介绍:
Encountering stressful situations can lead to the fight or flight response — a physical response which prepares the body to fight or flee.
But researchers say that the body can respond to stress in other ways, including being overcome with emotions, staying still and frozen, or feeling tired.
Sometimes, the fatigue response is so intense that it leads to taking naps, which can restore a person’s energy and make him more able to manage his stress.
Dr. Curtis Reisinger says that the “fight or flight” response to stress is oversimplified, and that there are other ways that humans have developed to adapt to stress. He says that there is also a freeze response, similar to when a deer is stunned by headlights or flooding — when a person is flooded by emotions.
“The other one is what’s called the fawn response,” said Dr. Reisinger. “The fawn response refers to the love to cooperate or give in to one’s threat. And then there is the final: fatigue.”
Dr. Reisinger explains that when someone faces many mental or physical tasks, it uses up glucose in the brain, which provides the brain with energy. The brain requires large amounts of energy, and taking a nap in response to stressful situations is a way for the body to supplement low levels of glucose in the brain.
However, this type of response to stress is usually seen in children and babies. Dr. Reisinger says that children have limited stress-relief resources, and as such they use sleep as a way of managing stress.
With restored energy levels, people are more able to manage their stress and meet their challenges. The same thing holds true if some people eat candy in response to stress.
