Anxiety is part of our natural defense system. If we didn’t get anxious about dangerous situations we probably wouldn’t live very long. The process of anxiety triggers the ‘fight or flight’ response – a vital defense system which is common to all mammals and most other animals as well. Let’s look at how the fight or flight system works.

Imagine you’re walking along a dark street at night. Suddenly from out of the shadows a large man appears with a knife and tries to stab you. You have two choices – to run away or to fight. Fight or flight.