Imagine you are a man before the dawn of civilisation. You lie bundled in the dark night, pressed together with your kind, sleeping. Suddenly, a huge wild animal appears in your midst. You feel its hot, rank breath on your flesh. You see it snatch your companion with its powerful claws and tear him apart with its fierce teeth. Do You grab a weapon and try to fight? Or do you turn and run for your lift?
The body's response to stress has been developed and refined over thousands of years. It is a reflex, an animal instinct, our survival mechanism for dealing with life or death situations. When danger of any kind is sensed, we mobilise our fight or flight response, and we either confront what is alarming us or flee from it - mentally or physically.