Fight or Flight

After the Depressive Disorders, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) discusses Anxiety Disorders. Before delving into anxiety, I’d like to talk about an emotion related to it, namely fear. What is the difference between fear and anxiety? Fear is a basic emotion that activates in response to an immediate danger, whereas anxiety is a complex emotion based on the threat of a future danger.

I defined fear as a basic emotion, something we are born with and that has ancient roots. The evolutionary history of humans (or animals in general) shows us how important it is to experience and recognize fear. Negative emotions (such as fear, anger, and disgust) are prioritized, meaning they are processed before other information, because early recognition of these emotions is crucial for survival.

But what happens in a dangerous situation? A physiological reaction typically known as fight or flight is triggered. Both behaviors (fight and flight) can manifest, or neither if the threat is not perceived as urgent.

If we consider a situation where fear is justified, we will see that the range of behaviors that might be automatically enacted by our body is broader than just fight or flight. In English, there are five words that start with F: freeze, flight, fight, fright, and faint. Let's look at them.

Imagine realizing that you are being chased by a predator. Before running away, there is a brief moment of assessment, where you try to understand how dangerous the situation is and enter a state of hyper-vigilance, activating all senses to find a solution to the problem. This is the freeze phase.

Next, we run; this is obviously the flight phase. If this is not enough to outrun the predator, then we will be forced to fight for our safety (fight). However, if despite our efforts it becomes clear that we will succumb, the brain might decide to "shut down" everything, acting almost like a pass for the predator (fright).

Why would the brain do this? Why would it side with the predator? If there is no possibility of escape or victory, then the goal is to minimize damage. In this phase, the brain distances and protects us from the awareness of the terrifying experience we are undergoing, making it very difficult to recall memories of these experiences. The next phase is an even more significant detachment: fainting (faint).

It is not surprising that memories of a traumatic event, where we feared for our safety, are blurry and difficult to retrieve. The brain has automatically tried to protect us.

In cases of rape, a victim’s behavior of stopping the fight against the attacker and thus succumbing to forced intercourse was erroneously mistaken for consent. Now we have the information to understand that this behavior is a physiological response to an assault from which escape is impossible.

Sources:
- Cannon, W. B. (1915) - Bodily changes in pain, hunger, fear, and rage.
- Porges, S. W. (2001) - The polyvagal theory: phylogenetic substrates of a social nervous system.

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