Political violence . War. Shootings.
Supreme Court decisions. Election campaigning . High-profile deaths .
If the barrage of negative news is leaving you feeling anxious, stunned, deflated, or paralyzed—particularly when it comes to getting through the regular tasks of your day, from work to childcare —you are definitely not alone. “Anytime we’re faced with a moment of uncertainty, our brain is going to go into that ‘fight or flight’ mode—which is really just our body’s way of installing a pause point to figure out how best to navigate through a crisis,” explains therapist Arianna Galligher, director of the Gabbe Well-Being Office and the Stress, Trauma and Resilience (STAR) Program at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. “I think what makes it so challenging to function as typical—particularly when the threat is more of an existential nature, and there’s nothing concrete to do—there really isn’t any place for that adrenaline and cortisol to go.
” “Fight or flight,” Galligher explains, is the shorthand way of referring to the release of chemicals that occurs in the brain when it perceives some sort of a threat. “It can manifest in different kinds of behavioral reactions,” she says. On one end is the “fight” trauma response, “where you’re going to try to stand up against whatever that threat may be,” she tells Fortune .
On the other end is “flight,” meaning your instinct will be to run away from or avoid the situat.
