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Stress ResearchFight-or-Flight Response |
by:
Mike Lindsey |
In oneninethreetwo, Walter Cannon offered some ofearliest research on stress and establishedtheory of"fight-or-flight" response. His work proved that whenorganism experiencesshock or perceivesthreat, it reacts instantly by releasing hormones that help it to survive.
In human beings and other animals, these hormones allow for greater speed and strength. Heart rate and blood pressure increases, delivering more oxygen and blood sugar to support major muscles.
Sweating increases to better coolmuscles and allowing them to remain efficient. Blood is regulated to reduce blood loss if there is any damaged. Hormones focus our attention onthreat, toexclusion of everything else. All of this commandsheightened ability to survive life-threatening events.
We can also trigger this same reaction when faced with something unexpected or something that frustrates our goals. Ifthreat is small, our response will be likewise, we may not noticestressor amongmany other distractions ofstressful day.
This mobilization ofbody to spring into survival mode also has negative consequences. We become excitable, anxious, jumpy and irritable. This state can reduce our ability to be most effective. With shakiness andpounding heart, we can find it difficult to carry out controlled skills.
The intensity of our focus on survival takes from our ability to draw information from many sources. We can find that we are more accident-prone and less able to make good decisions.
To be most productive, our day-by-day lives requirecalm, rational, controlled and socially sensitive approach.
We need to be able to control our fight-or-flight response; otherwise, we can have problems later on such as poor health and burnout.
Aboutauthor:
Mike Lindsey runshealth site, Healthy News. For information on stress management and stress relief please visitsite.
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