Techniques to Tame the Fight-or-Flight Response

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsDefininitionCalming TechniquesAbnormal Fight-or-Flight

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Defininition

Calming Techniques

Abnormal Fight-or-Flight

If you’ve ever been in a highly stressful situation, you’ve likely experienced the fight-or-flight response. Your pulse races, your breathing speeds up, your pupils dilate—all in response to a perceived danger.

These symptoms serve an important purpose in some situations, but they can feel disruptive and uncomfortable in others. Someone with a mental health condition, for example, may have an overactive fight-or-flight response that can be triggered frequently, even when they’re not in danger.

In these situations, there are techniques you can use to calm the fight-or-flight response and alleviate the symptoms of acute stress. Deep breathing, relaxation strategies, physical activity, and social support can all help if you are feeling the effects of a fight-or-flight response.

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What Is the Fight-or-Flight Response?

When we’re faced with a situation that causes extreme anxiety or fear, our bodies will respond with a sudden, involuntary display of symptoms like:

These physical reactions are what we call thefight-or-flight response(also known as hyperarousal or the acute stress response). This occurs when the perception of a threat triggers a cascade of physiological changes and the brain sets off an alarm throughout the central nervous system.

As a result, the adrenal glands will start pumping out hormones, called adrenaline and noradrenaline, which place the body on high alert to either confront the threat (“fight”) or leave as quickly as possible (“flight”). These physiological changes serve specific, important functions:

The fight-or-flight response is reflexive, and it allows us to act before thinking (such as slamming on the brakes to avoid an accident).

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How to Calm the Fight-or-Flight Response

Since the fight-or-flight response is a reflex, you can’t control when and where it occurs. However, you can use self-help techniques tocalm down quicklyand alleviate the symptoms.

Deep Breathing

One technique involves a three-part breathing exercise, which allows you to voluntarily slow your breathing. This can also bring down both your heart rate and adrenaline response.

The exercise, which incorporates some of the technique of pranayama breathing in yoga, involves six basic steps:

You can practice this in one-minute intervals with the goal of gradually increasing to five minutes.

The practice may not only help alleviate acute attacks, but it can also be used to de-stress as part of a daily routine.

Relaxation Practices

Aside from deep breathing, there are several other relaxation techniques you can use to bring yourself out of the fight-or-flight response.

Visualizationis one method that involves using mental imagery to picture yourself in a calming location. Similar to daydreaming, visualization exercises require you to imagine yourself in a relaxing place, like a peaceful beach or secluded field, while focusing on the details of those surroundings.

Mantra meditationis another way to reach a more relaxed state. This form of meditation relies on a mantra, or chosen word or phrase, that’s repeated throughout the practice. Your mantra can be anything you choose, and you can repeat it out loud or silently throughout the meditation.

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Physical Activity

Engaging in lightphysical exercisemay help regulate your breathing, reduce your muscle tension, and distract you from the cause of your acute stress. Some options include:

Reaching out to family or friends forsocial supportmay help you cope in a moment of acute stress, and maintaining close relationships is beneficial for your overall well-being. In fact, one study found that the presence of social support helped reduce the negative effects ofstress related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Complementary Therapies

Treatment for Abnormal Fight-or-Flight Response

While the fight-or-flight response is a vital self-defense mechanism, some people have an overly sensitive response. For these individuals, the symptoms occur either far too frequently, or they happen at inappropriate times. There may be several reasons for this:

It’s not only exhausting to spend so much time in a state of high alert, but it can also be physically damaging. The physical consequences of acute stress can include high blood pressure, migraine headaches, and exacerbation of fibromyalgia, chronic gastritis, and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) symptoms.

If you have an abnormal fight-or-flight response, your treatment will likely involve counseling and psychotherapy to better identify the psychological or psychiatric roots of the issue. In some cases, your doctor may recommend medication, particularly if you’re experiencing severe anxiety orpost-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

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How to Use Relaxation Techniques

A Word From Verywell

Whether it’s a symptom of a mental health condition or the result of being in a dangerous situation, we will all find ourselves in the fight-or-flight response at some point. Regardless of what prompts it, being in this state isn’t a comfortable experience. Learning to calm yourself down is a valuable tool that can help you manage your reaction to acute stress and improve your overall well-being.

