197-Fight-or-Flight-presentation .ppt

Education

1. FIGHT
FLIGHT
To Run or to Fight!

2. FIGHT
FLIGHT
FEAR!
What is fear?
What causes fear?

3. FIGHT
FLIGHT
Fear!
•Fear is a normal human reaction- a built in
survival mechanism that involves our mind
and body.
•Fear serves a protective purpose of
signaling our body to danger and
preparing us to deal with it.
•Even babies have the survival instincts
necessary to respond when they sense
danger.

4. FIGHT
FLIGHT
Why do we fear?
A fear reaction happens when we sense
danger or when we are confronted with
something new and unknown that might
be potentially dangerous.

5. FIGHT
FLIGHT
When do we fear
something?
•Have you ever been startled by the sound
of a balloon popping and felt your heart
beat faster?
•As soon as your brain gets enough data to
realize there is no danger, your fear
reaction is over.
•But if your brain doesn’t receive the “all
clear” signal, fear can last longer and be
more intense.

6. FIGHT
FLIGHT
Fear in People
Many people tend to avoid things they
are afraid of.
However, there are exceptions. Some
people like the feeling of fear and find
it exciting.
Have you ever ridden a rollercoaster and
felt a rush of fear, only to get back on
and ride it again?
Or gone to see a scary movie even
though you know it will make you
jump in your seat?

7. FIGHT
FLIGHT
Why do children fear
more than adults?
•Children tend to have more fears
because so many of their experiences
are new and unfamiliar.
•Common fears of children are
monsters, thunder, dark rooms, and
dogs.
•Older kids have more common fears of
bullies, being embarrassed, heights,
insects, etc.

8. FIGHT
FLIGHT
Fear is normal

To have several fears that you worry about
or feel uneasy about is completely normal.
Not only is fear normal but necessary.

9. FIGHT
FLIGHT
FEAR!
•But sometimes fear comes as an instant
reaction to a sudden danger.
•This sudden fear response triggers our
body’s defense mechanism known as
“fight or flight” reaction.

10. FIGHT
FLIGHT
Fight or Flight

The fear reaction is known as the fight or
flight response because it is exactly what
the body is preparing to do…..to fight off
the danger or run like crazy to get away!

11. FIGHT
FLIGHT
So what is the Fight
or Flight Response?
•It is an automatic response our body has
to internal or external stress.
–Examples of stress:
•FEAR!
•Final exams
•A loud noise
•Rush hour traffic
•The response prepares our bodies to
either fight or escape from the stress.

12. FIGHT
FLIGHT
What Causes the
Response?
•Hormones in your body are released when
a sudden stress is present. These
hormones (one of which is epinephrine,
commonly known as adrenaline) have
many drastic effects on the body.

13. FIGHT
FLIGHT
Definition check
•What is a hormone?
a chemical substance that is formed in one
part of the body, travels through the blood,
and affects the function of cells elsewhere
in the body.

14. FIGHT
FLIGHT

15. FIGHT
FLIGHT
What Just Happened?
•What most of you just felt was the fight or flight
response in action.
•Take a minute and write down as many
changes you felt happen to your body just now
(or whenever you’ve been scared), such as your
hair standing on end.
•Many of you have probably felt it before when
watching a scary movie, hearing a loud
unexpected noise, running from a neighborhood
dog, etc.

16. FIGHT
FLIGHT
The Affects of the
Hormones
•The hormones released
in your body during the
response cause:
–Increased heart rate
–Increased respiratory rate
(faster breathing)
–Blood to be directed away
from the digestive organs
to the muscles and limbs
for extra energy

17. FIGHT
FLIGHT
Digestive system
When you are scared and need to run
away from something, would you want
your body to expend all of its energy
digesting your lunch, or would you want
every available bit of energy to go to your
muscles so you can run faster?

18. FIGHT
FLIGHT
The Affects of the
Hormones (continued)
•Hormones cause: (continued)
–The pupils to dilate (enlarge)
–Perception of pain to greatly be
reduced
–Eyesight to sharpen
–Awareness to increase
–The brain to prepare to make
impulse decisions and search for
possible dangers

19. FIGHT
FLIGHT
Goosebumps
•Why do people get goosebumps?
A fear stimulus the nervous system, which in turn
causes contraction of the hair erector muscles.
These muscles elevate the hair follicles above
the skin and form what are known as
goosebumps.
In animals, this phenomenon makes the hair
stand up and the animal look more frightening.
In humans, it seems to serve no practical
purpose except to make your skin crawl!

20. FIGHT
FLIGHT
Fainting
•Why do people faint when they are
scared?
Fainting from an stressful situation happens when
the sympathetic nervous system acts quickly,
and some people respond abnormally. Their
blood vessels dilate and their heart pumps more
forcefully, but the heart cannot compensate fast
enough to maintain blood flow. The blood
pressure drops, there is not enough blood flow
to the brain, and the body passes out.

21. FIGHT
FLIGHT
Fainting!
Fear
Stimulus!
Release of
Hormones
Faster
Heartbeat
Blood vessels
dilate
Heart rate cannot
keep up with dilation
of blood vessels
Blood Pressure
Drops Quickly
Body Faints!

22. FIGHT
FLIGHT
After the Stress
•Once the stress is gone, and the brain
interprets the danger as passed, different
hormones are released (nor-epinephrine)
that counteract the affects of the first
hormones
•Most of you should be feeling this now.
–Heart rate returning to normal
–Breathing returning to normal
–Feeling more relaxed

23. FIGHT
FLIGHT
How Fear affects
Memory
•What is memory?
Memory generally has to do with the way the
brain records, stores, and remembers
information. Learning occurs and
memories are encoded when the stimulus
is strong enough to trigger sufficient neural
activity.

24. FIGHT
FLIGHT
How Fear Affects
Memory
Fear is a powerful experience individuals
encounter during a lifetime. The strength
of the fear that ensues in a situation is
critical to species survival since fearful
incidents are learned more rapidly and
remembered long after a fear provoking
event has passed.

25. FIGHT
FLIGHT
Fear and Memory
•If you have been bitten by a black widow
in the past, your body will instinctively
trigger the sympathetic nervous system to
the “fight or flight” response if you see
another spider.

26. FIGHT
FLIGHT
Phobias!!!!
•What Is a Phobia?
A phobia is an intense, unreasonable fear
of a thing or a situation that is far out of
proportion to the actual danger or harm
that is possible.

27. FIGHT
FLIGHT
Examples of Phobias
•Fear of the number 13 –Triskadekaphobia
•Fear of school – Scolionophobia
•Fear of long waits – Macrophobia
•Fear of teenagers – Ephebiphobia
•Fear of puppets – Pupaphobia
•Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of
the mouth- Arachibutyrophobia
•Fear of heights -- Acrophobia

28. FIGHT
FLIGHT
What causes Phobias?
•Phobias can develop when a person has an
encounter with
 an object or situation that
involves or provokes fear. The person learns to
avoid the situation they fear, which can reduce
their anxiety for the time.
•The difficulty is that these avoidance behaviors
have to keep happening even sooner to provide
the same relief. The pattern of anxiety,
avoidance, and worry about the possibility of
contact tends to interfere more with life over
time.

29. FIGHT
FLIGHT
Do you have an intense
fear of something?
Think about some things that you might fear.
Write down what you intensely fear. For
example, do you fear snakes, spiders, or
getting lost?
Write down what you do to avoid these
fears. For example, do you not walk in tall
grass to avoid snakes, or take maps
everywhere you go to avoid getting lost?

30. FIGHT
FLIGHT
BOOOOOO!!!!