The Overactive Amygdala
Neurodivergent children, including those with autism, ADHD, and anxiety disorders, often struggle with emotional regulation.
A key factor behind these difficulties is the amygdala, a part of the brain responsible for processing emotions, particularly fear and anxiety. The old ‘fight, flight, freeze, fawn’ part of the so-called ‘cave-man’ brain that told us what to do when we stumbled across a bear in the forest.
If your ND child is one of those ‘1-100’ kids, the suddenly non-verbal/unresponsive kid, the run-and-hide kid, the ‘try and fit in’ masker who unravels at home – there is a good chance their amygdala is driving the ship some of the time.
And if you have a PDA’er, dial that up to most of the time.
What is the Amygdala?
The amygdala is responsible for detecting threats and activating our survival responses. In neurotypical children, it helps process emotions in a balanced way. However, in neurodivergent children, the amygdala may be overactive and misread the threat level as greater than it is. When this happens, the brain redirects blood flow from the prefrontal cortex (our thinking brain) into our amygdala (the survival brain).
What happens next?
Yelling, aggression, running away, freezing, high levels of masking to mimic and fit in, meltdowns, arguing, increased stimming, heightened emotions of any kind – you may see hysterical laughter, tears, anger. These are all signs of acute stress and that child needs your help to get back into their thinking brain.
What triggers it?
This is highly individual but can include; sensory overwhelm, too many instructions, criticism (real or perceived – google: Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria), transitions, new environments, change of routine…the list goes on and on!
For PDA’ers, who have a nervous system disability, even the most basic of everyday demands (putting on shoes, brushing teeth) can trigger a response from the amygdala.
How can you help?
Educating your child about their unique brain is a great place to start. I highly recommend Poppy and the Overactive Amygdala for kids ages 7 and up. Because of this education, we are able to use a phrase to alert our older child when his pesky amygdala is trying to hijack his day.
We simply say ‘Not a bear.’
Let’s say his little brother has taken something of his, and I can see that he is about to flip his lid. I will simply say ‘Your brother is not a bear.’ Because he understands the context (aka my amygdala is trying to take over and make me think this is a much bigger deal than it is), this assists in getting him back in his thinking brain much more quickly.
Teaching calming strategies – breathing techniques, or use of preferred aids like weighted blankets and noise cancelling headphones can help.
Lastly, be ready to distract. This is honestly the most useful parenting tool in my belt. Rather than trying to correct/apply logic/intervene in the direct thing causing stress I will just completely redirect my child. I might hand them an iPad, throw them a ball to catch, tickle them, make a joke, change the subject, ask a totally random question ‘did you notice the clouds are a weird shape today?’. Whatever works.
As always – you’ve got this.