Fight or Flight

It wasn't until yesterday that I actually realized something about myself. When I was really shy being around certain people would cause me to have a physiological reaction. There would be a surge of something in my body that would make my heart race, my palms would get sweaty, and I would generally get anxious. I had this same reaction about a month ago when I asked a question in a big lecture hall. I also have this reaction to my ex now when I hear him coming up the stairs when I'm home. Its interesting that I've read enough about the human fight or flight response system but never applied that to my own situation. As a shy person, people evoked my fight or flight response. Asking a question to a prominent faculty member in the presence of hundreds of people did the same thing. And now that my ex and I are broken up, dealing with his presence evokes the same response. But just as I overcame my shyness I'm slowly learning how to not run away from emotional situations.