One of the experiences that triggers mixed reactions in me involves being in an out of control car. On one hand, it’s scary, while at the same time it’s exhilarating.
There’s a sensation associated with taking curves at high speeds and drifting that I find exhilarating. Although the car is technically ‘out of control’, with a skilled driver and driving experiences the fear subsides.
For me, it’s about the excitement that comes with going to the edge of a car’s performance. At that moment, the adrenaline rush is viewed as thrilling.
Although I’ve enjoyed it in some cars, I wouldn’t enjoy the same experiences in an airplane or when the car gets too far out of control.
I also wouldn’t enjoy the sensation of my body getting out of control with it’s reactions. There are times when the release of adrenaline isn’t about thrills, but instead about panic and fear.
When it comes to affairs, especially when it’s an affair triggering prior trauma reactions, the sensation turns into a nightmare. At that moment, your body starts reacting in petrifying fearfulness. Thoughts of “I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die” start racing through your mind.
Without warning, your body and mind spin out of control. You thought you ‘had things under control’, but it starts going sideways. That adrenaline rush transforms into panic sensations. Excitement turns into fearfulness.
One researcher refers to those experiences as an amygdala hijacking. His term describes what many of you feel when all the panic and fear of the previous trauma hits you.
At those moments, the part of your brain that turns on the alarms, freaks out.
At those moments, it feels like someone or some experience has ‘taken over’ your body, emotions and mind. All you think you can do at those moments is hang on for dear life.
The sensations are so intense, you may think that you’re re-living the previous traumas all over again.
If you find yourself struggling with trauma related reactions to the affair, you could be facing Affair Trauma. In those cases, you will want to consider the video on Overcoming Affair Trauma.
The video guides you in techniques and ways of regaining emotional control of your brain and your emotions. That sensations doesn’t have to hijack your startle response any longer. You can start recovering your old self back.
There are ways of bringing those extreme sensations back under control. You can once again be in charge of your body rather than it taking charge of your mind or yourself.
Keeping It Real,
Jeff
