How Your Brain Shapes Everyday Life: 

If you've ever found yourself reacting strongly during a conversation with your partner or feeling anxious over a neutral work email, you're not alone. These responses are often driven by the way our brain processes information, especially if you already have a heightened stress response. To understand why this happens, it helps to look at how the different parts of the brain work together.

How It All Works Together

Our brain’s parts don’t work in isolation. They’re constantly communicating to help us respond to danger, process emotions, and make thoughtful choices. Here’s a look at how these parts interact — both when the brain is working smoothly and when heightened stress takes over.

Why This Happens

Our brain’s "threat detection system" is essential for survival, and because of this, the input we receive sensorily is passed to the amygdala quicker than the neocortex. This ensures we can react instantly to danger, like jumping out of the way of an oncoming car, without having to cognitively process the action beforehand. 

However, for people with a heightened stress response - often shaped by past trauma, chronic stress, or challenging life experiences - this system becomes overactive. This means that everyday, non-threatening situations, like an email or a partner’s tone, can trigger the brain’s survival mode which will react without input from the rational part of our brain.

The amygdala (part of the limbic system) sounds the alarm, signaling the hypothalamus (also limbic system) and brainstem to release stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol to prepare us to fight or run, and the neocortex (rational brain) is temporarily overridden.  It's as though the amygdala 'hijacks' control and logical thinking takes a back seat. This is why we might react before we’ve had time to think.

People with chronic stress, anxiety, or trauma may have a more sensitive amygdala and a weaker connection to the neocortex, meaning:

🌿They are more likely to react to mild triggers as if they were major threats.

🌿Their logical, reasoning abilities (neocortex) struggle to "regain control" as quickly after a perceived threat.

🌿This can lead to impulsive actions, difficulty calming down, or feelings of being "on edge" even in safe situations.

How to Calm Your Brain’s Threat Response

If you often find yourself reacting strongly to neutral situations, it’s a sign that your brain’s alarm system is on high alert. But you can train your brain to feel safer.

🌿 Grounding Techniques: When you feel a stress response kicking in, use grounding techniques to shift your focus back to the present moment. This could be as simple as focusing on your breathing, noticing five things you see around you, or feeling the texture of an object.

🌿Practise Mindfulness: Mindfulness is about being fully present in the moment, with an awareness of your surroundings, thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations without judgment. This practice engages and strengthens the neocortex, particularly the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for logical thinking, reasoning, emotional regulation, and decision-making. Whats more, regular mindfulness practice has been shown to reduce activity in the amygdala and can help people with heightened stress responses feel more in control. 

🌿 Label Your Emotions: Simply naming the emotion you’re feeling (e.g., "I’m feeling anxious/worried/scared") can activate your neocortex. This action alone can reduce the power of the amygdala’s alarm.

🌿 Build Self-Awareness: Pay attention to the patterns of your stress response. Notice the triggers and physical sensations that arise. Once you’re aware of them, you’ll be better equipped to interrupt the cycle.

🌿Practice Self-Compassion: When you’ve grown up in a high-stress environment or experienced trauma, your heightened threat response is not your fault. Be kind to yourself and recognize that your brain is doing its best to protect you.

🌿Seek Support: Therapy can help you work through the root causes of your heightened stress response and support you in understanding and reshaping these responses. 

Remember, your brain is not broken - it’s just trying to keep you safe in the best way it knows how.