Fight flight or freeze When to use these to manage stress more effectively

[Elizabeth CP]

I spoke to my psych about a couple of situations I had on my recent holiday where things went wrong & I felt I didn't handle the stress effectively. I wanted ideas of strategies to use to be more effective in the future. He brought up the concept of fight, flight & freeze which has got me thinking. I wanted to share my thoughts & get others ideas.

In both situations I became so overwhelmed I couldn't cope & ended up giving up & leaving. This left me feeling bad & led to strong physiological symptoms of stress including headache & digestive upset. His first suggestion was to stop & take slow deep breathes to regain some feeling of calm. This is the freeze stage allowing time to regroup & try to calm down.

He then said given the situation walking away (flight) was wise. My ability to cope in the circumstances was not realistic. He suggested rather than seeing flight as a failure I use it in a positive way & use the stress hormones raging through my body to push myself to walk (I don't run) as fast as possible deliberately using my arms & legs to power walk until I reach a place where I can feel comfortable. The advantage s are I get to a better place quicker, I release or use all the stress hormones thus preventing them from causing long term harm and I feel more in control & it stops the negative self talk.

Perhaps my future approach to stressful situations "should be:

First - Freeze'' In other words stop & take slow deep breathes to allow time to make more rational decisions.

Second- Fight'' -if appropriate. In this context this means doing whatever is needed to deal with the situation & fix it rather than just giving in.

Third- Flight If the situation is too stressful or overwhelming & I can't see any way of 'fighting'(fixing the problem) Then deliberately leave using power walking or other physical activity to release the stress hormones until feeling calmer. Another option my grandmother used to use was to throw jam jars into the bin as hard as possible to release anger. Other people might punch a punching bag, dig the garden, or any other physical activity.

What do others think?

I see fight as the p

[BballJ]

Hi Elizabeth CP,

I think that's an interesting take to managing stress, I haven't actually heard of it before but it does make sense, it's kind of like evaluating each problem or situation and learning how to best deal with it before it turns into stress.

I guess my question for you is have you used it many times and how often do you find it works?

My best for you,

Jay

[Gruffudd]

Hi there,

I have always gotten stuck in freeze, the rabbit (or Robert) stuck in the headlights. I experience that as overwhelming. But agree it is not a failure, rather it is my body keeping me safe.

So once you know those points where the safety kicks in you can catch the thoughts and feelings and what you are doing that take you to that place... and do something different. And to be honest the approach of stop, think, respond is fantastic, thanks for that.

[Doolhof]

Hi Elizabeth and All,

My reactions seem to be different depending on the situation.

For years I had heard of the fight and flight scenario, but it has only been in recent times I have heard of the freeze part of that equation.

The fight and flight theory as told to me was usually related back to cave man days! Is that the experience of others?

I like your way of explaining it Elizabeth.

Cheers from Dools

[Elizabeth CP]

Thanks for your replies. Our body's stress response is the same as in cave man days. When faced with a stressful situation eg animal attacking us we either need to fight it off or run away. Fight or flight. To do this the stress hormones cause our heart to speed up, breathing to increase & blood is shifted from the digestive system to the big muscles in legs & arms so we can fight or run away. Freeze is the 3rd option in the hope the animal can't see us. It also gives us a chance to think through options. Today this doesn't work for most forms of stress. We can't run away from work to avoid a deadline. We can't bash the centrelink employee over the head when our payments are stopped!!! Unfortunately this means we are left with stress hormones racing round the body causing long term problems including heart problems, ulcers etc as well as the immediate stomach upsets & headaches.

I tend to freeze when stressed & then beat myself up for not being effective & end up with severe headaches & stomach aches. My idea based on my psych's suggestion to change this in the future by using the freeze stage to stop take deep slow breathes & give myself time to think what to do. Then to help manage the stress hormones so I feel better & more in control if unable to fix the problem immediately do something really physical to mimic the flight response.

One example A few months ago something broke in our house. It was under warrantee & was very expensive. I rang to request the company fixed the problem. The person told me they didn't need to do anything & tried telling me the law said we have no rights!!! I was very angry & stressed. I needed the problem fixed & didn't know what to do. I left it for a day as I was too stressed to be able to deal with it. I then looked up the internet & found the contact for someone who could give me advise which I followed & the problem was sorted. What I could have done differently is after the stressful phone call accepted I was too stressed to deal with the problem & then gone out for a power walk or dig the garden or something similar where I could use my anger & stress to push myself to work hard physically to release the stress hormones safely. I would then follow up to sort the problem once I was calmer & able to think clearly. Hopefully the physical activity would reduce the negative self talk which would help my mood.

Have others go thoughts to share. I am happy to get better ideas from others.

[BballJ]

Hi Elizabeth CP,

I don't have other thoughts but I totally understand what you are saying in regards to stepping back and "Freezing" and assessing the situation and also using the built up anger and stress and exerting it in the form of physical exercise. It make's a lot of sense actually.

My best,

Jay

[Sophie_M]

Hi everyone, this thread is very similar to another recent thread, so to avoid duplication we're going to close this one off.  A link to the earlier thread is below:

Advice wanted to deal with stressful situations to reduce anxiety & its negative effects