Fight or Flight? - Banishing Anxiety Part 3

Fight or Flight? Banishing Anxiety Part 3

by Lydia Floren

In my last blog, I talked about identifying the nebulous feeling of anxiety, which is really a form of fear, and asking the question What am I afraid of?

What AM I afraid of?

Are you feeling anxious? Take a moment and ask yourself, What AM I afraid of? Am I afraid of loss? Of physical pain? Job loss or financial ruin? Homelessness? The unknown, or the future? Do I fear rejection or loneliness? Death, or the process of dying? Am I afraid of failing? Letting other people down? Or myself? Or letting God down?

How am I reacting to this fear?

Once we identify what we are afraid of, another great question we can ask ourselves is How am I reacting to this fear? Typically, when we are afraid or anxious we react in one of 2 ways: fight or flight.

Fight

One option we might choose when we are afraid is to fight – to try as hard as we can to push our fears away. This fighting usually doesn’t involve fists or guns. But, though our means of combat are subtle, make no mistake: we are actively defending ourselves. For example, when we feel threatened we might try to manipulate, or control, our situation. Or, we might work hard to be financially independent, or super-healthy, or to have everyone like us, or to be in charge, or to win. Or, to be recognized or praised. Any time we push forward in response to fear, we are in fight mode.

Flight

When we are afraid, if we don’t feel like we can fight, we tend to run and hide. We check out of life. We might flee by withdrawing into alcohol, or Netflix, or the internet, or a hobby. Or, reading a book. Or, even work. When we withdraw as a reaction to fear, we are in flight mode.

When you feel afraid, do you usually fight or flee? Usually, based on our personality and life experiences, we favor one response or the other.

So how about you? How do you react when you feel threatened?

Click below to read other posts in this series:

Part 1: “What’s the Matter?”

Part 2: “What Am I Afraid Of?”

Part 4: “Another Way”

Part 5: “Putting Things in Perspective”

Part 6: “Anxiety from a Doctor’s Perspective”