Fight-or-Flight Series (Part 2): What Happens During Fight or Flight and 4 Ways to Prevent It

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类别健康, Experts

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Welcome back to our series on the fight-or-flight response, and a big high five if you are still with us after the anatomy lesson in the last article. Part 2 will build upon the knowledge we gained in第1部分and discuss what’s known as the amygdala hijack, or an overreaction to stress.

Overview of the Fight-or-Flight Response
Whether you are facing a physical or emotional threat, our bodies respond the same way to each, by generating a quick response known as the fight-or-flight response. As discussed in Part 1, the fight-or-flight response triggers a cascade of physical changes in the body via the autonomic nervous system. As a result, the body pumps out adrenaline to help you “fight” the threat or flee to safety (“flight”).

Historically, this response was the result of our ancestors’ need to survive against physical threats. However, today’s threats look much differently than they did for our ancestors. While there are far fewer physical threats than there once were, psychological threats seem to run rampant due to the pressures of modern-day life. A perfect example of this is the response that you feel in times of anger, aggression, fear, or stress. All of these emotions have the potential to activate the fight-or-flight response. What’s worse, it may result in a sudden overreaction to the situation and lead to regret or remorse later on.

This overreaction to stress is known as the “amygdala hijack,” which was coined in 1995 by the psychologist, Daniel Goleman.

What Happens During an Amygdala Hijack?
当压力很大的情况触发大脑的情绪中心（杏仁核）接管时，就会发生杏仁核（发音为Ah-mig-da-la）劫持。

Related：杏仁核做什么？杏仁核被称为大脑的情感中心，主要负责处理您对恐惧和威胁的反应。尽管杏仁核应该保护我们，但当威胁更加微妙时，其反应有时会干扰。

在杏仁核劫持过程中，关闭额叶的所有有意识和理性的思想都被关闭，以激活战斗或飞行的反应。没有额叶的输入，您将无法：

Think clearly
做出适当的决定
控制您对周围环境的反应

在杏仁核劫持过程中，肾上腺素和/或皮质醇从体内释放出来，以发起战斗或飞行的反应。通常，我们的身体有能力处理肾上腺素短爆发，使我们能够决定是“战斗”还是逃离安全。但是，如果威胁无限地继续，人体仍然处于高水平皮质醇维持的唤醒状态。

随着时间的流逝，唤醒状态的增强会在许多方面影响您的身体。您系统中的连续数量皮质醇会产生恒定的压力状态，使我们的身体习惯于高度警觉。这不仅在身体和精神上都很疲惫，而且可以导致许多健康状况，包括：

Anxiety
高血压
偏头痛
加剧肌痛（肌肉疼痛）
胃肠道疾病
颞下颌关节（TMJ）功能障碍
心理健康障碍的发病率增加
慢性疼痛的发生率增加

Mental Health and the Amygdala
在某些患有精神疾病史的人中，可能会看到异常（或过于敏感）的战斗或飞行反应。对于他们来说，反应过于频繁或在不合适的时期被引起。这可能会在患者中加剧：

大脑中的化学失衡，通常在焦虑和躁郁症中看到
情绪或身体创伤的当前或过去的历史
言语或身体虐待的历史
长期的高压力情况（即使没有危险的身体威胁）

在皮质醇水平高的助理中，慢性压力和某些心理健康障碍会影响大脑情绪中心的长期稳定性。最终，这增加了您遇到杏仁核劫持的风险以及可能的负面后果。

Researchers have studied the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and have found higher amygdala activation, especially emotions like fear and anxiety. Similar findings have also been observed in social anxiety disorder and panic disorder. Both of these results point to the fact that people with some mental health disorders may have poorer control over the stress response than someone without a history of these mental health issues.

Even in the absence of any mental health disorder, chronic stress can wreak havoc on our brain’s emotional centers, leading to higher amounts of fear and anxiety. It may even affect short-term memory, interpersonal relationships, and your ability to read others’ emotions.

So, knowing this, how can we get out of this heightened state of survival when it is no longer warranted? How can we learn to be more reflective as opposed to reactive? Let’s learn more about 4 ways to prevent an amygdala hijack.

预防杏仁核劫持的4种方法
学习防止杏仁核劫持并治疗过度活动或飞行反应的方法可以积极影响您在压力时的反应。这样做还可以帮助您避免杏仁核引起的过度反应。有趣的是，可以通过学习如何激活有意识的思想来阻止杏仁核的劫持，这是通过练习和正念来实现的。

In many cases of an overactive fight-or-flight response, you can prevent an amygdala hijack by trying one of these techniques listed below. You should also limit your caffeine and alcohol intake, as well as nicotine, as these may all negatively affect the onset of an overactive fight-or-flight response..

1.意识
额叶就像大脑中的权威人物一样。它负责逻辑和理性思想。与动作是自动的杏仁核不同，额叶有意识地由您控制。因此，您可以通过使用额叶的有意识的思想来学习覆盖杏仁核的劫持。但是您必须快速，因为杏仁核总是很快触发战斗或飞行的响应。

您应该采取的第一步覆盖杏仁核的劫持是be aware of your emotionsand potential stressor(s). Notice how your body responds to stress, whether that is through an elevated heart rate or breathing rhythm. Then, remind yourself that the fight-or-flight response has been activated and calmly tell yourself that this is not the best or most logical way to react. Continue to talk to yourself, as if you were speaking kindly to a friend, until the body begins to calm down.

2. Mindfulness
Mindfulness refers to your ability to be fully present, aware, and able to identify potential triggers that may provoke an amygdala hijack. In other words, mindfulness allows us to不是be overwhelmed by what may be happening around us. Ask yourself questions like:

Are you feeling physically or emotionally threatened?
Is there a looming deadline or issue that is causing you to feel stressed?
Are you reacting this way because of something in your environment?

当您感觉到战斗或飞行反应的症状开始逐渐蔓延，请花一点时间注意可能触发它的原因，并让您的额叶（您的意识）接管。这肯定会练习，对于大多数人来说，这不会容易出现。专注于对您的思想，感受和环境的心理清单每隔一段时间。日记可以有很大的帮助。

3. Breathing
我们的呼吸速度是我们身体感觉如何的明显标志。用呼吸和呼吸节奏将注意力和精力从触发器和警告信号中转移。慢慢呼吸同时考虑保持节奏。

相关：在我们的文章中了解有关慢性疼痛患者呼吸运动的更多信息，Learn How to Breathe Through Your Pain in 4 Steps

呼吸运动也会减慢心率和肾上腺素反应，从而使杏仁核劫持的影响降低。

4.应对
Coping refers to your ability to quickly get your emotions under control in situations when you’re unable to prevent an amygdala hijack from occurring. Despite your best efforts, you may find yourself in the middle of an amygdala hijack. Here are a few ways to bring your emotions in check: