The Fight Response to Stress and Trauma Explained
When people react with the fight option of the fight-or-flight stress response, they go towards the threat, trying to neutralize it or make it go away. Their automatic reaction can involve anger, defensiveness, or aggressive behavior — even when the threat is exaggerated or imagined.
Fight isn't just a mental response. A whole cascade of physical things go on inside to prepare the body for attack. That's very useful if there's a lion at the gate, but can be counterproductive if it's about the dishwasher not getting filled "right."
In this post, we’ll take a closer look at how the fight response works, what it looks like in daily life, and when it helps or hurts.
The 4 F's Response to Stress and Trauma
Discussion of fight-or-flight has been around for decades, but more recently it's become clear that people react to stress in other automatic ways too.
The recognized stress responses still include fight and flight, but now the list has expanded to include freeze and fawn.
Some people use one of these in response to perceived threats, while other people mix it up.
Note that it isn't necessary for there to be a real or serious threat in order for the stress response to be triggered. The person's conscious or subconscious just needs to think it's a threat. When emotional overreaction blows up an undangerous situation into a perceived threat, drama and damage can ensue.
What is the Fight Response to a Threat?
Fight is one of the automatic survival reactions that occur when the brain perceives a threat, whether that threat is real, exaggerated, or imagined.
When fight gets triggered, the body prepares to defend itself by increasing alertness, muscle tension, and emotional intensity — often before the thinking brain has time to assess what is actually happening.
Physical and mental signs can include:
- Adrenaline rush
- Increased heart rate and blood pressure
- Muscle tension
- Clenched fists or jaw
- Feeling of anger or irritation
- Aggressive body language or behavior
These signs and symptoms will not all appear in each case. They are some of the possibilities, but individuals will react in individual ways.
Examples of Fight Stress or Trauma Reactions
When faced with stress or trauma, the fight response can show up in various forms, ranging from protective to harmful, depending on the reaction and circumstances.
Self-defense: Physically or verbally defending yourself when attacked.
Defending Ideas: Aggressively defending your ideas or opinions in meetings or discussions.
Protecting Others: Intervening aggressively to protect someone else from harm or danger.
Being Argumentative: Raising your voice and becoming confrontational during a disagreement with a friend, partner, child, co-worker, or stranger. (Note that this is an automatic level response, so the arguments you come up with to verbally fight back or attack aren't typically well thought out.)
Pushing Back on Criticism: Responding defensively and angrily to constructive criticism or negative feedback.
Jealousy: Reacting with hostility or aggression when feeling jealous or threatened in a relationship.
Controlling Demanding Behavior: In an attempt to quiet a sense of feeling threatened, a person can become controlling and demanding.
Aggression: Physically hitting or attacking a person or thing.
My print Building Skills to Uplevel Life: Silver Lining Emotional Intelligence Workbook is your step-by-step guide to moving from triggered reactions to thoughtful responses.
- Ann Silvers
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