WHAT TO DO WHEN FEAR STRIKES

There are two ways to manage fear in a potentially dangerous or life threatening situation. However, the first response is to remain calm in the face of fear.

Don’t confuse running for safety as being a chaotic response when faced with fear.  It takes a calm and rational mind to make that decision when bodily harm is close at hand.

A chaotic response in a potentially dangerous situation would be to freeze and not be able to protect yourself, and this happens to some people because they don’t know what to do, and they can’t seem to help it.

When fear is staring you in the face your internal systems begin to take over. The first thing that happens is your body experiences a jolt of adrenaline.

There are two different type of adrenaline and they are epinephrine and norepinephrine and these two different types of adrenaline are the key to the fight or flight response in you.

Epinephrine is the fight adrenaline. It will reduce your senses and helps you focus on standing your ground and protecting yourself. It will also give you the ability to endure increased pain and at the same time make your muscles stronger than they normally would be.

Remember the TV show from the seventies call the the Incredible Hulk? I know that’s an exaggeration, but it’s kind of like that. Your muscles can get so powerful and strong and they sometimes can do incredible (no pun intended) things and at the same time not really sense pain.

Epinephrine will also sharpen your reflexes and you’ll be a lot faster in responding to any kind of attack. With heightened sense you’ll assess the potential danger and rationally decide what your course of action should be.

There is another type of adrenaline that motivates you to run. It’s called Norephinephrine and it is the flight response to danger. If you see something that you think could harm you in some way and you experience this type of adrenaline, then your mind and body is telling you to be aware, alert, and whether to proceed with caution or turn and walk away from it.

If you experience norepinephrine the strong underlining message here is that it’s probably telling you that you’re a lot better off reversing your direction.


 

 

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