In the heat of anger, we often don’t use our best judgment.
We may say and do things we later regret, or lose track of what we’re arguing about.
Why is that?
Well, it has to do with cortisol. You see, anger can spark an overload of cortisol in the brain.
So where does the cortisol come from in the first place? That’s something we got into here.
And to help you visualize what’s happening when there’s too much cortisol in the brain, we put this together for you (and please feel free to make a copy to share).
Click the image to enlarge
Where do these stress hormones come from?
To find out, check out Part 1 of this infographic series.
- Elevated cortisol can cause your neurons to take in too much calcium through their membranes
– The problem with this is it can make cells fire too frequently and die. - Too much cortisol n cause a loss of neurons in your prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hippocampus.
- Suppressed activity in your prefrontal cortex (PFC) can prevent you from using your best judgement
– This is why you might not make good decisions or plan well for the future when you’re upset - Too much cortisol in your hippocampus can kill neurons and keep your brain from making new ones. This can weaken your short-term memory and prevent you from forming new memories properly.
– This is why you might not remember what you want to say in an argument - Too much cortisol can decrease serotonin – that’s the hormone that makes you happy.
– A decrease in serotonin can make you feel anger and physical pain more easily.
– This also might be why you act in more aggressive ways or feel depressed.
As you can see, these hormones can have a big impact on your brain. But that’s not all they might do.
If you’d like to print a copy to share, just click here: Color or Print-friendly
(We put a lot of work into creating these resources, so please include the copyright information and attribute to NICABM if sharing. Thanks!)
For more practical tools and strategies to help clients manage anger, have a look at this short course featuring Stephen Porges, PhD; Marsha Linehan, PhD; Peter Levine, PhD; Ron Siegel, PsyD; Pat Ogden, PhD; and other top experts.
Now that you’ve seen how anger can impact the brain, how will you use these ideas in your life or work? Please leave a comment.
Next: How Anger Affects Your Brain and Body, Part 3 – How Stress Hormones Change Your Body
I know his comment about Zen calm might have sounded critical, but I think he’s just been discouraged and maybe also expecting too much of himself in response to hearing about the state of Nirvana or whatever. Also, I’m so sorry to hear about the psychological/emotional abuse you received at the hands of a teacher and his/her associate and getting your peers in on it, too!!! That would be so likely to leave a child thinking it’s her fault/there’s something wrong with her, although it sounds like you had the wisdom to at least have some idea that it wasn’t you because it didn’t make any sense to you because you hadn’t done anything wrong. And, even if you had done something wrong, you wouldn’t have deserved to be treated that way anyway!!!!! I hope you’re giving yourself the opportunity to heal by having a supportive therapist to talk with about this!!!
There is so much wisdom in what you said and I appreciate you sharing your story and what you’ve learned. I think the development of that kind of anger as a strategy for coping with trauma is a very common reaction to trauma and can be seen as an adaptation that the child had to do in order to survive. I agree that it isn’t necessarily conscious. Children make decisions consciously or unconsciously without realizing that there might be negative consequences later, such as unwanted angry outbursts, also a common reaction to trauma. I’ve been learning about the Internal Family Systems (IFS) Model since attending a two and one-half day webinar last spring and will be starting a Level One training this spring. This model is in some ways reframing things we’ve believed in the world of mental health therapy for decades, such as that if a person has anxiety, that rather than thinking of it as a disorder, that it is actually coming from an internal part of the person and can be understood and worked with and even healed. The healing process involves the unburdening of that anxious part (or other type of wounded part) who has carried the burden within the person’s system. I don’t know yet, but suspect that the person can keep what they want, such as the wisdom they’ve gained, from their adaptation of anger, anxiety, or whatever, but without it being easily triggered anymore. The Core Self can help with the healing process and taking care of the internal part, who might be a child, update that child entity that it doesn’t have to worry about abuse anymore because of being an adult now and no longer being dependent on parents/caregivers who abused us or allowed us to be abused, etc. I agree that self-awareness and self-compassion are key to changing our behaviors, but I think IFS can take us further than most other therapies!!!
Why was a coach from Britain who claimed to embrace her anger attacked people with different religious beliefs? Isn’t it stemmed from anger?
I knew cortisol kills off brain cells but didn’t know why.
This is part of the information we promote to health and children’s centre staff as part of breastfeedng and relationship building training, supporting parent/ baby attachment from conception through to 5 years