Threat

I have many stories that lend themselves to self-deprecation. Here's one:

One night, I was watching television with my wife. It was nearing ten o' clock and I heard a loud knock on the door. I flew off the couch and lunged toward the door, literally ready to throw down.

I peered through the door and barked out: "What do you need?"

"Did you order pizza?"

"Sorry. Wrong house."

Oh my goodness!? Why did I fly off the handle???

Now - laughable. Then - not so funny.

What was going on there? Why did I - without thinking - go into fighter mode?

I wish I knew a psychologist who could explain this...

Ok, here it goes:

Humans are built to detect and respond - quickly - to threat, in order to survive.

We have a section of our brain, in the middle portion of our brain, called the amygdala. This section of our brain is sometimes called "the emotional brain." It is all about emotional response, and is not defined by reasoning abilities. 

The amygdala is responsible for setting off an utterly rapid chemical reaction throughout the body called the fight-or-flight response. The fight-or-flight response prompts us to fight off a threat….or run from it.

So, why did I pop off so quickly?

My fight-or-flight response was triggered.