Flight, Fight or Freeze

Seriously after I was inadvertently submerged under a deep sea of academic dormancy with zero degrees of progress in my work these days, I succumb to a more severe condition than the fight or flight response. I am made to freeze.  

The flight or fight response, otherwise called “acute stress response” was first coined by Walter Cannon to describe a physiological situation where animals react in response to perceived environmental stress such as danger or threat. For instance, when we see a snake slithering in front of us, we either fight by arming ourselves with some sticks on our hands or flight by fleeing off the scene.

Scientifically this phenomenon is accepted as the first approach of a general adaptation for survival by initiating spontaneous or intuitive behaviours that are largely associated to escape (flight) or combat (fight). Such natural responses during an emergency are triggered due to the release of hormones namely adrenaline and norepinephrine by the adrenal glands.

It is due to these biological mechanisms that humanity has survived the test of a myriad of stressful life affairs. However, modern stressors are even more painful because it is basically psychological and chronically inevitable. In modern times, flight or fight response is triggered due to academic pressure, career stress, professional workload, financial difficulties, annoying society or difficult relationships. In such circumstances, flight or fight response is always a victim because we cannot resolve either by running away or fighting it.

Having said this, I am already trapped inside the womb of academic-oriented hurdles. By no means, do I refer to this as stress due to the toughness or difficulty of the course I am undergoing at the moment because the courses that amounted to a total of 25 credits were already wrapped with significantly good grades?

Nevertheless, this is a gestation period for my thesis. Although the fetus (draft) was born by now, a lot of professional caress and massages are required to bring this toothless toddler into a putative shape. The single-handed repair and attention from my side alone are not sufficient to raise to standard quality. I need to have a constant warm-up from my professional pundits I am associated with as well, for which, I am deficit of as of now. 

At the moment, it has been more than a month since my thesis draft has peacefully snoozed in the cradle of my academic sage. Under such prevalence, flight is one thing that I can’t do and fighting is another that I never should think of. The only possibility is to freeze me, cold and dead.

“I would disagree with fight or flight that leaves no room for compromise and understanding”- Ron Marz