10 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Ibrahim A, Koyuncu G, Koyuncu N, Suzer NE, Cakir OD, Karcioglu O.The effect of Benson relaxation method on anxiety in the emergency care.Medicine (Baltimore). 2019;98(21). doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000015452Sengupta P.Health impacts of yoga and pranayama: A state-of-the-art review.Int J Prev Med. 2012;3(7):444-458.Benvenutti MJ, Alves E da S, Michael S, Ding D, Stamatakis E, Edwards KM.A single session of hatha yoga improves stress reactivity and recovery after an acute psychological stress task—A counterbalanced, randomized-crossover trial in healthy individuals.Complement Ther Med. 2017;35:120-126. doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2017.10.009Robert‐McComb JJ, Chyu M-C, Tacón A, Norman R.The effects of tai chi on measures of stress and coping style.Focus Altern Complement Ther. 2015;20(2):89-96. doi:10.1111/fct.12179Matzer F, Nagele E, Lerch N, Vajda C, Fazekas C.Combining walking and relaxation for stress reduction-A randomized cross-over trial in healthy adults.Stress Health. 2018;34(2):266-277. doi:10.1002/smi.2781Ye Z, Yang X, Zeng C, et al.Resilience, social support, and coping as mediators between COVID-19-related stressful experiences and acute stress disorder among college students in China.Appl Psychol Health Well-Being. 2020;12(4):1074-1094. doi:10.1111/aphw.12211Meier S, Haschke M, Zahner C, et al.Effects of a fixed herbal drug combination (Ze 185) to an experimental acute stress setting in healthy men - An explorative randomized placebo-controlled double-blind study.Phytomedicine. 2018;39:85-92. doi:10.1016/j.phymed.2017.12.005Stough C, Scholey A, Lloyd J, Spong J, Myers S, Downey LA.The effect of a 90 day administration of a high dose vitamin B-complex on work stress.Hum Psychopharmacol. 2011;26(7):470-476. doi:10.1002/hup.1229Oyola MG, Handa RJ.Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal and hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axes: sex differences in regulation of stress responsivity.Stress. 2017;20(5):476-494. doi:10.1080/10253890.2017.1369523Roque AP.Pharmacotherapy as prophylactic treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder: A review of the literature.Issues Ment Health Nurs. 2015;36(9):740-751. doi:10.3109/01612840.2015.1057785Additional ReadingReynaud E, Guedj E, Trousselard M, et al.Acute stress disorder modifies cerebral activity of amygdala and prefrontal cortex.Cogn Neurosci. 2015;6(1):39-43. doi:10.1080/17588928.2014.996212

10 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Ibrahim A, Koyuncu G, Koyuncu N, Suzer NE, Cakir OD, Karcioglu O.The effect of Benson relaxation method on anxiety in the emergency care.Medicine (Baltimore). 2019;98(21). doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000015452Sengupta P.Health impacts of yoga and pranayama: A state-of-the-art review.Int J Prev Med. 2012;3(7):444-458.Benvenutti MJ, Alves E da S, Michael S, Ding D, Stamatakis E, Edwards KM.A single session of hatha yoga improves stress reactivity and recovery after an acute psychological stress task—A counterbalanced, randomized-crossover trial in healthy individuals.Complement Ther Med. 2017;35:120-126. doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2017.10.009Robert‐McComb JJ, Chyu M-C, Tacón A, Norman R.The effects of tai chi on measures of stress and coping style.Focus Altern Complement Ther. 2015;20(2):89-96. doi:10.1111/fct.12179Matzer F, Nagele E, Lerch N, Vajda C, Fazekas C.Combining walking and relaxation for stress reduction-A randomized cross-over trial in healthy adults.Stress Health. 2018;34(2):266-277. doi:10.1002/smi.2781Ye Z, Yang X, Zeng C, et al.Resilience, social support, and coping as mediators between COVID-19-related stressful experiences and acute stress disorder among college students in China.Appl Psychol Health Well-Being. 2020;12(4):1074-1094. doi:10.1111/aphw.12211Meier S, Haschke M, Zahner C, et al.Effects of a fixed herbal drug combination (Ze 185) to an experimental acute stress setting in healthy men - An explorative randomized placebo-controlled double-blind study.Phytomedicine. 2018;39:85-92. doi:10.1016/j.phymed.2017.12.005Stough C, Scholey A, Lloyd J, Spong J, Myers S, Downey LA.The effect of a 90 day administration of a high dose vitamin B-complex on work stress.Hum Psychopharmacol. 2011;26(7):470-476. doi:10.1002/hup.1229Oyola MG, Handa RJ.Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal and hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axes: sex differences in regulation of stress responsivity.Stress. 2017;20(5):476-494. doi:10.1080/10253890.2017.1369523Roque AP.Pharmacotherapy as prophylactic treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder: A review of the literature.Issues Ment Health Nurs. 2015;36(9):740-751. doi:10.3109/01612840.2015.1057785Additional ReadingReynaud E, Guedj E, Trousselard M, et al.Acute stress disorder modifies cerebral activity of amygdala and prefrontal cortex.Cogn Neurosci. 2015;6(1):39-43. doi:10.1080/17588928.2014.996212

