‘Want to know all about bullying and the fight or flight response? Here’s all the information you need to know.
When you suffer bullying, you automatically go into fight or flight mode.
Therefore, in this post, you will learn all about bullying and the fight-or-flight response so that you can use this as cause when you defend yourself from bullying.
Once you learn all about this crucial information, you will be able to speak on your own behalf when you are called to the principal’s office or charged by police after a fight with a bully.
This post is all about bullying and the fight-or-flight response, so that you can have a good reason to defend yourself against any bully who corners you and attacks you.
Bullying and the Fight-or-Flight Response
Bullying and the fight-or-flight response go hand in hand.
According to the Psychology Tools website, “The fight or flight response is an automatic physiological reaction to an event that is perceived as stressful or frightening.
The perception of threat activates the sympathetic nervous system. It triggers an acute stress response that prepares the body to fight or flee. These responses are evolutionary adaptations to increase chances of survival in threatening situations.”
Any time bullies target a person with relentless bullying at work or school over an extended period of time, they force that person into a constant state of high alert. Although useful in short, immediate circumstances, this hyper-vigilance is unhealthy if the person remains in this state for too long. As a result, it causes stomach issues, headaches, and fatigue, among many other ailments.
Even worse, facing continuous danger can also cause the person to overreact in response to certain occurrences.
The Fight or Flight Response is Innate. Every Creature on earth has it.
Every living creature has an innate and perfectly natural physiological reaction in the event of a threat or attack. Called the Fight or Flight Response, it protects us from harm in dangerous situations.
And it does so by releasing adrenaline. When adrenaline is released into the blood, it’s nearly impossible not to do either of two things: fight or flee.
When others are consistently bullying and abusing you, escape is usually not an option. Your bullies will corner and surround you.
With flight cut off as an option, what do you have left? Fight! Long-term bullying can cause a person to live on this adrenaline every day, all day long.
All your aggressors have to do is come around you, and they can put your body and mind on constant alert. It’s a horrible way to live.
Getting on the school bus and walking through the school’s entrance can feel like a death march. Moreover, horrible headaches and violent nausea will plague you.
You may shake uncontrollably, and your palms may sweat. Also, you may feel a lump in your throat. All of these are signs of being in fight-or-flight mode.
For example, you may feel that lump in your throat when your bully boss calls you into his office. Or, you may even feel nauseated. If you’re in school and your bullies come near you, you may begin to shake uncontrollably.
Again, it’s only adrenaline pumping through you, preparing you for a possible fight.
Bullying and the fight-or-flight response:
You live in a constant state of survival mode.
Even teachers can join the other kids against you once they hear enough rumors and falsehoods that bullies spread about you. This can place you in a very lonely and heartbreaking position.
As time passes, the fear of going to school or work and facing your bullies grows. It’s like an infected tumor that grows bigger with each passing day. Your stomach draws up every morning when you walk out of your house.
The next eight hours are like walking through a minefield. You never know when your next step could be your last. Others begin bombarding you with a torrent of taunts, insults, and names. Or, they may start hitting, kicking, and shoving you.
It is a situation that seems endless, and to say you are afraid is an understatement. You are petrified.
Unless you have experienced it firsthand, you can’t imagine the fear. Also, there are health consequences of living in a perpetual state of fight or flight. The impact on your physical health may not be immediately apparent. However, it may rear its ugly head later in life.
But this doesn’t only happen in school; it also occurs in the workplace. What people once believed only happened to children and teens also happens to adults in the workplace. Bullying knows no age group.
superiors usually blame you for defending yourself.
You may get into serious trouble when the bullying finally escalates and becomes physical. Every day, school staff unjustly suspend or expel innocent students for defending themselves against unjust actions. Moreover, managers in the workplace often terminate innocent employees for trying to protect themselves.
Bullying and the Fight-or-Flight Response:
But why do they usually punish you for self-defense?
It’s because bullies are talented at charming superiors and making them like them. They lie convincingly and make you look like the bad guy. Therefore, the higher-ups may punish you for nothing more than trying to protect yourself.
If, on the off chance, they do punish your bullies, they usually give them a mild reprimand. However, most bullies escape with impunity. This is because others typically side with the bullies, and you have no support whatsoever!
Just like all God’s creatures, you have this fight-or-flight instinct. And you have the right to defend yourself if you can’t run from an attack.
And when bullies are attacking you left and right, it’s up to you to take care of yourself. You cannot just stand there and let these creeps beat the living daylights out of you. You must fight back to keep from getting hurt!
Even animals have the fight-or-flight instinct.
For example, you corner a dog and kick it. And you keep kicking it. Sooner or later, that dog is going to bite you! It’s all a part of nature. Humans also have the right to self-defense.
People can’t expect you to roll over and let bullies have their way with you. They should expect you to fight back if you can’t run.
Bullying and the Human Stress Response go hand in hand. Why? Because bullying automatically activates this response in targets. Whenever bullies accost you, your body instinctively goes into survival mode.
Therefore, the automatic response is either to fight or flee. But what happens when your body stays in that state due to long-term bullying?
Bullying and the Fight-or-Flight Response:
the sympathetic nervous system.
According to the Cleveland Clinic website, “Your sympathetic nervous system is a network of nerves that helps your body activate its fight-or-flight response. This system’s activity increases when you’re stressed, in danger, or physically active.
Its effects include increasing your heart rate and breathing ability. It also improves your eyesight and slows down processes like digestion.
After so long, bullying can screw up your Sympathetic Nervous System. It can cause you confusion and emotional numbness.
Moreover, the constant bullying puts the fight-or-flight response into overdrive. After bullies have bullied you for so long, adverse changes in the victim’s brain begin to occur. Your brain rewires itself to prepare for a hostile environment.
You come to expect threats. Your first instinct is flight. If flight isn’t possible, then you go into fight mode. When this happens, the logical brain shuts down and the primal brain takes over.
And when that part of your brain is turned on all the time, your mind starts to decline.
what long-term bullying does to mental health
Long-term bullying affects your decision-making and emotional control the most. Why? Because your mind is in a constant state of survival mode.
Moreover, you lose your cognitive abilities, ability to control emotions, and ability to think clearly and rationally. Once this happens, it will blind you to any alternatives to your situation.
This is why you will often snap and do irrational things when the pressure of bullying builds to the breaking point. And, because children’s brains are still developing, kids stand a higher chance of damage to the mind and the sympathetic nervous system.
Bullying and the Fight-or-Flight Response:
People cannot thrive in a bullying environment.
Relentless bullying can cause a child or teen to lose the ability to discern and make choices to get them to safety due to their brain’s negative changes. Look up Pavlov’s dogs and you’ll see what I mean.
If this is happening to you at work, you must find a way to leave the toxic environment and find employment elsewhere. If you’re a parent and you know your child is being bullied, you must help them transfer.
A new learning environment will help their minds begin to heal and restore their ability to make good decisions. Moreover, their cognitive and reasoning abilities will also improve.
Remember that a plant cannot thrive in a climate of no sunlight or water. And neither can human beings grow in a hostile environment of bullying and abuse.
This post was all about bullying and the fight-or-flight response, so that you can use it to justify self-defense. This post will also help you to recognize when it’s time to TRANSFER YOUR CHILD, IF you are a parent of a bullied child.
Related posts you’ll enjoy:
1. Self-Preservation Instinct: Defending Yourself from Bullies is Okay!
2. Fight Flight Freeze Fawn: 4 Stress Responses of Bullying Victims
3. The Bullied Brain: 7 Ways Bullying Effects Mental Health
4. Bullying Survival Mode: 5 Things Victims of Bullying Do Wrong