You can probably think of a time when you experienced the fight-or-flight response. When faced with something frightening, you can feel your heartbeat quicken, you may start breathing faster, and your entire body becomes tense and ready to take action. The fight-or-flight response can happen in the face of an imminent physical danger such as encountering a growling dog during your morning jog or as a result of a psychological threat such as preparing to give a big presentation at school or work.
Physical signs that can indicate the fight-or-flight response has kicked in include:. The fight-or-flight response plays a critical role in how we deal with stress and danger in our environment. When we are under threat, the response prepares the body to either fight or flee.
By priming your body for action, you are better prepared to perform under pressure. The stress created by the situation can actually be helpful, making it more likely that you will cope effectively with the threat. This type of stress can help you perform better in situations where you are under pressure to do well, such as at work or school. And in cases where the threat is life-threatening, the fight-or-flight response plays a critical role in your survival.
By gearing you up to fight or flee, the fight-or-flight response makes it more likely that you will survive the danger. While the fight-or-flight response happens automatically, that doesn't mean that it is always accurate.
Sometimes we respond in this way even when there is no real threat. Phobias are good examples of how the fight-or-flight response might be falsely triggered in the face of a perceived threat.
A person who is terrified of heights might experience an acute stress response if they have to go to the top floor of a skyscraper to attend a meeting. Their body might go on high alert, with their heartbeat and respiration rate increasing.
If the response is severe, it can lead to a panic attack. Understanding the body's natural fight-or-flight response is one way to help cope with such situations.
When you notice that you are becoming tense, you can start looking for ways to calm down and relax your body. The stress response is one of the major topics studied in the rapidly-growing field of health psychology. Health psychologists are interested in helping people find ways to combat stress and live healthier, more productive lives. By learning more about the fight-or-flight response, psychologists can help people explore new ways to deal with their natural reaction to stress.
Ever wonder what your personality type means? Sign up to find out more in our Healthy Mind newsletter. Goldstein DS. Adrenal responses to stress. Cell Mol Neurobiol. Autonomic and endocrine control of cardiovascular function.
World J Cardiol. This can also happen with work or strained relationships. The next thing you know, your fight or flight response is falsely activated, putting you in a state of chronic stress. Fisher says stress management is critical to overall health. Therapy, medication and stress management techniques can help you return to a more balanced state. And if it is, the goal is to feel skilled at having an awareness when the response is activated, and to be able to bring yourself back to baseline.
The fight or flight response is triggered by a release of hormones either prompting us to stay and fight or run away and flee from a stressful situation. But what happens if this response is prompted over anxiety from non-life threatening things?
Learn more about vaccine availability. Advertising Policy. You have successfully subscribed to our newsletter. Someone cut you off on the highway and you had to swerve and narrowly avoided a collision. Related Articles. This happens when nonthreatening situations trigger the reaction. After a traumatic event , you may develop an exaggerated stress response.
It involves a recurrent pattern of reactions related to the initial event. In this case, your brain reacts to related triggers to prepare you for future traumatic situations. The result is an overactive response. If the sound of a car horn reminds you of the event, you might have a stress response when you hear a car honking.
Anxiety is when you feel scared or nervous about a situation. This could spark an exaggerated stress response to daily activities, like riding the bus or sitting in traffic. There are ways to cope with an overactive stress response.
This includes various strategies and treatments, such as:. By doing activities that promote relaxation , you can counteract the stress response with the relaxation response. Another strategy is regular exercise. Physical activity reduces the stress response by:. These benefits can increase your mood and sense of relaxation, which helps you better cope with stressful scenarios. Social support can minimize your psychological and physiological reactions to perceived threats.
It provides a sense of safety and protection, which makes you feel less fearful. A mental health professional can help you determine the underlying cause of these feelings. They can also create a plan to reduce your stress response, depending on your symptoms and mental health history. This enables you to quickly protect yourself from a perceived threat. If you have a history of trauma or anxiety, you might overreact to nonthreatening situations.
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