Your Stress Response is More Complicated than Fight or Flight
Here’s why knowing this information will make you more empathetic.
I learned about the fight or flight system via a bear.
Not personally, but through my professor’s storytelling.
We were learning about the reason why one person would run away if they saw a bear, while another might punch it in the nose. A perfect illustration of the fight or flight response.
This is something we’ve seen many scientists (and self-help writers) use as reason before. But is it possible we’ve all been getting this wrong?
My teacher took a marker to the whiteboard, and started talking us through a diagram of the fight or flight system. He named neurotransmitters, different parts of the brain, hormones, and anatomy. On the board was a diagram with multiple arrows, crisscrossing over one another. After showing us how complex this “simple” response was, he backtracked. “Could it be possible that there are more than just two reactions to stress?” Of course, he posed the question already knowing the answer.
Why is “fight or flight” suddenly wrong?
The fight or flight system isn’t wrong, just an incomplete picture.
