What is emotional hijacking? Signs to watch out for

A loud or an extreme reaction to an emotional state is what emotional hijacking is about. This happens when strong emotions take over the thinking part of the brain and before we can measure the reaction, we end up showing it. In case of emotional hijacking, the brain perceives threat and hence, it starts to give out a reaction that turns out to be extreme. With the heightened emotional state, the brain also goes into the flight or fight mode, making us feel the reaction of an emotional hijacking. "Opening spaces to understand what happens and what to do when emotions take over - the emotional/amygdala hijack. What are your strategies to stop an emotional hijack," wrote Therapist Susanne Wolf as she explained emotional hijacking and the signs that we should watch out for.

Overwhelming surge of emotions: one of the first symptoms of emotional hijacking is when we feel a surge of overwhelming emotions which we do not know how to control.

Physiological changes: We start to feel elevated heart rate and tense muscles when we feel emotional hijacking. This makes us feel unrest in the body and the mind, enabling an extreme reaction.

Loss of rationality: With such changes in the body and the mind, we start to feel a loss of rationality. Due to the same, we feel the intense urge to show a reaction.

Difficulty in communicating: We feel that we are not able to communicate the things that we are feeling - this makes us take an impulsive decision and we end up showing an extreme reaction.

Inability to regulate emotions: We are also not able to regulate the nervous system and the reactions - we fail to regulate our emotions and feel unrest.

Short-term focus: We do not think of the long-term consequences of the actions. 

Source: Hindustan Times