and if you beat yourself up about being so hopeless, then you are in a highly emotionally aroused state. Although when depressed you may look to others as subdued and quiet, inside you may be in a desperately anxious state - experiencing high levels of emotion. Associated with this will be "black and white" thinking. "I've always been sad" - rather than "I've been sad before", "I'll never get over this" instead of "This is hard and may take me some time to adjust".

Frustration makes us stupid

Have you ever wrecked something you were trying to fix? Every time the screwdriver slips as you try to undo that (damned!) screw it raises your emotional temperature until you get to the point where the item might just as well be destroyed if it can't be fixed. This is black and white, all or nothing thinking brought on by emotional arousal. A good mechanic is often just someone who knows when not to get upset and when to look for another way or a better tool.

Anxiety makes us stupid

Are you one of those people who forgets a name within 20 seconds of being introduced to someone? If we get anxious about our inability to remember names then at exactly the time that we are told the name our level of emotional arousal rises. It should be no surprise that we have only limited access to our memory at that precise point in time. We simply are not capable of thinking clearly. That is not to say that we cannot function "intelligently". As we become adults we learn to handle social interactions a bit like driving a car - without deliberately conscious thought. The act of remembering a new name requires conscious effort which is much harder when we are (temporarily) anxious.

. . . but this is NORMAL BEHAVIOUR - Emotion is OK

This is not to say that it is never good to be emotionally aroused. Emotion can fuel action. It is a "given" that all humans need emotional connections and experiences. Emotional arousal can rise and fall again in very short time, often dropping back to normal within just a few seconds or sometimes minutes. We can then function "intelligently" again with full access to our memory and our rational mind. A useful tool for lowering emotional arousal and preventing black and white thinking is the 7/11 breathing technique.

But sometimes we "lose it" and spiral into a longer term emotional state. In situations where we find that we want to have more control, the key is to be able to lower our emotional arousal. The best way to do this quickly is by focusing on proper breathing. Human Givens therapists will use breathing exercises to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system and lower emotional arousal. They also have a wide variety of techniques and tools for deactivating the emotional content of an existing pattern so that it loses its ability to automatically trigger a high level of emotional arousal. This leaves you with more options - and a real choice about the actions you might like to take in an otherwise "habitual" situation.

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