What Does It Really Look Like?

Fight or Flight is a God-Given safety mechanism in our brain that allows us to defend ourselves against grave danger.

You know that feeling you get when you have a near miss in the car, or you can’t find your child for one second too long, or you almost fall down the stairs? The physical feeling that you get in these situations is your body’s fight or flight mode.

Let me GEEK OUT for a second! What is really happening in the body when you go into fight of flight:

The blood rushes from your organs to your muscles so that you can run – this is what gives people “super-strength” in emergencies;

Heart rate increases very quickly to provide extra blood necessary for your body in an emergency;
The pupils of the eyes dilate to allow for “night vision”;
Digestion slows down and the energy is sent to the muscles;
The blood vessel dilate to allow for the increased blood flow;
The liver converts glycogen to glucose to provide quick energy;
Breathing quickens to allow for quick responses and escape;

This is truly a primitive response that cave men needed for survival. Today, it is very rare to actually need this emergency response. However, kids on the AUTISM SPECTRUM, kids with TRAUMA or kids with other NEURO-DIVERSITY slip into this physical state quickly, easily and unnecessarily. And when they do, they become DIS-REGULATED!

Please continue reading about Dis-Regulation, what it is, what it looks like and how you can help on my Dis-Regulation series of blog posts!