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.

Dr Srivanjani Santosh, Pediatrician, Social Activist and First Aid trainer, who had earlier spearheaded the ORS campaigned for eight years, urging FSSAI to ban the misuse of the term 'ORS' on non-WHO=standard sugar drinks, has once again shared an important health video on rabies vaccination. Dr Santosh shared that if any mammal, including dog, cat, horse, cow, buffalo, monkey or bat scratch or bit a person, they must be vaccinated with rabies shot.

She also pointed out something many miss: the location of administering the rabies shot. In her video she urged people to not get the shot administered in buttocks, and to only get it on their shoulders or thighs. She also claimed that many clinics and hospitals, despite knowing this fact, are administering rabies vaccination on buttocks.

Why Does Location Of Administration Matter In Rabies Shot?

The World Health Organization (WHO) strongly recommends that rabies vaccines must be injected into the deltoid region, which is the upper arm or near the shoulder region in adults.

In small children, the WHO notes that deltoid region, as well as anterolateral area of the thigh muscle, which is also the upper thigh works.

WHO notes that like any other injections, rabies vaccine should not be given in the gluteal region, that is the buttocks, because of low absorption due to the presence of adipose or the fat tissue.

This video comes at the time when a case of a Birmingham woman losing all her limbs to dog's lick has made headlines all over the news. Health and Me also reported on the same.

Read: Woman Loses All Her Limbs After Getting Sepsis From Dog Lick

Health and Me spoke to Dr. Rakesh Pandit, Senior Consultant & HOD, Internal Medicine at Aakash Healthcare, who further explained, that as per guidelines by the WHO, the rabies vaccine should not be given in the buttocks as they have a heavy layer of fat. The body might not properly absorb the vaccine if it is injected into this fat instead of the muscle, which could result in a vaccine failure.

"A vaccine failure in case of rabies is like a death sentence because the disease is one hundred percent lethal once it shows the signs. The injection site for the vaccine depends on the patient's age; older children and adults must receive the vaccine in the upper arm or shoulder, while infants and toddlers must receive it in the thigh. The vaccine must also be administered with the right needle length to reach the required depth," he said.

Dr Pandit further elaborated, "The place of administering the vaccine (arm or thigh, subcutaneous or intramuscular) has an effect on the immune response, speed at which the vaccine is absorbed, pain and the risk of side effects." He said, "Some vaccines give best results when given in muscle for better immunity. Other vaccines may need subcutaneous administration. When given at the correct site, the vaccines ensure maximum effect, safety and reduced local reactions like swelling."

Read: 36% Of Rabies Death Comes From India: This Is What You Should Do After A Dog Bite, Explains Doctor

What Should One Keep In Mind While Getting A Rabies Shot?

Dr Mule points out that even when there are minor scratches, without bleeding, you must get a rabies shot. "Rabies can be contracted through broken skin. Such exposures still require medical evaluation and, in most cases, rabies vaccination."

What Should One Do Immediately After Being Bitten Or Scratched?

• Wash the wound immediately for at least 15 minutes with soap and running water
• Apply an antiseptic such as povidone-iodine
• Do not apply home remedies like turmeric, chili or oil
• Seek medical care promptly for rabies vaccination and possible immunoglobin

Dr Mule points out that the rabies vaccine should be started as soon as possible. "Ideally within 24 hours of a bite or scratch. However, even if there is a delay of days or weeks, vaccination should still be started immediately as rabies has a variable incubation period," he says.

The temperature of the vaccine matters. "Rabies vaccines are temperature-sensitive and must be stored between 2°C and 8°C. Exposure to heat or freezing can reduce vaccine potency. Poor cold-chain maintenance is a known reason for vaccine failure in rare cases," points out the doctor.

Dr Mule points out that the vaccine should be given intramuscularly in the deltoid or upper arms for adults, as gluteal or buttock injections could lead to inadequate absorption and reduce effectiveness.

A simple strep throat infection, can trigger sudden skin inflammation, leading to psoriasis, particularly in children and young adults, according to a study.

Researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden showed that a strep throat infection caused by the Group A Streptococcus (GAS) bacterium, can trigger guttate psoriasis by altering the behavior of key immune cells. Guttate psoriasis is an often sudden-onset form of psoriasis with small, red, "drop-shaped" scaling spots on arms and legs.

While neutrophils -- the most common type of immune cell -- are the first immune cells to respond to GAS infection, the study showed that during a streptococcal infection, the immune cells behavior changes depending on their environment.

