Let's Talk

Posts Tagged: fight or flight

Legitimate Fears vs Paper Dragons

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

paper dragon

Fear is a critical survival warning system.

It triggers our fight/flight response system to meet any threat by fleeing, fighting, or remaining frozen in place.

Fear can be our friend, or it can be our enemy. It can prepare, instruct, and keep us safe; or it can become a huge threatening shadow that keeps us locked in doubt, worry, uncertainty, and helplessness.

In this article (with accompanying audio), I’ll help you recognize the differences between unhealthy fear and healthy fear, and I’ll share preventive measures you can put in place when you sense the fear dragon breathing down your back.

What is Creating Your High Levels of Stress?

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

A student in my husband’s college class came to see him one day to tell him she would have to drop out of college. She was a great student, and he was afraid she would not return to school, limiting her chances in life.

He was always a trusted resource and support to his students, and he gently probed the reasons. He listened as she told her story, as shared in today’s post.

I also include information about how the fight/flight response affects us physically, and questions to ask yourself to help you identify what may be causing distress in your life.

What Does Survival Look Like?

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

Personalized Stress: The Stress we Create | FocusWithMarlene.com

When the unexpected happens, we come face to face with the unknown.

We may have lost our job, or the marriage we thought would last a lifetime has just ended. Our spouse may have died unexpectedly, or we lost our best friend. It may be the death of a child or the shocking awareness that our teen is deeply involved in drugs or gangs. Or that our health is slowly deteriorating with aging.

There are a thousand ways our life can be turned inside out and upside down in the blink of an eye. At such times, we feel like a deer frozen in the headlights of an oncoming car: paralyzed, unable to move. Shock protects us for a short time, but when it wears off, the magnitude of our circumstances hits full force.