Fight or Flight?

Was watching this segment last night on the Discovery Channel and even though I’ve heard about “The Fight or Flight Response” before, I have not really delved in the specifics of it until the show got me really interested.

The human brain is amazing! It has the capacity to alter normal body functions and alter it in such a way that we use it our advantage whenever stress and other threatening factors come our way.

Just a few things that our mind does in response to this:

• Our senses sharpening. Pupils dilate (open out) so we can see more clearly, even in darkness. Our hairs stand on end, making us more sensitive to our environment.

• The cardio-vascular system leaping into action, with the heart pump rate going from one up to five gallons per minute and our arteries constricting to maximize pressure around the system while the veins open out to ease return of blood to the heart.

• The respiratory system joining in as the lungs, throat and nostrils open up and breathing speeding up to get more air in the system so the increased blood flow can be re-oxygenated. The blood carries oxygen to the muscles, allowing them to work harder. Deeper breathing also helps us to scream more loudly!

• Even the fat from fatty cells and glucose from the liver are being metabolized to create instant energy.

Very cool right???

When we perceive a significant threat to us, then our bodies get ready either for a fight to win or a desperate flight away from what you perceive as certain defeat by a clearly superior adversary (whether that’s another person, a situation or an event.)

All these things happen, in a sense your mind and body prepares you and makes your more suited to handle the threat, the problem is the choice you will make – Fight or Flight?

The answer depends on the type of person you are, the type of attitude you have. Whichever choice you make, is a choice you make.