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.

September is observed as Suicide Prevention Month, a reminder to talk about mental health, intervene early, and build systems that prevent lives from being lost. This year, much of the conversation has shifted to technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), which is becoming a more common entry point for people seeking help.

But can AI truly support people in crisis? Or does it risk creating a false sense of care that could turn deadly? To explore these questions, we spoke to Dr. Amit Malik, a psychiatrist and mental health advocate, about the potential and pitfalls of using AI in mental health care.

Comfort vs. Clinical Care

In recent months, there have been troubling cases where AI chatbots provided unsafe or even harmful advice, including encouraging self-harm. For Dr. Malik, this highlights a deeper problem.

“Feeling heard is not the same as being helped,” he explains. “Empathy in tone does not equate clinical judgment, and without that distinction, technology risks creating a dangerous illusion of care.”

The danger lies in how “human-like” AI can sound. A warm response might comfort someone temporarily, but without the ability to assess risk or recommend a safe intervention, it could delay someone from seeking real help, sometimes with tragic consequences.

Also Read: Illinois Becomes First US State To Ban AI-Powered Mental Health Therapy; Why Is This Step Important In Ensuring Patient Safety?

Building Guardrails Around AI

Experts agree that AI systems in mental health must be developed with strict safeguards. Dr. Malik stresses that this means embedding clinical oversight at every stage, from design to deployment.

Every AI feature, he says, should be co-designed with experienced clinicians, tested in real-life scenarios, and reviewed for risks before being rolled out. Safety protocols should go beyond keyword detection, with systems trained to pick up subtle markers of risk, such as hopelessness or withdrawal, and respond appropriately.

The goal is not to replace therapists but to ensure that if someone expresses suicidal thoughts, the system can pause the interaction, offer empathetic reassurance, and redirect them toward human help, whether that’s a helpline, an on-call clinician, or emergency services.

Can AI Help Close the Care Gap?

India’s mental health treatment gap is stark: fewer than 10,000 psychiatrists and psychologists serve over a billion people, with most concentrated in major cities. In many districts, there are no specialists at all. Cost, stigma, and distance further prevent people from seeking care.

Against this backdrop, AI could serve as an accessible first step, if used carefully.

1. Triage and Signposting

AI systems can be available 24/7, providing a low-barrier entry point for someone in a remote village or a teenager who cannot talk openly about mental health at home. While AI cannot treat mental illness, it can assess risk, provide basic information, and guide people to the right resource, from crisis helplines to counselling services.

2. Supporting Clinicians

A large share of a clinician’s day goes into documentation and administrative work. AI can assist by transcribing session notes, summarizing treatment plans, and automating routine tasks, freeing up time for therapists to focus on listening, assessing, and intervening.

3. Continuity Between Sessions

Recovery often depends on what happens between therapy sessions. AI can act as a gentle reminder, prompting users to reflect on their progress, practice coping strategies, and stay engaged. This sustained support can improve retention and outcomes over time.

Read More: AI Therapy Gone Wrong: Psychiatrist Reveals How Chatbots Are Failing Vulnerable Teens

The Limits of AI in a Crisis

Despite its promise, experts remain cautious about relying on AI during mental health crises.

“Crises demand rapid assessment, nuanced decision-making, and the ability to respond to subtle cues in real time, things that AI simply cannot replicate today,” Dr. Malik says.

AI can help by flagging concerning patterns, such as repeated expressions of hopelessness, and alerting a clinician sooner. But it cannot replace the work of sitting with a person in distress, understanding the context of their feelings, and making the split-second judgments needed to keep them safe.

Conditions like bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or severe depression often require medication, hospitalization, or a multidisciplinary team, psychiatrists, therapists, nurses, and caregivers, working together. No algorithm can hold someone through a manic episode or guide them in rebuilding routines after hospital discharge.

Designing for Safety, Not Just Scale

The real challenge, experts say, is not deciding whether AI belongs in mental health, but figuring out how to use it responsibly. When done right, AI could widen access, ease clinician workload, and help sustain engagement. When done wrong, it risks offering “care” without substance, and leaving vulnerable people more isolated than before.

For Suicide Prevention Month, the message is clear: technology is only as good as the systems and people behind it. AI can be a powerful tool, but human judgment, empathy, and connection must remain at the centre of mental health care.

For the first time since the pandemic began, COVID-19 is no longer one of the top 10 causes of death in the United States. According to new data from the CDC, COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in 2020. However, the number of deaths has dropped significantly from its peak of over 463,000 in 2021 to about 47,000 in 2024. This is a major improvement, though the virus is still among the top 15 causes of death.