Ibrahim A, Koyuncu G, Koyuncu N, Suzer NE, Cakir OD, Karcioglu O.The effect of Benson relaxation method on anxiety in the emergency care.Medicine (Baltimore). 2019;98(21). doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000015452Sengupta P.Health impacts of yoga and pranayama: A state-of-the-art review.Int J Prev Med. 2012;3(7):444-458.Benvenutti MJ, Alves E da S, Michael S, Ding D, Stamatakis E, Edwards KM.A single session of hatha yoga improves stress reactivity and recovery after an acute psychological stress task—A counterbalanced, randomized-crossover trial in healthy individuals.Complement Ther Med. 2017;35:120-126. doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2017.10.009Robert‐McComb JJ, Chyu M-C, Tacón A, Norman R.The effects of tai chi on measures of stress and coping style.Focus Altern Complement Ther. 2015;20(2):89-96. doi:10.1111/fct.12179Matzer F, Nagele E, Lerch N, Vajda C, Fazekas C.Combining walking and relaxation for stress reduction-A randomized cross-over trial in healthy adults.Stress Health. 2018;34(2):266-277. doi:10.1002/smi.2781Ye Z, Yang X, Zeng C, et al.Resilience, social support, and coping as mediators between COVID-19-related stressful experiences and acute stress disorder among college students in China.Appl Psychol Health Well-Being. 2020;12(4):1074-1094. doi:10.1111/aphw.12211Meier S, Haschke M, Zahner C, et al.Effects of a fixed herbal drug combination (Ze 185) to an experimental acute stress setting in healthy men - An explorative randomized placebo-controlled double-blind study.Phytomedicine. 2018;39:85-92. doi:10.1016/j.phymed.2017.12.005Stough C, Scholey A, Lloyd J, Spong J, Myers S, Downey LA.The effect of a 90 day administration of a high dose vitamin B-complex on work stress.Hum Psychopharmacol. 2011;26(7):470-476. doi:10.1002/hup.1229Oyola MG, Handa RJ.Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal and hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axes: sex differences in regulation of stress responsivity.Stress. 2017;20(5):476-494. doi:10.1080/10253890.2017.1369523Roque AP.Pharmacotherapy as prophylactic treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder: A review of the literature.Issues Ment Health Nurs. 2015;36(9):740-751. doi:10.3109/01612840.2015.1057785

Sengupta P.Health impacts of yoga and pranayama: A state-of-the-art review.Int J Prev Med. 2012;3(7):444-458.

Benvenutti MJ, Alves E da S, Michael S, Ding D, Stamatakis E, Edwards KM.A single session of hatha yoga improves stress reactivity and recovery after an acute psychological stress task—A counterbalanced, randomized-crossover trial in healthy individuals.Complement Ther Med. 2017;35:120-126. doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2017.10.009

Robert‐McComb JJ, Chyu M-C, Tacón A, Norman R.The effects of tai chi on measures of stress and coping style.Focus Altern Complement Ther. 2015;20(2):89-96. doi:10.1111/fct.12179

Matzer F, Nagele E, Lerch N, Vajda C, Fazekas C.Combining walking and relaxation for stress reduction-A randomized cross-over trial in healthy adults.Stress Health. 2018;34(2):266-277. doi:10.1002/smi.2781

Ye Z, Yang X, Zeng C, et al.Resilience, social support, and coping as mediators between COVID-19-related stressful experiences and acute stress disorder among college students in China.Appl Psychol Health Well-Being. 2020;12(4):1074-1094. doi:10.1111/aphw.12211

Meier S, Haschke M, Zahner C, et al.Effects of a fixed herbal drug combination (Ze 185) to an experimental acute stress setting in healthy men - An explorative randomized placebo-controlled double-blind study.Phytomedicine. 2018;39:85-92. doi:10.1016/j.phymed.2017.12.005

Stough C, Scholey A, Lloyd J, Spong J, Myers S, Downey LA.The effect of a 90 day administration of a high dose vitamin B-complex on work stress.Hum Psychopharmacol. 2011;26(7):470-476. doi:10.1002/hup.1229

Oyola MG, Handa RJ.Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal and hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axes: sex differences in regulation of stress responsivity.Stress. 2017;20(5):476-494. doi:10.1080/10253890.2017.1369523

Roque AP.Pharmacotherapy as prophylactic treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder: A review of the literature.Issues Ment Health Nurs. 2015;36(9):740-751. doi:10.3109/01612840.2015.1057785

Reynaud E, Guedj E, Trousselard M, et al.Acute stress disorder modifies cerebral activity of amygdala and prefrontal cortex.Cogn Neurosci. 2015;6(1):39-43. doi:10.1080/17588928.2014.996212

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What Is the Fight-or-Flight Response?#

How to Calm the Fight-or-Flight Response#

Deep Breathing#

Relaxation Practices#

Mindful Moment#

Physical Activity#

Social Support#

Complementary Therapies#

Treatment for Abnormal Fight-or-Flight Response#

Get Help Now#

A Word From Verywell#