Explain what is meant by the statement, "It is the perception or interpretation of an event that sparks the fight-or-flight response, rather than the event itself."


The chronic stress that we feel is rarely, if ever, the result of a truly threatening situation. Our stress almost always stems from situations that are not, by their nature, sufficient to put us in real danger. The outcome that we think is going to do us harm usually doesn't. As a result, we create in our bodies a false sense of emergency. This leads to an important conclusion about the stress we feel: The perception or the interpretation of an event is what initiates the fight-or-flight response. The event itself is not what causes us to experience stress. As stress theory has evolved, the notion that human stress is a direct response to external stimulus is no longer credible. Whether we feel stressed seems to depend on how we view what is happening. Interpretation of stressors, not the stressors themselves, causes distress.

Health & Biomechanics

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