Unfortunately, most of the stressors people face—work, school, finances, relationships—are a part of everyday life, and thus, inescapable. Lets look a little closer at the physical changes that happen in the body when responding to a stressor

The Fight or Flight Response

When an individual perceives a potential stressor as dangerous, the body enters into a stress response termed “Fight or Flight”. This is a natural physiological deviation from homeostasis designed to protect an individual from harm. When our ancestors lived among other animals out in the wild, it was important for survival that when faced with danger, an automatic “alarm” response would take over causing them to take immediate action (attack or run). This is still an important response mechanism in today’s world. Imagine a bus speeding toward you, horn blasting, and you experienced no sense of danger or alarm. You would probably be killed. Luckily, your fight-or-flight response automatically steps in and takes over.

During the initial stress response, a person’s brain sends messages to a part the nervous system called the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system has two branches: the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system is the fight-or-flight system which gets the body aroused and ready for action, and the parasympathetic nervous system returns the body to a normal, non-aroused state.

When activated, the sympathetic nervous system releases a chemical called adrenalin. Adrenalin is used as a messenger to continue sympathetic nervous system activity, so that once activity begins, it often continues and increases for some time. Adrenalin takes time to fully exit the blood stream so even after your sympathetic nervous system has stopped responding, you are likely to continue to feel “stressed”. The parasympathetic nervous system takes over when the perceived danger is over (or the fight or run response took place).

Exercise and Fight or Flight

Physical activity or regular exercise serve to act as simulated “fight or flight” scenarios that trigger the parasympathetic nervous system and return the body to homeostasis.