Читать книгу Managing Anger: Simple Steps to Dealing with Frustration and Threat - Gael Lindenfield, Gael Lindenfield - Страница 18

Cathy is standing at home doing some washing up at her kitchen window. She is feeling relieved that her busy day has ended and is looking forward to a relaxing evening watching TV with her partner.

She hears the noise of a car approaching. She glances through the window which overlooks her drive. She notices a strange car has parked at the end of her driveway, blocking her exit.

– She perceives the parked car as a mild ‘threat’. (She is, after all, safely inside her home and does not need to leave it again until the morning.)

– A signal is sent to her neocortex (our thinking brain’s

processing centre situated in our pre-frontal lobes just behind our foreheads).

– Her brain starts to do a search in the archives of its stored wisdom and memory. (Cathy is consciously thinking about what is happening.)

– Cathy decides that even though she doesn’t need to go out tonight, the parked car is a sign that someone has not respected her rights. (She may have said to herself They could have asked me first, even if they are desperate to park for just half an hour and it is pouring with rain.’)

– Her neocortex sends (via neuro transmitters) a request for ‘irritation’ to her amygdala (our emotional command centre in the more primitive part of the brain situated just above its stem).

– A small extra supply of the hormone adrenaline is ordered.

– Cathy’s face screws up and her stomach tightens.

– She becomes consciously aware of feeling irritated.

– Her partner comes in and asks: ‘What’s up? Are you worried about something?’

– Cathy replies: ‘No, I’m just a bit irritated – someone’s just parked across our drive.’

– Her partner says: ‘Oh, I think that’s the doctor’s car. I told you yesterday Marie next door said she was worried about her new baby’

– Cathy responds, ‘Oh – how awful, I forgot – oh dear, now I really do feel guilty. What on earth must she think? – I didn’t even pop in to ask her how he is.’

– Cathy’s thinking brain responds to this new perception of the situation and immediately sends another message to her amygdala to produce a biochemical cocktail of anxiety and guilt!