The Fight or Flight Reflex
What is the Fight or Flight Reflex and why is it the root of depression in modern society?
The Fight or Flight reflex is generally well understood as a mental construct of survival, remaining from our ‘Cave Man’ days, that when faced with a dangerous wild animal, or dangerous situation, the body's reaction is to fill the blood stream with adrenalin and oxygen, in order to peak the body’s performance to either Fight or Flee. It is a basic instinct survival mechanism that is hardwired into our brains. The Monty Python call to “Run away!!” comes immediately to mind.
The instinct is less relevant today as generally our basic needs of food and shelter have been met, and survival in our society is not as dangerous as our Cave Man ancestors. Having said that it is still a vital bodily function when faced with a situation that is physically endangering.
The problem is that in today’s society we face few physically endangering situations, but the Fight or Flight reflex has taken on a more sinister role in western society, leading to anxiety, stress and depression.
Think about having to go into a performance review with your boss and you are worried it’s not going to be as good as you want. There may be criticism of your performance and confrontation on an emotional level. You get nervous and adrenalin fills the body leading to those butterflies in the stomach and worry about what will happen. This is the original Fight or Flight reflex in action. The problem with today’s society is that as opposed to the Cave Man days where you literally fought or ran away and utilized all that adrenalin, nowadays we don’t expend that energy, either physically or emotionally, we sit quietly and smile, all the while going berserk on the inside with stress because there is no outlet.
Think for a minute about everyday things that happen. You see someone you don’t like and get nervous and walk across the street to avoid them. Someone cuts you off in traffic. A customer is rude and obnoxious. They all lead to a subconscious Fight or Flight reflex, which when unable to be released, leads to pent up anger and stress.
It’s not something that is easy to control although meditation and other methods help, but it’s a great start just to be aware the next time this happens to you, that the stress caused is a natural reaction of your body, and not a weakness on your part.