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Lets look at three different scenarios.
Recession is making life difficult for a sales rep. 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 still has a job or not.
A man is madly and desperately in love with this popular and attractive female. To him there is no future without her but there are other men trying to attract her attention. The table is set for two, the ring is in his hand and the red roses lie near by. Any moment she will knock on the door and he will ask her to marry him and he does not know what her answer will be.
A woman walking home alone late at night. The street is dimly lit. Suddenly she hears footsteps ahead of her. A group of people wearing hoodies is walking towards her. Behind her she now hear more footsteps. She turns around to see a group of youths walking towards her.
Although there is potential danger in only one scenario, a person becomes very focussed and alert. This is 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.These hormones cause a remarkable change in the body.
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’.
These changes are preparing the body for action. You become alert and aware. All your senses are sharpened. Your hearing, sense of smell and your sight are all sharpened. Your body is primed and ready to go.
Your rapidly beating heart pumps more 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 gut, the kidneys and the immune system to enable more blood to 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. Unfortunately the brain cannot differentiate between real and percieved dangers or threats. The reaction is the same.
The fight or fright reaction is triggered in all three scenarios.
Panic attacks are severe episodes of the fight or fright reaction and, during an attack, to the individual the threat or danger is very real. Rational thoughts go out the window and there is nothing to fight and no where to run to.
In stress, even though there is no threat to our lives, the fight or fright reaction is triggered and can harm the body. If persistent, it can cause diseases.
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.
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