The Brain Science of Maintaining Control at Work
Strong Opinions, Weekly Held
Part 1 examined The Brain Science of Losing Control at Work, unpacking what happens when your amygdala hijacks your more rational self. Here are strategies for preventing hijacks, combating them in the moment, and learning from them afterward.
Anticipating and Preventing Amygdala Hijacks
Maintain Overall Well-Being
Stay in balance! More than anything, keep yourself regulated by getting enough sleep, eating well, staying hydrated, and exercising regularly. And don’t overlook the general health benefit of maintaining robust social relationships. This advice isn’t sexy, but it’s probably the single most effective way to limit unwanted hijackings.
Mindfulness
Whether it’s just 10–15 minutes of meditation, yoga, or emotional journaling, regular mindfulness practice enhances prefrontal cortex engagement and reduces amygdala reactivity over time.1
Anticipating Hijack Situations
Flagging situations that are likely to cause emotional stress and proactively determining your ideal plan of action can mitigate the intensity of a hijack.2 Practically speaking, you can:
Make a list of tricky situations you’re likely to encounter.
Create "If-Then" plans. As in,"if I feel my anger rising in the meeting, then I will excuse myself for a water break." I recommend asking yourself the question: “What would the best version of myself do in this situation?” as a guide.
Use visualization to mentally rehearse challenging situations, or even ask someone else to help simulate a scenario and practice!
Handling an Amygdala Hijack
When you're in the midst of a hijack, these evidence-based interventions can help you regain control:
Emotion Labeling
Naming what you're feeling out loud or in writing—e.g., "I feel anxious" or "I'm humiliated right now"—engages your brain to reduce the impact of amygdala reactivity.3 Interestingly, being more precise with your word choice is more effective! It’s more useful to say “I feel infantilized and unappreciated” than to say “I feel bad.”4
Cognitive Reappraisal
Actively search for alternative explanations. Pausing to ask “what else could this mean?" or “what else could be going on behind the scenes?” can help you actively reframe the situation with a less threatening interpretation.5
Mindful Breathing
Paying attention to your breathing does wonders! Whether it’s a specific technique like box breathing or just focusing on your breath, mindful breathing stimulates the vagus nerve and steers your system back toward parasympathetic balance.6
Cold Water
A hands-on approach can involve splashing very cold water on your face or wrists. There’s evidence that even brief cold exposure activates calming reflexes and helps you mentally reset. I’ve personally found this useful. Even if the benefit is just a placebo-like jolt of doing something intentional, the deliberate action itself reminds me I’m being hijacked.7
Sensory Grounding
Engage with something physical. Pick an object (e.g., a pen) and describe its texture, shape, color, and weight in detail to redirect your focus. Interacting with a sensory-rich object (e.g., a strange textile) or something olfactory can also shift attention away from threat.8
Making the Most of an Amygdala Hijack
Okay, so you got hijacked. Now put it to work! Recovery and learning from the experience is crucial for future prevention:
Reflection
Structured reflection helps process the experience and extract learning.9 You can do this on your own or in conversation with others (especially a trained coach or therapist):
On your own: Journaling
First, write down what happened without judgment. Just the facts.
Next, note physical sensations you experienced and the specific emotions you felt. Be as specific with your language as you can!
Document what helped you calm down and what you would do differently next time.
With others: Deeper Analysis
Identify patterns across multiple incidents. When do these hijacks keep happening?
Ask for insight into what underlying needs or fears could be at play for you, being sure to consider how past experiences might influence current reactions.
Develop specific strategies for similar future situations.
Progress is Perfection
Managing amygdala hijacks is a skill that develops over time. Be patient with yourself. With consistent use of these evidence-based strategies, you can significantly reduce both the frequency and intensity of amygdala hijacks, so they happen less often, hit less hard, and leave you performing at your best.
That's it for this edition — please reach out if I can be at all helpful.
Be compassionate and intentional.
Gotink, et al., (2016). 8-week mindfulness based stress reduction induces brain changes similar to traditional long-term meditation practice – A systematic review. Brain and Cognition, 108, 32–41.
Goodman, A. M., et al., (2018). Anticipatory prefrontal cortex activity underlies neural processing of social stress in social anxiety disorder. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 13(6), 611–620.
Meyer, A., et al., (2023). Daring to feel: Emotion-focused psychotherapy increases amygdala activity during a fear-processing task. NeuroImage: Clinical, 39, 103596.
Brooks, J. A., et al., (2016). The role of language in the experience and perception of emotion: A neuroimaging meta-analysis. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 12(2), 169–183.
Herwig, U., et al., (2019). Training emotion regulation through real-time fMRI neurofeedback of amygdala activity. NeuroImage, 184, 687–696.
Orji, C. A., & Ita, I. E. (2024). The amygdala hijack: Contemporary insights into the causes and interventions for emotional dysregulation. Journal of Neuroscience and Behavioral Health, 16(1), 10–18.
Orji, C. A., & Ita, I. E. (2024). The amygdala hijack: Contemporary insights into the causes and interventions for emotional dysregulation. Journal of Neuroscience and Behavioral Health, 16(1), 10–18.
Nakamura, Y., Tawatsuji, R., & Fujii, T. (2021). Explanation of emotion regulation mechanism of mindfulness using a brain science approach. Journal of Mindfulness, 12(3), 415–426.
Wain, A. (2017). Learning through reflection. British Journal of Midwifery, 25(10), 662-666.