Stress is an unavoidable part of life, and while it often carries a negative connotation, it is actually a fundamental survival mechanism. When faced with a perceived threat, whether physical or emotional, the body instinctively reacts to protect itself. This automatic response is commonly known as the "fight, flight, or freeze" response. While it serves an essential function in dangerous situations, chronic activation of this response due to daily stressors can have significant consequences for mental and physical health.

The body’s response to stress is rooted in human evolution. When our ancestors encountered a predator, their nervous systems immediately prepared them to either confront the threat (fight), escape to safety (flight), or become still and unnoticed (freeze). While modern-day stressors may not include wild animals, our nervous system reacts similarly to job pressures, financial worries, or social conflicts.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, stress is the body's response to change, activating a physiological reaction that helps us adapt and protect ourselves. While short-term stress can be beneficial, prolonged exposure can lead to an overactive stress response, negatively impacting overall well-being.

The Three Stress Responses: Fight, Flight, and Freeze

1. Fight

The fight response prepares the body for direct action. When triggered, the nervous system releases adrenaline, increasing heart rate, blood pressure, and muscle tension. While this reaction once helped early humans fend off predators, today it manifests as irritability, frustration, or aggression.

For instance, the employee who has experienced too much workload may work extremely long hours just to succeed. In short term, the action may produce good results but mostly ends in burnout, anxiety, and physical illness, for example, tension headache or digestion problems.

2. Fight

The flight response triggers an intense need to remove oneself from a stressful situation. Just as our ancestors would flee from danger, modern individuals may avoid conflict, quit jobs impulsively, or detach from relationships when overwhelmed.

Flight mode is linked with restlessness and anxiety. Individuals may have a sense of needing to get up and go-pacing, changing environments constantly, or avoiding tasks that seem too overwhelming. Someone with a flight response might have the desire to change jobs constantly, relocate constantly, or become reclusive in order to avoid perceived dangers.

3. Freeze

The freeze response occurs when the nervous system perceives a threat as too overwhelming to fight or flee. Rather than taking action, individuals shut down, feeling numb, disconnected, or paralyzed by fear.

Unlike fight or flight, which involve heightened activation, freeze mode slows down physiological functions. A person experiencing freeze mode may feel physically unable to move, struggle to make decisions, or find themselves dissociating from their emotions. This can manifest in situations such as public speaking anxiety, where someone might "blank out" or feel stuck in the moment.

What Happens in the Body During A Stressful Event?

When faced with a stressor, the autonomic nervous system (ANS) activates, triggering physiological changes, including:

• Increased heart rate and breathing: The body pumps more oxygen to muscles and the brain in case action is needed.
• Muscle tension: The body prepares for movement, sometimes causing trembling or stiffness.
• Dilated pupils: Vision sharpens to detect potential threats.
• Dry mouth: Saliva production decreases as the body redirects energy to essential functions.
• Changes in skin tone: Blood flow is directed to vital organs, sometimes making the skin appear pale or flushed.

For those experiencing the freeze response, the body undergoes a different reaction, often reducing heart rate and causing physical immobility rather than heightened activation.

Strategies for Coping and Managing the Stress Response

While the stress response is necessary for survival, frequent activation due to daily stressors can take a toll on health. Recognizing your default response—whether fight, flight, or freeze—can help in developing effective coping mechanisms.

1. Moving to a Safe Space

If possible, changing your environment can help signal to your brain that the threat has passed. Stepping outside for fresh air, finding a quiet place, or distancing yourself from overwhelming stimuli can help regulate emotions.

2. Practicing Controlled Breathing

Deep, slow breathing can be used to counteract the stress response by engaging the parasympathetic nervous system, which promotes relaxation. Techniques such as diaphragmatic breathing or the 4-7-8 method (inhale for four seconds, hold for seven, exhale for eight) can be particularly effective in calming the body.

3. Engaging in Physical Activity

This helps release pent-up energy and aids in the endorphin cascade, natural boosters for our mood.

4. Seeking Social Support

Relieving oneself from stress can come in many ways, but sharing it with trusted friends, a family member, or a good therapist will sure give that psychological boost of hope. Social support is an especially effective way of cushioning people against the stressors that they are subjected to in chronic forms.

When to Seek Professional Help

While occasional stress is normal, chronic activation of the fight, flight, or freeze response can indicate underlying mental health concerns, such as anxiety disorders or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). If stress is affecting daily life—leading to sleep disturbances, difficulty concentrating, or persistent feelings of fear—it may be time to consult a mental health professional.

The human body thrives on essential metals, but excessive exposure can cause a variety of issues for them in the long run, and this very fact has come to light in a recent study done by a research team at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital. The paper reveals the detrimental impact of getting exposed to toxic metals early in life.

Drs. Manish Arora, Elza Rechtman, and Megan Horton at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital thoroughly studied the mental effects in infants after early exposure to toxic metals. The study was published in Science Advances.

The research team studied the teeth of 489 infants aged 8 to 14 years old. As teeth grow in layers, and each layer can provide data on metal exposure, the researchers measured exposure to lead, lithium, barium, copper, manganese, magnesium, tin, zinc, and strontium.

The study also monitored 395 children for symptoms relating to anxiety, depression, hyperactivity, and attention, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to examine 191 children.

Metals like zinc, magnesium, and manganese are very important for growth and health, but overexposure to these metals in children can cause harm.

Childhood is the time for mental growth in children, but this is the same time span when they get exposed to toxic metals as well. From food to inhaling tobacco smoke or exposure through touch, there are many ways a child gets near those adversarial metals and causes harm to themselves.

