I was listening to a talk and something the speaker said sparked a question in my head. I pondered it but as soon as I decided to ask it my heart rate immediately spiked. I could suddenly hear my pulse in my ears.
Let’s clarify what was happening…
There was no man eating tiger in the vicinity. I was in no immediate danger. Yet my brain was sounding alarm bells absolutely terrified.
I hadn’t even asked the question either, all I had done was decide to ask the question. Nothing had actually happened yet.
My amygdala pulled the emergency brake because it knew that asking the speaker a question would turn me from an anonymous member of the crowd to being seen. A question would remove my hiding spot and put me out in the open.
My amygdala was equating being judged with the same level of fear as a life threatening situation.
So to sum up, it’s worth checking if there are any hungry carnivores in the surrounding area before listening to your amygdala’s panic.
Thomas Duggan 