Notably, among people with guttate psoriasis, the neutrophils presented with antigens -- fragments of pathogens that signal and guide other immune cells -- get accumulated. Once accumulated, the immune cells activated the T cells, leading to inflammation, explained the researchers in the paper, published in the journal eBioMedicine.

"Doctors have long known that strep throat can precede guttate psoriasis, but the biological explanation has been unclear," said Avinash Padhi, first author of the study and Research Specialist at the Division of Dermatology and Venereology, at Karolinska.

"Our findings suggest a link between infection and skin inflammation through the accumulation of antigen-presenting neutrophils in patients' skin," Padhi added.

How Cells Shape Immune Response

Magdalini Lourda, senior author of the study and senior research specialist at the Department of Laboratory Medicine, noted that the "results challenge the traditional view of neutrophils as simple first-line defenders".

The findings show that the neutrophils play "a wider role in shaping immune responses, which may be important when designing future treatments."

How Was The Study conducted?

To find how neutrophils work in psoriasis, the blood neutrophils from psoriasis patients were compared with those from healthy individuals. Blood neutrophils from patients with severe strep-related lung inflammation were also compared.

What Is Guttate Psoriasis?

Guttate psoriasis is a distinct form of acute-onset psoriasis. It is an inflammatory skin disease characterized by the sudden appearance of red, scaly, and smaller skin lesions widespread over the body.

The condition typically follows an infection, most commonly tonsillitis caused by Group A Streptococcus (GAS). Adolescents and young adults are the most affected. It accounts for about 2 per cent of all cases of psoriasis.

Genetics, environmental triggers, such as an upper respiratory tract infection, and the onset of an inflammatory condition in a distant organ are the major risk factors.

The condition may be diagnosed by skin biopsy, throat swab culture, and blood tests.

Hangover star Ken Jeong's wife Tran Ho Jeong in 2007 discovered a hard lump in her breast while she was breastfeeding their newborn twins Alexa and Zooey. She was diagnosed with stage 3 triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) in 2008.

What Is Stage 3 Triple Negative Breast Cancer?

As per the American Cancer Society, it is an advanced aggressive, and fast-growing cancer that has spread to nearby lymph nodes or tissue, however, does not distant organs. It is characterized by the absence of estrogen, progesterone and HER2 receptors, which requires a combined approach of chemotherapy, surgery, and sometimes also radiations As per the American Cancer Society, TNBC accounts for about 10 to 15 per cent of all breast cancers.

At stage 3, TNBC has grown extensively and invaded nearby tissues and is likely to spread to lymph nodes. However, it has not metastasized to distant organs.

Hangover Star Ken Jeong's Wife Cancer Journey

As doctors said, for Tran, it was a "year of hell". She underwent 16 rounds of chemotherapy when Ken was filming The Hangover. This was then followed by a mastectomy and radiation therapy.

"I am going to survive this. I am going to fight. I have to live for the girls and for Ken," she said. After two years of battle, Tran was finally declared cancer free in 2010. Ken called it "the greatest moment" of his life.

What Happens In Breast Cancer?

As per the World Health Organization (WHO), breast cancer is the most common cancer globally with around 2.3 million new cases every year. At the rate of 1 in every 8 person in both sexes and a quarter of all cancer in women with 70% mortality occurs due to constrained resources.

It is a disease where abnormal breast cells grow out of control and form tumors. If it is left unchecked, the tumors can spread throughout the body and become fatal.

It originates in the milk ducts or the milk-producing lobules of the breast. The earliest form is not life-threatening and can be detected in the early stages. Cancer cells can spread into nearby breast tissue and create tumors that cause lumps or thickening. These invasive cancers can spread to nearby lymph nodes or other organs and metastasis can be life-threatening and fatal.

Signs And Symptoms Of Breast Cancer

The common signs are:

• A breast lump or thickening, often without pain
• Change in size, shape or appearance of breasts
• Dimpling, redness, pitting or other changes in the skin
• Change in nipple appearance or the skin surrounding the nipple (areola)
• Abnormal or bloody fluid from the nipple

Treatment

The treatment depends on the stages and subtypes of the cancer. However, common treatments involve:

• Surgery to remove breast tumor
• Radiation therapy to reduce recurrence of breast cancer around the breast tissues
• Medicals to kill cancer cells and prevent spread
• Therapies like hormonal and chemotherapy or targeted biological therapy