The fight or flight response, also known as the stress response, is the keystone of what we know about how the body reacts to stress today. Originally coined by Harvard physiologist Walter Cannon, the term is used to describe the body’s automatic response to a perceived threat or danger. Somewhat leftover from our primitive ancestors, when the danger of being attacked at any moment created a need for the body to be able to jump into action, it is still prevalent today, performing the same role. What’s different today is that we encounter many more perceived threats than actual threats.
The Body’s Response
The fight or flight response is the body’s protection system. At the moment a threat is realized, the body quickly prepares itself to either do battle with the threat (fight) or run away from it as fast as possible (flight). Physiologically, the stress response activates the body’s sympathetic nervous system, which results in the release of chemicals (hormones) into the bloodstream. These chemicals (adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol) are released by the adrenal glands, located on top of the kidneys. These chemicals are delivered to every cell in the body with the message of “get ready for action”. In an instant, the body reacts in the following ways:
- Increased mental activity
- Increased heart rate and blood pressure
- Increased breathing rate
- Increased muscle contraction
- Increased blood coagulation (which helps clotting)
- Increased blood sugar to nourish muscles
- Shunting of blood away from the digestive system to the muscles
- Increased sweat gland production
- Immune system suppressed
- Saliva dries up
- Pain perception decreases
When the stress response is activated, the autonomic nervous system is the part of the body’s nervous system that steps up and takes control of the body. It is largely an unconscious activity that is beyond our direct control. It is controlled by the hypothalamus, a pearl-sized portion of the brain that is considered our most “primitive” relic.
Today’s Version of the Stress Response
In our modern world, we are not confronted with many live or die scenarios where the fight or flight response is appropriate. However, our primitive hypothalami still interprets many of our everyday events as those live or die scenarios. Consequently, our bodies are continuously experiencing the same response as those of our ancestors with lions or bears chasing them, even if today it is simply a traffic jam where we are going nowhere soon.
Understanding that the hypothalamus controls our fight or flight response, largely independently of our consciousness, makes our ability to control stress in our lives that much tougher. But it can be done. By understanding the ABC Model and how our beliefs causes our consequences, as well as learning stress management techniques, we can begin to “teach” the hypothalamus what are really “live or die” scenarios in our modern world and begin to live with much less stress.