{"id":55,"date":"2016-10-06T05:15:33","date_gmt":"2016-10-06T05:15:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kenukan.com\/blog\/?p=55"},"modified":"2016-10-06T05:24:15","modified_gmt":"2016-10-06T05:24:15","slug":"fear-and-the-flight-or-fight-reflex-part-2-of-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kenukan.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/06\/fear-and-the-flight-or-fight-reflex-part-2-of-6\/","title":{"rendered":"Fear and the Flight or Fight Reflex – Part 2 of 6"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jim Harrison (Originally Published By MA Success Magazine)<\/em><\/p>\n

What is “flight adrenaline” and what does it do to us?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Flight adrenaline (norepinephrine) is a hormone that’s\u00a0secreted by the adrenal gland when a human being – or,\u00a0virtually any animal, but specifically, mammals –\u00a0anticipates<\/strong><\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/em>danger. Flight adrenaline greatly increases our\u00a0awareness and alertness.<\/p>\n

In addition to making us considerably more alert and\u00a0sensitive to our immediate surroundings, it also increases\u00a0our peripheral awareness. To put it simply, it opens up our\u00a0senses to detect danger. It allows – or actually forces us to\u00a0tune in to danger and\/or the possibility of danger.<\/p>\n

Flight adrenaline fine-tunes our receptive and responsive\u00a0abilities. It especially increases our desire and our ability to\u00a0avoid <\/b>danger, because there is normally less risk in avoiding\u00a0danger than in confronting it.<\/p>\n

There’s an old Zen parable that best illustrates the\u00a0distinction between these two reflexes:<\/p>\n

A Zen master out for a walk with one of his students\u00a0pointed out a fox chasing a rabbit.<\/em><\/p>\n

“According to an ancient fable,” the master said, “the rabbit\u00a0will get away from the fox.”<\/em><\/p>\n

“Not so,” replied the student. “The fox is faster.”<\/em><\/p>\n

“But the rabbit will elude him,” insisted the master.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Why are you so certain?” asked the student.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Because” answered the master, “the fox is running for his\u00a0dinner and the rabbit is running for his life.”<\/em><\/p>\n

What responses does flight adrenaline cause in humans?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Flight adrenaline (norepinephrine) signals us to be ready\u00a0to run. It also enables us to run earlier and much faster than\u00a0normal. That’s because, again, we are much better off to\u00a0avoid danger than to confront it. In other words, it’s better to\u00a0flee than to fight. Whether you believe it or not, we can\u00a0actually run much faster when afraid.<\/p>\n

What is “fight adrenaline” and how does it affect us?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fight adrenalin (epinephrine) is an adjacent hormone also\u00a0secreted by the medulla section of the adrenal gland.\u00a0Epinephrine, however, works in many ways almost entirely\u00a0opposite of flight adrenalin. It decreases <\/b>our peripheral\u00a0senses and actually focuses, or tunnels, our perceptions\u00a0and responses.<\/p>\n

Fight adrenalin not only triggers our emergency senses,\u00a0but also our emergency reflexes, to aid us whenever we\u00a0cannot, do not, or will not avoid danger. It makes us quicker\u00a0and stronger, assets that we sorely need to confront and\u00a0meet danger.<\/p>\n

In addition, fight adrenalin greatly increases our pain\u00a0threshold anywhere from mild to superhuman, just as it can\u00a0our strength. It also increases our dysfunctional override\u00a0capacity- the ability to resist and even aggress after\u00a0incurring physical damage. It can allow us to function\u00a0despite a dislocated joint, broken bones, etc.; or after the\u00a0breath has been knocked out of us, or even when we have\u00a0been knocked almost unconscious!<\/p>\n

How can you best describe the differences between flight\u00a0and fight adrenalin?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here’s the best analogy. Flight <\/b>adrenalin <\/b>is what rabbits\u00a0have 99.99% of the time. F<\/b>ight <\/b>adrenalin is what grizzly\u00a0bears are imbued with 99.99% of the time.<\/p>\n

Only the rarest of rabbits, in the rarest of instances, will\u00a0fight. Even in the most extreme cases – when cornered and\u00a0being eaten alive – rabbits will simply acquiesce into shock,or continue their attempt to escape.<\/p>\n

The grizzly very rarely thinks of avoiding danger, much\u00a0less running from it. Grizzlies have been ftlmed attacking\u00a0automobiles! They normally only run to catch, and\/or\u00a0attack, a meal, and very rarely to escape – and then only\u00a0from conditioned reflexes such as to run from men with\u00a0dogs and rifles. But quite often, not even then.<\/p>\n

Each human being also has a certain proportional amount\u00a0of rabbit and grizzly reflexes, obviously in vastly different\u00a0degrees per individual. The proportion depends completely\u00a0upon a person’s inherited genetic DNA dispersal.<\/p>\n\n