Have The Death Rates Dropped In The US?

Overall, the United States saw a 4% drop in deaths last year, which marks the third year in a row that this has happened. This positive trend was observed across most age groups and among people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds. Despite this overall improvement, some groups still face higher death rates. For example, death rates are higher for men than for women, and they are also higher for older adults and for Black Americans compared to other groups.

Which Groups Were Affected The Most?

Even with the overall improvement, the report shows that death rates are not the same for everyone. When looking at racial and ethnic groups, the death rate was highest for the Black population at 884 deaths per 100,000 people, while it was lowest for multiracial people at 332.3 per 100,000.

When it comes to age groups, the death rate was lowest for children between 5 and 14 years old, at 14.4 deaths per 100,000. As expected, the rate was highest for people aged 85 and older, at a very high 13,835.5 deaths per 100,000. Experts say that healthy lifestyle choices, like eating well and staying at a healthy weight, are some of the best ways for people to reduce their risk from many of the leading causes of death.

What Remain The Leading Causes Of Death In US?

The leading causes of death in the U.S. remain chronic diseases. Heart disease and cancer are the top two, responsible for over 40% of all deaths combined. In 2024, heart disease caused 683,492 deaths, and cancer caused 619,876 deaths. So to list it, the top causes of death in US according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention in 2024 remain,

• Heart Disease: 683,492 deaths
• Cancer: 619,876 deaths
• Accidents (unintentional injuries): 197,448 deaths
• Strokes: 166,855 deaths
• Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 145,643 deaths
• Alzheimer's disease: 116,022 deaths
• Diabetes: 94,445 deaths
• Kidney disease: 55,081 deaths
• Chronic liver disease: 52,274 deaths
• Suicide: 48,821 deaths

Health officials are concerned about a big increase in West Nile virus infections this year. The number of cases is running 40% higher than what is normally expected by this time of year. So far, Centers of Disease Control and Prevention data shows more than 770 cases have been reported across the country, with about 490 of them being severe. This is a significant jump from the usual average of 550 cases.

The state’s public health commissioner, Dr. Robbie Goldstein said in a statement last week, “West Nile virus can be a very serious disease and its presence in mosquitoes remains high right now in Massachusetts,”

Since the virus is most often spread by mosquito bites in late summer and early fall, health officials are issuing urgent warnings. They want the public to be aware of the rise in infections and take extra precautions to protect themselves from mosquitoes, as the number of severe cases is also much higher than usual.

Also Read: Physiotherapists Are Not Doctors, Cannot Use ‘Dr’ Title, Rules Health Authority In India

What is West Nile Virus?

The West Nile virus is a disease that spreads to people through mosquito bites. Most of the time, people who get infected don't have any symptoms at all and don’t even know they have the virus.

Others may get a mild illness with flu-like symptoms such as headaches, body aches, joint pain, or a skin rash. However, in a small number of people, the virus can be very serious and dangerous. It can cause severe swelling of the brain or spinal cord, which can be life-threatening and may even lead to death. The concern this year is that the number of severe cases is much higher than in previous years.

Why Are Cases Up This Year?

Health officials say the problem isn't that there are more mosquitoes than in past years. Instead, it's that a higher percentage of the mosquitoes are carrying the virus and are capable of spreading it. The rate of infection in mosquitoes is affected by things like temperature and rainfall.

For example, the state of Colorado has reported a much higher number of cases, and a "hot spot" city, Fort Collins, had an unusually high rate of infected mosquitoes. The combination of a wet and warm year likely helped the virus spread more efficiently among the mosquito population.

What is The First Sign of West Nile Virus in Children?

Most people who get West Nile virus, including children, have a mild illness. Symptoms usually appear 3 to 14 days after a mosquito bite and can include:

• Fever
• Headache
• Body aches
• Skin rash
• Swollen glands

In about 1 in 150 cases, the virus can become severe, especially in people over 60. This is when the virus affects the brain or spinal cord. Symptoms of a serious infection require immediate medical attention and may include:

• High fever and severe headache
• Stiff neck
• Confusion or disorientation
• Tremors or muscle weakness
• Paralysis or coma

How to Protect Yourself from West Nile Virus?

Health officials are giving the public simple, clear advice to avoid getting sick. The best way to protect yourself is to avoid mosquito bites. You can do this by wearing long sleeves and long pants to cover your skin whenever you are outside, especially during dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active.

You should also be sure to use an insect repellent that is approved by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). These simple steps can greatly reduce your risk of getting infected. While the virus can be dangerous, taking these small, easy precautions is the best way for people to protect themselves and their families.