One of my friends rang me today in a right state! She has had two lots of surgery in 6 months, the first not going so well and when a small thing went wrong yesterday following the second surgery ……she went into free fall. She had good reason, well her brain did, but all rational thought went out the window, and she will admit that when she thought about it she had been “emotionally hijacked”  by her last experience. (P.S. she is one of the smartest people I know and care about)

This is not unusual as a Physio to see this happen, so what can you do as a professional (and for yourself) to stop this spiralling out of control.

What it is– An amygdala hijack exhibits three signs: 1. strong emotional reaction, 2. sudden onset, 3. and post-episode realization if the reaction was inappropriate. This emotional brain activity processes information milliseconds earlier than the rational brain, so in case of a match, the amygdala acts before any possible direction from the neocortex can be received. If, however, the amygdala does not find any match to the stimulus received with its recorded threatening situations, then it acts according to the directions received from the neo-cortex. When the amygdala perceives a threat, it can lead that person to react irrationally and destructively.

Signs its starting!!

The key is to look for the signs and stop the hijack before it gets out of control.

What they say….The key phases include-

“But ….the last time this happened…”

“Its all going wrong…”

“What if….”

What they do….

Start panicking, ring you a lot, talk a lot, panic a lot,  make a lot of appointments, become a internet expert as they look for evidence on the internet medical sights (normally making them panic even more!) thinking they have cancer, are going to die or just much worse drive themselves insane with worry!

So what do you do…The following three simple steps can help patents fend off emotional hijacking 

Get them to reclaim their equilibrium

One of the best ways of being able to reclaim their equilibrium is to be aware of what is happening and make them aware. The best way to ward of a hijack in the first place is to spot potential triggers the very second they appear. Replacing the worries with humor can help.

Getting them to recognise it is happening– and tell them about the process in their brain that is occurring, so they know it is starting and make changes to stop it progressing.

Manage their thought processes– At the onset of an emotional hijacking,  get them to take a few deep breaths and face the anxiety, anger, frustration, or whatever emotion it is they are feeling. Recognise that they are being hijacked by a previous thought or anxiety – normally subconsciously- and realise that what is happening can be controlled. This can be a taught to the patient. Positive self talk is an excellent strategy to change thought processes and get into a different frame of mind. Cognitive behaviour therapy is the key in very stubborn thought processes. Visualisation, counting to 10 and using humour are all strategies.

Get them to enlist support –  Get  them to tell their relatives what is happening with the hijacking and how they can help to control this.  Get everything out into the open. Remember to tell them that, by their very nature, hijackings are sudden events.

The more they practice not allowing themselves to get emotionally hijacked, the better they will become at controlling it.

So you can help patients overcome the feelings and make your job easier, you must however reinforce all the time with the same strategies and advice other wise they pick up on your change of opinon, uncertainly and dithering… feeding the process. So you have been warned, you can make it better or worse!

As for my friend… well she’s great…