fight-or-flight

noun

1. modifier involving or relating to an involuntary response to stress in which the hormone adrenaline is secreted into the blood in readiness for physical action, such as fighting or running away

Example Sentences

As Michael Schaffer wrote in Politico several months ago, people respond to threats with a fight-or-flight instinct.

From Slate

When you perceive yourself under threat, adrenaline surges in your body and the evolutionary fight-or-flight response is activated.

From Salon

Exposure to stress triggers not only the fight-or-flight response, but in many situations it also initiates what psychologists call the “tend-and-befriend” system.

From Salon

When the human brain perceives a threat, or something stressful, it activates the nervous system and sends it into a fight-or-flight response.

From Salon

"Norepinephrine neurons have been thought to be just one type of neuron. But when they're activated in the brain, they can cause a lot of different types of behavior, such as enhancing attention and memory formation or eliciting a stress response or fight-or-flight response," Schwarz said.

From Science Daily