When most people are in an intense situation (out of rest or digest mode), you generally enter a mode to either fight (and hope you get out the victor) or flight (run and hope you get away). What about Cower (and likely die or just spend time relapsing till your body (if ever) returns into a “safe to restart” mode) Think about a person freezing up to the point they go into a coma or cowering and muttering complete nonsense. Would that be under flighting mentally?
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Your body reacts to possible danger by heightening your ability to do things. You can see clearer, run longer — it’s almost superhuman. You get stronger and faster.
The reason for this, is a quick flood of chemicals in the brain, which can be overwhelming if you’re not used to it.
So, you can do a few things when in danger. Fight for your life, Run as fast as you can, or Hide.
The cower or freeze concept, comes from feeling like you can hide. It’s changed over many years to be something different, sort of like asking for mercy.
If you’re being attacked by a bigger stronger person, maybe they will let you live if they think you’re harmless / not a threat. They probably aren’t trying to eat you, so they aren’t killing you for a resource.
It’s why we give muggers / attackers our stuff. That’s the freeze/cower/hide concept in modern times. We think we can’t fight or outrun a gun, so we freeze. It’s why police are often quoted in movies saying, “freeze” when they pull a gun on someone.
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