In the animal world, "Fight or Flight" means when confronted with danger, the animal will either fight or run from the apparent danger. Once the fight is over, or the danger has been outrun, the animal goes back to its normal life of sleeping, eating, procreation and protecting itself from the elements. To give an example, when a deer is chased by a wolf, it will usually run. Once the wolf is out of sight, and the deer is out of danger, it will go back to grazing or whatever deer do.
There is also a human version of "Fight or Flight". The only difference is we are not running from life threating dangers like the deer. Our danger mostly resides in our minds. The animal has the benefit of fighting or running from physical danger. Humans have no such benefit. How do you outrun yourself? How do you fight your imagination?
We are stressed by our jobs. We are stressed at home. We are stressed with bills. We are stressed being wives and husbands. We are stressed about the economy of our nation. We are even stressed to go outside because of diseases (real and imagined).
All these stressors are coming at us daily, hourly, and momentarily. How does one deal with this type of pressure? For most, sometimes we fight, sometimes we run, but most of the time we just hide and deal with it.
This brings me to the point of this article. Our bodies are not designed to stay in 'Fight or Flight" mode forever. Most illness and disease come from not being able to cut this switch off. No matter how many doctors you see, and how many medications you are prescribed, it will not cure you. You must find a way to deal with the stress in your environment. You may not know it, but your life depends on it.
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