Ep 121. Why We Lose Intelligence Under Stress – The Science of Survival Decisions

When we're in a high-stress situation—facing threat, fear, trauma, shock, or emotional overwhelm—our brain shifts gears. It doesn’t matter how smart you are; under stress and threat, your rational brain takes a back seat. You literally lose access to your full intelligence—your measurable IQ drops.

Why? Because your body prioritizes survival. When you enter a fight, flight, freeze, or fawn response, your skeletal muscles and primitive brain functions take over. This is your Body Alarm Reaction. In this state, the brain can't afford the luxury of slow, logical thinking.

You don't analyze the floor when it's collapsing—you run.

This is why cognitive function is overridden during emergencies, arguments, panic attacks, or trauma. Your body reacts before your brain has time to think. Thinking is too slow in a gunfight. And it’s too slow when you’re emotionally overwhelmed, spiraling in anxiety, or facing relational conflict.

In these moments, we don’t think clearly—we feel first. And feelings distort thinking. This makes us vulnerable to poor decisions, risky behavior, and false assumptions—like trusting someone dangerous just because they seem attractive, familiar, or comforting in the moment.

This is known as “When the dangerous looks beautiful.” It’s a brain shortcut meant to reduce perceived threat quickly, but it often backfires—leading us from the frying pan into the fire.

We also tend to misjudge others, project our emotional state onto them, and assume they’ll respond like we would. But they don’t. And sometimes, that can result in conflict, even violence, simply because we overestimated the similarity between us.

Bottom line? Assumptions are dangerous. Stress distorts our reality.

To stay safe and connected, we must learn to pause, breathe, and restore our ability to reason—even when everything in us wants to react.

🧠 Your mind under pressure isn’t broken—it’s just trying to protect you. But we must practice how to re-engage our higher brain, especially in moments when it matters most.

Take care of your nervous system. Train your calm. Think before you speak.
choose wisely, walk well.

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intro outro music for episodes 1 through 111 done by Jonathan Dominguez Rogue musician. He can be found on youtube at Lazyman2303.

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