How Fear Is Being Weaponized in Your Brain (And What to Do About It)
Why your nervous system feels overwhelmed right now—and the science of staying free by Gabriella Taylor
Discover how fear-based messaging hijacks your brain and nervous system. Science-backed tools to stay regulated, think clearly, and break free from manipulation.
Lately, I've been reflecting on what's happening in our country—and how many of us are experiencing a sense of urgency, overwhelm, or dysregulation that feels hard to explain.
If you're feeling it too, you're not imagining it. And you're not weak for struggling with it.
As someone who specializes in how our brains shape around relationships with others, I want to name something clearly:
Much of what we're seeing is not just politics. It's psychological manipulation.
Let me explain.
Your Brain Under Attack
There's a major part of your brain—called the midbrain—that drives nearly 80% of your lived experience. Inside that midbrain is a powerful network called the limbic system.
This is the part of your brain responsible for processing emotions like fear, danger, urgency, and threat. It's designed to keep you alive.
Think of it as the alarm bell center of your brain—but with the reasoning capacity of a five-year-old.
Now, here's the problem:
When this part of the brain gets activated—when it senses danger or threat—it temporarily disconnects your access to your prefrontal cortex (your "upstairs brain").
This is the part responsible for:
Executive functioning
Objectivity and reason
Moral clarity
Emotional regulation
Connection to your values
As Dr. Dan Siegel describes it, in this state, we "flip our lid."
According to polyvagal theory, this process corresponds to a shift in your autonomic nervous system—moving from a regulated, socially engaged state into a defensive mode of fight/flight or collapse.
This shift is not cognitive—it is biological.
And once in a threat state, our capacity for empathy, nuance, and relational connection narrows dramatically.
The Playbook in Action
So why am I sharing this neuroscience with you?
Because this is exactly what we're witnessing—by design—in our current political landscape. The language being used is not accidental. It's carefully crafted to activate limbic responses and bypass rational thought.
This strategy has been documented throughout history in authoritarian regimes. It's the planned use of psychological tactics to influence opinions, emotions, and behaviors—most often through fear.
Let's look at the patterns in the messaging:
"They're enemies."
"I'll protect you."
"Our country is being destroyed."
"You won't have a country anymore."
Notice something?
Short. Simple. Emotional. Repetitive.
These phrases are designed to be processed by the limbic system—not the reasoning mind.
They invoke fear, tribalism, anger, and a primal sense of "us vs. them."
This is not leadership. This is nervous system manipulation on a mass scale.
And it's important we name it clearly.
Because once you see it, you can step out of it.
How to Stay Free
So what do we do when we recognize we're living in this environment?
We stay awake.
We don't let our alarm bells run the show.
We come back into our bodies.
We regulate.
We choose connection over division.
Not because we're naive, but because we understand:
Fear makes us easy to control. But when we stay regulated, we stay free.
Here are science-backed tools for supporting your nervous system in moments of overwhelm:
Immediate Regulation Techniques
Orienting: Gently look around the room and name 3 things you see. This tells your brain you're safe here and now, activating your visual cortex and grounding you in present reality.
Vocal Vagus Toning: Hum, sigh audibly, or chant. Your vagus nerve—the longest cranial nerve connecting your brain to your organs—responds to sound vibration, helping restore parasympathetic calm.
Co-regulation: Reach out to someone you trust. Safe connection is one of the most powerful ways to downshift the nervous system. When you're near someone who's regulated, your nervous system can actually sync with theirs.
Movement: Shake out your hands, stretch, walk. This helps discharge sympathetic energy that otherwise gets stuck in the body after activation.
Name it to tame it: Acknowledge what you're feeling. "I feel scared right now. I notice I'm bracing." Naming emotions engages your neocortex and helps reintegrate your higher brain functions.
These practices aren't self-help fluff—they're grounded in neuroscience, and they're how we reclaim our clarity, presence, and power.
The Revolutionary Act of Staying Present
Here's what I want you to remember:
The most revolutionary thing you can do right now is stay regulated and stay connected.
Not passive—regulated. Present. Connected to the goodness in humans, your values rather than your fears, and actions that are aligned with your core sense of self.
This is how we stop being manipulated.
This is how we come home to ourselves.
This is how we create a future built on respe rather than division.
What's helping you stay regulated these days? I'd love to hear your strategies in the comments. Sometimes the simple act of sharing what's working can help someone else find their way back to center.
If this resonates, please share it. Let's bring light to the manipulation tactics—and remind each other what it means to stay human in dehumanizing times.
#NervousSystemRegulation #PsychologicalAwareness #TraumaInformed #StayPresent #MentalHealthMatters