The results of the study show that exposure to heavy metals mainly happens between 6 and 9 months after birth. They also claim that the excessive metal exposures during key periods of brain development can have long-lasting effects.

Also Read: How To Get Rid Of Heavy Metals In Your Body?

How To Detox From Heavy Metals?

Reducing exposure to heavy metals can be achieved through simple lifestyle and dietary changes. This includes switching to greener diets and replacing household products. High-quality fish can help minimize mercury ingestion, while cilantro, seaweed, and leafy greens are known to trap and remove toxins from the body. Aluminium-free deodorants and titanium-free makeup and toothpaste are also recommended.

For a more intensive detox, using high-quality supplements alongside drinking at least two litres of water daily can help flush heavy metals. Armistead explains that these supplements aid the body in moving heavy metals from cells to the lymphatic system, which then transports them into the bloodstream for filtration by the liver and kidneys. The toxins are ultimately excreted via urine or bowels.

Even as climate change is driving mosquitoes north, a new study warned that Europe and North America can be new hotspots for the chikungunya virus.

Alarmingly, the research indicated that 139 countries face risk, covering 21.26 per cent of global land area for chikungunya, a mosquito-borne viral disease.

Further, the findings published in the journal Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology suggest that climate-driven vector expansion has significantly broadened the geographic scope of the CHIKV threat.

“We show that under climate change models, the virus will further expand northward into temperate regions, especially northeastern North America, central Europe, and East Asia,” said Dr Ye Xu, from Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, China.

Chikungunya is a viral illness transmitted to humans primarily through the bite of infected Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes.

How Climate Is Linked To Mosquito Behavior?

Also Read: Climate Change Fueled Rising Salmonella Drug Resistance Over Decades: The Lancet Study

As the primary vectors of chikungunya, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus are highly influenced by climate conditions.

These mosquitoes thrive in warm and humid environments, with temperature playing a major role in their breeding, survival, and ability to spread the virus.

The rising temperatures can accelerate larval development, increase mosquito reproduction, and shorten the virus’s incubation period inside the mosquito, making transmission more efficient.

In the study, the researchers explained that stable temperature patterns and seasonal variations are especially important for Aedes aegypti. The species is highly sensitive to colder temperatures, with egg hatching rates dropping significantly at around 12°C. This limits how far the mosquito can spread into cooler regions.

However, climate change and warming temperatures are making previously unsuitable regions in Europe and North America more favorable for these mosquito species, raising concerns about the growing risk of chikungunya outbreaks, the team said.

“Because this mosquito can tolerate cooler conditions better than the yellow fever mosquito, warming may allow it to establish in places that used to be too cold,” said Dr Yang Wu, Guangzhou Customs Technology Center, China.

“When suitable mosquitoes become established, the chance of local chikungunya transmission increases.”

Global Chikungunya Cases

Read More: 16 Million Indians Die Due To Hypertension Every Year: AIIMS Doc

In 2025, there were 502,264 reported chikungunya cases globally, accounting for 186 deaths across 41 countries and territories, according to the Pan American Health Organization.

This disease burden is projected to escalate under climate change, which is profoundly altering the distribution patterns of infectious diseases, the researchers noted.

“The public does not need to panic, but health systems should prepare early,” warned Dr Xu.

The researchers recommended that these regions implement proactive entomological surveillance and adaptive public health infrastructure by 2040 to mitigate the threat of emerging arboviral epidemics.

Among the proposed measures, researchers include

• tracking mosquitoes,
• training healthcare workers to quickly recognise the virus,
• strengthening mosquito control,
• setting up rapid-response plans before outbreaks occur.

Chikungunya Symptoms You Should Know

Most symptoms are generally self-limiting and last for 2–3 days. The disease is characterized by

• an abrupt onset of fever,
• joint pain
• muscle pain,
• headache,
• nausea,
• fatigue
• rash.

In recent times, there has been a noticeable increase in heart-related risks among Indians in their 20s. In the past, heart disease was mainly a problem of old age, but the changing lifestyles, poor eating habits, and rising stress levels have changed this trend. This has increased the number of doctors recommending a calcium heart scan also called a coronary calcium scan, even for young adults.

What Is A Calcium Heart Scan?

A calcium heart scan is a quick painless imaging test that checks for calcium deposits in the coronary arteries. These deposits are one of the earliest signs of atherosclerosis, a condition in which plaque builds up inside the arteries and restricts the flow of blood.

The significance of this test is that it can uncover hidden risk even before symptoms such as chest pain and breathlessness appear.

Why Young Indians Are At Higher Risk

Young Indians face multiple risk factors today. Sedentary lifestyles long working hours also lack of physical activity, smoking and increased intake of processed foods are major contributors. Ailments like diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol and hypertension are also being seen at a much younger age.

Family history also matters a lot especially in the Indian population who are genetically more prone to early heart disease.

The worry is that many young people seem healthy on routine tests but may still have silent plaque build-up. This is where a calcium score is useful. The higher the score, the more likely you are to have future heart problems, and doctors can take early steps to prevent them such as lifestyle changes or medication.

Why Early Screening Matters

Another important point is that heart attacks in young Indians are often more sudden and severe. This makes early screening all the more important. Calcium heart scans don’t replace your routine check-up, but they do provide an extra level of insight in helping to identify hidden cardiovascular risk.

This scan is not about instilling fear but about early awareness and prevention. Heart disease if found early can often be controlled or prevented. This small step can help to protect young adults with risk factors for long term heart health.

(By Dr. Surendra Nath Khanna, Chairperson, Adult Cardiac Surgery & Heart - Lung Transplant at Artemis Hospital, Gurugram).