Fight or Fright Reaction and Stress.
Consider these three different scenarios.
A sales rep is having a difficult time during the recession. The last three months sales were disastrous. He is due to meet an important, big new client who could be his saviour. The ouicome will decide whether he is still in employment.
A man is desperately and madly in love with this popular and attractive female. To him there is no future without her but she is popular an other men are attracted to her. He has a ring, the red roses lie by the door and table carefully set for two. Any moment she will knock on the door and he will ask her to marry him and he does not know whether she will say yes or no.
A woman walking home alone late at night. The streets are poorly lit. Suddenly she hears footsteps ahead of her. A group of people wearing hoodies is coming towards her. She now hears footsteps behind her. She turns around to see a group of youths walking towards her.
In all three situations a person becomes very alert and focussed even though potential danger is only in one of these scenarios. The body goes into the fight and fright reaction.
The fight or fright reaction protect us from life threatening dangers. In this reaction, the brain triggers the release of the hormones adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisone.The remarkable changes that occur are caused by these hormones.
The heart rate speeds up, the breathing become faster and deeper, the mouth becomes dry, the pupils dilate, skin becomes cold and clammy and hairs on the back of the neck stand up.
You may even want to vomit, open your bowels or urinate. This is the brain trying to lighten the load to move faster during ‘flight’.
The fight or fright reaction prepares the body for action. You are in a state of heightened awareness. Your senses are very sharp. Your hearing, sense of smell and your sight are all sharpened. Your body is primed and ready to go.
Your heart, beating faster pumps extra blood to the brain and the muscles. By breathing faster and deeper, more oxygen is transported by the blood to the muscles and brain. In addition blood is shunted away temporarily from other vital organs such as the kidneys, immune system and the gut to make more blood available to supply the muscles.
Although the fight and fright reaction is primeval and developed when early humans had to confront huge and dangerous reptiles and mammals, it is still present today. The only problem, however, is that the brain cannot differentiate between real and percieved dangers or threats. The reaction is the same.
In all three scenarios above, the fight or fright reaction is triggered.
Panic attacks are severe episodes of the fight or fright reaction and, to the individual during an attack the threat or danger is very real. Rationality suddenly disappear and there is no where to run to or no one to fight.
In stress, even though there is no threat to our lives, the fight or fright reaction is triggered and can harm the body. Persistent stress caqn cause disease.
Knowing the effects of the fight or fright reaction on stress will help you make some sense about the symptoms of stress you experience with stress.
Tags: causes of stress., fight or fright reaction, stress, symptoms of stress, treatment of stress
Popular Incoming Search Queries
- shavita babi
- savita bhabhi