When stressed, there are two responses we are very aware of; either it is the fight or the flight response. However, researchers say that the body can respond to stress in other ways as well, including being overcome with emotion, staying still and frozen or being extremely fatigued.
And it turns out that sometimes the fatigue response is so intense that it leads to taking naps, which can restore a person’s energy and male them more able manage their stress.
Acoording to Dr Curtis Reisinger, a clinical psychologist at Zucker Hillside Hospital, who had a conversation with the New York Magazine the 'fight or flight' response to stress is oversimplified, and that there are other ways that humans have evolved to adapt to stress.
He said that there is a also a freeze response, similar to when a deer is stunned by headlights, and flooding - when a person is flooded by emotions.
Apart from these there is also the fawn response where it is an inclination to cooperate or submit oneself to one’s threat or captor.
And then there is the final F, fatigue. According to Dr Reisinger, when someone faces many mental or physical tasks, it uses up glucose in the brain, which provides the brain with energy. The brain requires large amounts of energy, and taking a nap in response to stressful situations is a way for the body to replenish low levels of glucose in the brain.
However, this type of response to stress is usually seen in children and babies.
