Fight-flight
![How fight or flight is failing us.
How it's supposed to work:
[Image of Triangle-person with a wooden club getting scared by a pair of yellow cat eyes in a bush. Above their head there is three bars, labeled adrenaline, action and anxiety. Adrenaline is filling up quickly]
[Image of a giant cat (or a tiger) sticking their head out of the bush, showing their teeth and reaching out for the Triangle person with their paw. The tiger says: Wrrau! The Triangle-person is running away having lost their club. Adrenaline is falling quickly, filling up the action bar instead.]
How it fails:
[Image similar to the first one, except the Triangle person is holding a mobile phone instead of a wooden club. Adrenaline is rising quickly.]
[Image of a tiny cat sticking their head out of the bush, reaching out for the Tirangle-person with their tiny paw. The cat says: Mrrau? The Triangle-person is wiping their forehead having dropped the mobile phone, saying: Phew! Adrenaline is falling quickly, filling up the anxiety bar instead.]](/images/253-fight_flight@1x.png)
How fight or flight is failing us.
How it’s supposed to work:
[Image of Triangle-person with a wooden club getting scared by a pair of yellow cat eyes in a bush. Above their head there is three bars, labeled adrenaline, action and anxiety. Adrenaline is filling up quickly]
[Image of a giant cat (or a tiger) sticking their head out of the bush, showing their teeth and reaching out for the Triangle person with their paw. The tiger says: Wrrau! The Triangle-person is running away having lost their club. Adrenaline is falling quickly, filling up the action bar instead.]
How it fails:
[Image similar to the first one, except the Triangle person is holding a mobile phone instead of a wooden club. Adrenaline is rising quickly.]
[Image of a tiny cat sticking their head out of the bush, reaching out for the Tirangle-person with their tiny paw. The cat says: Mrrau? The Triangle-person is wiping their forehead having dropped the mobile phone, saying: Phew! Adrenaline is falling quickly, filling up the anxiety bar instead.]
This is not scientific, but I feel like there is something to it: so many people around me have high levels of anxiety, yet as a society we have never been so secure from physical harm.
Could that exact security be causing runaway anxiety? We are constantly subjected to stimuli causing fight or flight reactions, but almost never have any immediate physical avenue to channel the reaction. After all, fighting of fleeing is never an option at school, workplace, cafe or a family reunion.
Instead, the built-up tension becomes frozen - and becomes a chronic condition.