Fight or flight?
Back when cavemen were walking the Earth, the fight or flight response was king. This response to physical danger was what happened when a great big sabre tooth tiger attacked our ancestors. Rather than thinking about ways to outwit the beast, or just hiding, the cavemen would look at the situation they were in, and make one of two stark choices. They would either whip out their club and do their best to subdue their attacker, or they would run as fast as their legs would carry them. There was no other way.
This maybe generalising just a little, but the fight or flight response is still around today, so understanding that it is hard-wired into our systems is pretty important when we look at modern human behaviour. When stress shits, for example, many of us naturally slip into fight or flight. Rational behaviour can very easily vanish when we are caught up in a traffic jam, for example. And when we find ourselves in a queue on the telephone, having to explain our problem to the third person in three minutes, the response can kick in pretty quick.
There is nothing wrong with this, and for many people it can actually be a boon. Think of the Wall Street Trader, who has to make quick decisions with other people’s money. If they were not conditioned to act quickly and decisively, there would be a lot less money floating around, and fewer jobs.
However, the response can be detrimental if it is allowed to take over our lives. Too much of it can lead to high stress levels, especially if they are not checked by regular exercise and fresh air. There are chronic stress disorders and complications, such as depression, that are highly damaging to an individual’s mental health.
The hypothalamic, pituitary, adrenal axis (HPA) is where all of the action happens when stress hits. This axis uses hormone feedback regulatory loops to help manage the systems in our body. In other words, it keeps us balanced and calm. If the HPA is pushed too far, in other words, if the axis that controls our general stress levels is put under too much stress, then we are prone to a mental health ‘tipping point’.
When this occurs, it is called HPA axis dysfunction. And when such a dysfunction occurs, we are in danger of suffering from depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, and even Alzheimer’s.
Researchers from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, have made a breakthrough in the management of this most crucial of body management systems. They have worked out that if we are able to temporarily reduce the levels of cortisol in the body, this reduction in the hormone’s availability allows the HPA to overcompensate, and therefore bring itself back to normal levels.
So reducing the cortisol hormone can actually help to reduce the incidence of some quite damaging stress-related illnesses. It remains to be seen how far the research will go, but the benefits for mankind are considerable.