Quantum
HEALTH
Issue 13 September/October 2011
Fight or Flight Therapy
By M. Stuart Tessler, OD, FCSO
Due to the cumulative stresses and traumas of life, our nervous system can get permanently stuck in a protective survival posture, called fi ght or fl ight. This limits our ability to function, especially under stress, and is the underlying cause of many stress-related conditions. Fight or Flight Therapy is the fi rst modality to treat this condition directly. In Fight or Flight Therapy, specifi c wavelengths of visible light are viewed daily for twenty minutes over the course of two to four months, permanently resetting the nervous system to a calmer place. Both objective and subjective measures clearly demonstrate the dramatic quality-of-life changes routinely seen in cases of stress, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and other stress-related conditions.
What Is Fight or Flight? In the 1920’s, Harvard physiologist Walter Cannon was the fi rst to coin the term “fi ght or fl ight” to describe our innate defense mechanism in the face of a threat or danger. The classic example is a caveman’s physiological response to seeing a tiger in the bushes. The imminent danger triggers subconscious refl exes that instantaneously recruit his resources to ensure his survival. His body prepares to fi ght to the death or fl ee for his life.
Physiologically, adrenaline and other hormones, such as cortisol, are released into his bloodstream. His liver releases stored sugar for an immediate energy boost. Blood fl ow increases to his brain, heart, lungs and large muscles (at the expense of less immediate needs such as digestion, immunity, reproduction, tissue repair, etc.). His heart beats
16 Quantum Health
faster and his blood pressure rises. His breathing becomes more shallow and rapid to obtain more oxygen. Perspiration increases to keep his body cool. His senses become heightened: his pupils dilate to let in more light and his vision tunes out extraneous peripheral information so he can focus on the tiger or zero in on his escape route. His muscles become tensed, ready to fi ght or fl ee.
Getting Stuck in Fight or Flight Unlike the isolated stressors of our caveman ancestors, modern humans experience something quite different. With work, family, health, fi nances, traffi c, pollution, worry, and other infl uences, modern life tends to be perpetually stressful. This constant strain on our physiology revs our nervous system into an idling fi ght-or- fl ight posture, which triggers a wide variety of behavioural and quality-of-life symptoms that have the potential ultimately to affect our health.
Robert Sapolsky and other stress researchers have done remarkable research into the stress response and how it affects our behaviour and, ultimately, our health. Sapolsky, who wrote the book Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers, makes it clear that our innate stress/survival response, the fi ght-or-fl ight response, although a life-saver for early man, has not evolved adequately for the rigours of twenty- fi rst century life. His pioneering work is clarifying how our overactive stress response is affecting our ability to function and actually destroying our brain cells and our health, and shortening our lives.
Not surprisingly, it can now be clinically measured that due to the stresses and traumas of our lives
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