The Fight or Flight Response - The Diigo Meta page

• 29 Mar 09
  

  Craig King
  • What are the
    signs that our fight or flight response has been stimulated (activated)?

  • Our respiratory rate increases. Blood is shunted away from our digestive tract and
    directed into our muscles and limbs, which require extra energy and fuel for running and
    fighting. Our pupils dilate. Our awareness intensifies. Our sight sharpens. Our impulses
    quicken. Our perception of pain diminishes. Our immune system mobilizes with increased
    activation. We become prepared—physically and psychologically—for fight or
    flight. We scan and search our environment, "looking for the enemy."

    
    

    When our fight or flight system is activated,
    we tend to perceive everything in our environment as a possible threat to our survival. By
    its very nature, the fight or flight system bypasses our rational mind—where our more
    well thought out beliefs exist—and moves us into "attack" mode. This state
    of alert causes us to perceive almost everything in our world as a possible threat to our
    survival. As such, we tend to see everyone and everything as a possible enemy. Like
    airport security during a terrorist threat, we are on the look out for every possible
    danger. We may overreact to the slightest comment. Our fear is exaggerated. Our thinking
    is distorted. We see everything through the filter of possible danger. We narrow our focus
    to those things that can harm us. Fear becomes the lens through which we see the world.

  • 16 more annotations...
  • • We can begin to see how it is almost
      impossible to cultivate positive attitudes and beliefs when we are stuck in survival mode.
      Our heart is not open. Our rational mind is disengaged. Our consciousness is focused on
      fear, not love. Making clear choices and recognizing the consequences of those choices is
      unfeasible. We are focused on short-term survival, not the long-term consequences of our
      beliefs and choices. When we are overwhelmed with excessive stress, our life becomes a
      series of short-term emergencies. We lose the ability to relax and enjoy the moment. We
      live from crisis to crisis, with no relief in sight. Burnout is inevitable. This burnout
      is what usually provides the motivation to change our lives for the better. We are
      propelled to step back and look at the big picture of our lives—forcing us to examine
      our beliefs, our values and our goals.
    • Today’s
      saber tooth tigers consist of rush hour traffic, missing a deadline, bouncing a check or
      having an argument with our boss or spouse
    • In most cases today, once our fight or flight
      response is activated, we cannot flee. We cannot fight. We cannot physically run from our
      perceived threats. When we are faced with modern day, saber tooth tigers, we have to sit
      in our office and "control ourselves." We have to sit in traffic and "deal
      with it." We have to wait until the bank opens to "handle" the bounced
      check. In short, many of the major stresses today trigger the full activation of our fight
      or flight response, causing us to become aggressive, hypervigilant and over-reactive. This
      aggressiveness, over-reactivity and hypervigilance cause us to act or respond in ways that
      are actually counter-productive to our survival. Consider road rage in Los Angeles and
      other major cities.
    • Yes. The evidence is overwhelming that there
      is a cumulative buildup of stress hormones. If not properly metabolized over time,
      excessive stress can lead to disorders of our autonomic nervous system (causing headache,
      irritable bowel syndrome, high blood pressure and the like) and disorders of our hormonal
      and immune systems (creating susceptibility to infection, chronic fatigue, depression, and
      autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and allergies.)
    • ike tension in our muscles, headache, upset
      stomach, racing heartbeat, deep sighing or shallow breathing. Others may experience them
      as emotional or psychological symptoms such as anxiety, poor concentration, depression,
      hopelessness, frustration, anger, sadness or fear.
    • Excess stress does not always show up as the
      "feeling" of being stressed. Many stresses go directly into our physical body
      and may only be recognized by the physical symptoms we manifest.
    • By learning to recognize the signals of
      fight or flight activation, we can avoid reacting excessively to events and fears that are
      not life threatening.
    • Physical safety means getting out of toxic, noisy or hostile
      environments. Emotional safety means surrounding ourselves with friends and people who
      genuinely care for us, learning better communication skills, time management skills,
      getting out of toxic jobs and hurtful relationships
    • 1) Changing our external environment (our
      "reality").
    • Spiritual safety means creating a
      life surrounded with a sense of purpose, a relationship with a higher power and a resolve
      to release deeply held feelings of shame, worthlessness and excessive guilt.
    • cognitive
      restructuring, voice dialogue therapy, inner child work, learning not to take things
      personally, affirmations and self-parenting.
    • Remember that the
      natural conclusion of fight or flight is vigorous physical activity.
    • When we feel tired and
      physically run down, we tend to focus on what’s not working in our lives—similar
      to a cranky child needing a nap. It is difficult to be, feel or think positive when we are
      exhausted, sleep deprived or physically out of condition.
    • Mind
      chatter is the endless, restless stream of incomplete thoughts, anxieties and self-talk
      which constantly pulses through our minds.
    • inner voice
    • This quiet place allows us
      to move beyond our fears, beyond our anxieties and beyond our strategic mind—into a
      clearer understanding and knowing of what is true and loving.
• 

  Trisha Gao

  psychology

  • When we experience excessive
    stress—whether from internal worry or external circumstance—a bodily reaction is
    triggered, called the "fight or flight" response.
  • hypothalamus
  • 10 more annotations...
  • • When our fight or flight response is
      activated, sequences of nerve cell firing occur and chemicals like adrenaline,
      noradrenaline and cortisol are released into our bloodstream.
    • Our respiratory rate increases. Blood is shunted away from our digestive tract and
      directed into our muscles and limbs
    • Our pupils dilate. Our awareness intensifies. Our sight sharpens. Our impulses
      quicken. Our perception of pain diminishes. Our immune system mobilizes with increased
      activatio
    • the fight or flight system bypasses our rational mind
    • overreact
    • We see everything through the filter of possible danger. We narrow our focus
      to those things that can harm us. Fear becomes the lens through which we see the world.
    • Our thinking
      is distorted
    • Our fear is exaggerated.
    • Our consciousness is focused on
      fear, not love
    • our life becomes a
      series of short-term emergencies

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