Fight Flight Responses

Fear is a weird thing. Sometimes it can be beneficial and heighten your senses by means of survival or it can increase your focus and intensify your observation skills. Fear can be used as an aide in threatening situations as it triggers the body’s fight flight response that is caused by a rush of adrenaline to allow the body to analyze a situation and prepare for a quick getaway from danger. The feelings and side effects laced with fear can include rapid, shallow breathing, a pounding heart, tense muscles, and sweaty palms. In extreme cases of fear, the body can go into complete panic which often causes sweating, trembling, shaking, shortness of breath and feelings of choking. Fear is used for the average person in a constructive way to help

The fight flight response triggers stress hormones such as cortisol instantly when a person senses a threat. It takes a few seconds for the part of the brain called the cortex to process the situation and evaluate whether there is actual danger. If the fight flight response does not subside when the brain sees a threat, feelings of anxiety linger keeping the person in either a panic or worry. A person with an anxiety disorder will see threats in normal everyday situations when there is no danger or potential harm. My brain never shuts off even when I am in a safe and secure environment. Fear is triggered in the slightest of safe situations while the anxiety remains anywhere from a few minutes to hours. I am actually scared of what my brain will tell me when I am forced into a situation that activates

After a long day of putting up with fear, dread, and unease, the body is worn out leaving me with no emotional or physical energy. Anxiety can be so bad that it causes vomiting or loss of consciousness. These are forms of physical release that essentially help me come out of an anxiety or panic attack. They are physical changes that can tell the brain that everything is going to be alright and that it is in a new, changed environment. Anxiety also causes upset stomachs, dizziness, shortness of breath, tremors, twitches, muscle tension, headaches, fatigue, and even insomnia. Anxiety can be so bad that it causes panic attacks. Panic attacks are a sudden feeling of acute and disabling anxiety. These attacks can happen irrationally and usually come out of nowhere without any waning. Often, there is no clear reason for the attack leaving the body without a solution to make the panic stop. I have even had them in my sleep. Anxiety also takes an emotional toll on a person. Anxiety has left me, at times, with no desire to leave the house, be in a new situation, socialize, or even live altogether as the fear becomes too much for me to handle. All of these symptoms occur simply because the brain is tells that there is a threat in situations when there is