We all know the feeling you get when you find yourself in a sticky situation. Our hearts beat faster, our hands get sweaty, and you feel like you are ready to make a run for it. Whether this particular experience actually presents danger to us or not, our body has ways of preparing itself to fight or flee from anything harmful. This feeling is thanks to our nervous system. The nervous system in the human body is split into two parts, the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system. The central nervous system is our spinal cord and brain, while the peripheral nervous system is split into the autonomic and somatic nervous system. The somatic nervous system deals with things we can control, such as voluntary movements of skeletal muscles. What we know as the fight or flight response is thanks to the autonomic nervous system, which controls the self-regulated actions done by our body. More specifically, the autonomic nervous system can be split into the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. These two are opposites in a way, as the parasympathetic nervous system is for calming, while the sympathetic nervous system is for arousing. The sympathetic nervous system is what wakes our body up and prepares us in a time of potential danger. In a situation that might be potentially harmful, our body makes us very alert so we have the best chance at survival. Our pupils dilate, our heart rate increases, we stop digesting food, and our adrenal glands secrete epinephrine and norepinephrine. All of these effects serve as a way to prepare us for any dangerous situation.
Experiencing the fight or flight response is very common and happens to everyone from time to time, even if no real danger is present. For example, when I was much younger, I had to stay at home alone while my parents went away for a weekend. This was fine, as I was comfortable with being alone, but being a bit younger and less used to an empty house, I was easily startled by the occasional noise I would hear. At one point I was in the living room watching tv when I heard the front door begin to open. I knew this should not have been happening, as my parents were out of town. I remember running to the bathroom and locking the door to hide from whoever had entered my house. At this point, my heart was beating so fast and my hands were sweaty. My body was preparing me to either fight the unknown person or run for my life. A bit of time passed, and I went back out into the kitchen to investigate. There was a loaf of Easter bread on the counter that our family friend had stopped by to drop off, and everything was totally fine. Obviously this was not a dangerous situation for me, but I didn’t know it wasn’t a threat, and neither did my body. Though, in a time of not knowing, my sympathetic nervous system was making sure I was prepared in case it was a truly dangerous situation. As far as our bodies are concerned, you’re probably better off safe than sorry.