When we feel threatened, we may hit back and antagonize the other party. We may start to pick issues with each other which are unrelated just to get revenge. The more this happens, the worse it gets.
We need to wait out the “danger zone” during the time where our thinking gets hijacked by the burning stew of emotions and its takes about 10 Seconds for it to subside. During this time that stressful chemicals can build if we do not manage our emotions by simply keeping quiet and focusing on something else that will detract us from the present issue causing the hijack.
Other ways of handling our emotions are taking some time out, breathe deeply and count to 10 to allow the emotions to subside, then talk through the situation in a calm manner. Or validating the emotion and explore why these feelings arose, thus allowing for more communication to occur. Or build a new pattern of asking yourself questions to manage your thoughts, feelings and actions.