Fight-or-Flight Response

A Fight-or-Flight Response is a physiological response to stress that prepares the body to either confront or flee from a perceived threat.

• AKA: Hyperarousal, Acute Stress Response, Fight-Flight-or-Freeze-Fawn.
• Context:
  • It can (often) be a Self-Preservation Behavior.
  • …
• Example(s):
  • Increased heart rate and blood pressure during a job interview.
  • Sweating and shaking when encountering a dangerous animal.
  • Adrenaline rush during a car accident.
  • …
• Counter-Example(s):
  • Rest-and-Digest Response,
  • Freeze Response.
• See: Psychological Trauma, Trauma (Medicine), Sympathetic Nervous System, Adrenal Medulla, Catecholamines, Norepinephrine, Epinephrine, Estrogen, Stress Response, Sympathetic Nervous System, Parasympathetic Nervous System.

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References

2023

• (Wikipedia, 2023) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight-or-flight_response Retrieved:2023-5-7.
  • The fight-or-flight or the fight-flight-or-freeze-fawn (also called hyperarousal or the acute stress response) is a physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival. It was first described by Walter Bradford Cannon. His theory states that animals react to threats with a general discharge of the sympathetic nervous system, preparing the animal for fighting or fleeing. More specifically, the adrenal medulla produces a hormonal cascade that results in the secretion of catecholamines, especially norepinephrine and epinephrine. The hormones estrogen, testosterone, and cortisol, as well as the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin, also affect how organisms react to stress. The hormone osteocalcin might also play a part.

    This response is recognised as the first stage of the general adaptation syndrome that regulates stress responses among vertebrates and other organisms.

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