This incident happened, of all places, in the church. It was during the 11 o’clock service, and the choir had just sung a beautiful song by Andre Crouch, titled “Take Me Back.” The entire congregation appeared moved. Tears were flowing and spirits were very high. The pastor stood up to preach and he piggybacked on that song. With a deep, emphatic voice he roared: “Take me back, take me back, oh Lord. Renew my faith, restore my joy, and wipe my weeping eyes!” Suddenly the swinging doors of the church went flying open, and a lady came in shouting, “Where is he? Where is he?” I thought to myself, “Is she looking for Jesus?” But no she wasn’t, because she was angry! Who would come to church, in their right mind, mad at Jesus?
Her emotions betrayed her feelings. As we know, there are seven basic emotions: happiness, sadness, contempt, surprise, fear, anger, and disgust. From these seven we have hundreds of variations with varying intensities. For instance, you can be a little happy or deliriously happy. You can be a little angry or enraged. Well, on a scale of 0-10, this lady hit the nail on the head; she was a full-blown 10, enraged!
She repeated, “Where is he?” Then she spotted who she was looking for! She ran down the aisle, jumped over the pew, and there was war in the church! This sister (an occasional member of the church) saw her ex-boyfriend sitting with his new friend, and I’m a witness: she was not a happy camper. Remember the amygdala? it’s located in the limbic system and is one of the sites of emotions, including fear and aggressive behaviors (Society for Neuroscience, 2007). This lady had no fear; it was all aggression, and she began fighting like a champ. She was pumped with adrenaline as she pounded on her ex-friend with forceful blows. The guy was in shock, stunned, just like the congregation. It was not a pretty picture. This is what an out-of-control amygdala can do. It will cause you to do things you will later regret. But at the same time, we need our amygdala. It is a wonderful structure to have and can be our best friend in the face of danger—running from a burning building, a ferocious dog, a hungry lion, or a scorned lover. In these types of situations, it propels us to get out of danger.
But there must be a balance; we cannot allow ourselves to get to the point of no return. This lady’s behavior was obviously unacceptable, but at that point she in all probability could not help herself. Remember our thoughts produce emotions, and thoughts and emotions combined produce an action which leads to a behavior. From the start she had “stinking thinking.” Her emotions led to the behavior that caused her to start swinging, and it took several deacons to restrain her.
Her frontal lobe (the site of executive control), which should have suppressed inappropriate impulses, failed to put the brakes on the amygdala. Her frontal lobe, as far as thinking rationally was concerned, had shut down; this lady had experienced an emotional hijacking.
Addictive Behaviors
On February 19, 2010, millions of Americans paused from their usual round of activities and for fourteen minutes gave ear to the televised speech of Tiger Woods. This was his first public appearance since his fall from grace. Tiger, one of the greatest athletes in the history of golf and the youngest man ever to win the Masters Tournament, broke his silence after three months of seclusion. I was among the millions that watched and heard Tiger’s confession of indiscretions. His words: “I’m deeply sorry for my irresponsible and the selfish behavior that I engaged in. I know people want to find out how I can be so selfish and so foolish. People want to know how I could do these things to my wife Elin and my children.” He went on to say, “I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated. What I did was not acceptable” (“Tiger Woods’ Full Apology,” 2010; Inman, 2010). This story was covered by all the major networks and has been a topic of discussion on many talk shows, in cover stories, and of people talking in their offices and homes. Many are asking, “Is there such a thing as sexual addictions or is this a convenient excuse for a hedonistic thrill?”
Studies show that one in 20 Americans has sexual addictions (“Sexual Addiction,” 2010; Lemonick, 2009). It is a phenomenon in which thoughts and emotions drive individuals to engage in compulsive sexual acts. It is not the act itself that brings pleasure, but the activation of the brain’s reward center. This activation is what serves to reinforce the behavior. This addiction is no different than the use of crack cocaine or other illicit drugs, alcohol, nicotine, gambling, pornography, and obsessions with video games.
What is the driving force behind these addictions and are they real? Yes, addictions are real. In fact we all have addictions; if this were not the case the human race would become extinct. We must ever keep in mind that we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). Our Creator God has made every provision possible to ensure the survival of the human race. The brain has been hardwired to seek out behaviors that propagate His design. This involves healthy addictions such as water, food, and sex, without which we cannot survive. (Actually, when it comes to sex, it is not needed to survive, but it was needed to get you here, and in the right context—marriage—it is healthy and normal). God designed sex to be a pleasurable interaction between couples not only for procreation, but to bond the relationship. This original design, however, has become perverted and a hostile takeover has occurred, another case of emotional hijacking.
Physiological Underpinnings of Addictions
The brain and the body strive to maintain balance, a process called homeostasis. When all systems are functioning correctly, the natural cravings for water, food, and sex will be regulated on an as-needed basis. Three structures in the brain—the nucleus accumbens, prefrontal lobe, and ventral tegmental area (VTA)—in concert with the neurotransmitter dopamine (a naturally occurring chemical) are involved with the pleasure center of the brain. This reward center is activated when dopamine is released into nerve cells and the pathways project directly into these structures (Norden, 2007b). The feelings associated with the rush of dopamine serve as a motivation to repeat the behavior. Just think about the last time you were really hungry or thirsty. More than likely you were highly motivated to satisfy your desire and quench these cravings. This is the normal ebb and flow occurring in the body. However, in addictions the release of dopamine to the pleasure center is so intense that individuals are driven to repeat the behavior, because of this powerful rush.
The most compelling studies that support this phenomenon began back in 1954 with James Olds and Peter Milner, two brain researchers who inadvertently discovered the pleasure center. They were experimenting with laboratory rats in which they implanted electrodes into the rats’ brains to give them brief electrical shocks. They wanted to see if these rats would learn to avoid certain areas in their cages when an electrical shock was administered. To their surprise, the shocks did not produce a negative response; in fact they reinforced the behavior. The rats were drawn to the shock. Up to this point the researchers had administered the shocks, but they then placed levers in the cage and the rats learned that they could press the levers and receive the same shock. To the researchers’ surprise, the rats began pressing the levers at high rates to obtain a brief stimulation to the brain.
Michael Bozarth, a professor of psychology, comments on this behavior in his article “Pleasure Systems in the Brain”:
Laboratory animals will lever press at high rates (> 6,000 times per hour) to obtain brief stimulation pulses to certain brain regions. The reinforcement from direct electrical activation of this reward substrate is more potent than other rewards, such as food or water. The potency of this electrical stimulation is most dramatically illustrated in a classic experiment where the subjects suffered self-imposed starvation when forced to make a choice between obtaining food and water or electrical brain stimulation (Routtenberg & Lindy, 1965). (Bozarth, 1994; “Pleasure Center,” 2010)
Olds and Milner had discovered the brain’s reward center. The electrodes had been placed in the regions of the brain that cause pleasure, and with this stimulus a rush of dopamine supplied intense feelings of ecstasy. This is why drug addicts will lie, steal, and even sell their children to get that next high. It’s why the obsessive gambler will chance losing everything—home, savings, and family. It’s why the sex-addicted personality will throw caution to the wind and live with the possible consequences of a sexually transmitted disease, destroyed marriage and career, even financial ruin.
Subtle Forms of Hijacking
Emotional