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Trauma refers to a deeply distressing or disturbing experience that can have lasting effects on a person’s mental, emotional, or physical well-being. It often arises from situations that overwhelm a person’s ability to cope, leading to feelings of helplessness, fear, or intense emotional pain. Trauma can result from a wide range of events, such as:

Physical or sexual abuse

Violence or assault

Natural disasters or accidents

Loss of a loved one

Chronic stress or neglect

War or conflict

There are two broad types of trauma:

1. Acute trauma: A single, overwhelming event, like a car accident or the death of a loved one.

2. Chronic trauma: Repeated or prolonged exposure to distressing events, like ongoing abuse or living in a war zone.

Trauma can affect individuals in many ways, including through:

Emotional responses: Anxiety, depression, anger, or numbness.

Physical symptoms: Fatigue, headaches, sleep disturbances, or a weakened immune system.

Cognitive changes: Difficulty concentrating, intrusive thoughts, or flashbacks.

Behavioral changes: Avoidance, withdrawal, or changes in relationships.

Trauma can lead to conditions like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), but not everyone who experiences trauma will develop PTSD. Healing and recovery often require professional support, self-care, and time, as the effects of trauma can be complex and deeply personal.

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The flight response is a physiological reaction that occurs when an individual perceives a threat or danger, activating the sympathetic nervous system as part of the fight-or-flight response. In this state, the body prepares to escape or avoid the danger by increasing energy and alertness. Key features of the flight response include:

1. Increased heart rate - to pump more oxygen-rich blood to muscles.

2. Rapid breathing - to take in more oxygen.

3. Release of adrenaline - to heighten alertness and energy.

4. Redirected blood flow - away from non-essential functions like digestion.

5. Heightened senses - to detect escape routes and evade danger.

This response is an evolutionary survival mechanism designed to help organisms quickly react to life-threatening situations.

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Calming the flight response involves activating the parasympathetic nervous system, which counteracts the stress response and promotes relaxation. Here are effective strategies:

1. Deep Breathing • Practice slow, deep breaths (e.g., inhaling for 4 counts, holding for 4 counts, exhaling for 4 counts). This lowers heart rate and reduces stress hormones.

2. Grounding Techniques • Focus on the present moment using the 5-4-3-2-1 method: identify 5 things you see, 4 you can touch, 3 you hear, 2 you smell, and 1 you taste.

3. Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) • Tense and relax each muscle group systematically to release physical tension.

4. Mindfulness or Meditation • Practice being present without judgment through meditation or mindfulness exercises to calm the mind.

5. Physical Activity • Gentle exercises like walking, yoga, or stretching help burn off excess adrenaline and reduce nervous energy.

6. Visualization • Imagine a calm, safe place or pleasant scenario to shift focus from stress.

7. Soothing Environment • Create a relaxing atmosphere with dim lighting, calming scents, or soft music. 8. Social Connection • Talk to someone you trust. Connection with others can help regulate stress responses. Consistently practicing these techniques can help train the body to manage stress more effectively.

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Calming the “Flight” Response: Anxiety, Avoidance, and Feeling Safe | Being Well

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Crisis fatigue refers to the physical and mental exhaustion from prolonged stress and trauma, due to difficult or ongoing crises, such as wars, pandemics, natural disasters, or economic instability. Not only does it manifest in symptoms like fatigue, but sleep, appetite changes, emotional numbness, anxiety, and difficulty concentrating as well. Frontline workers and those directly impacted by the crisis are especially vulnerable. The constant stress response, triggered by a situation, can lead to lasting health issues, including trauma and PTSD. Coping strategies include taking breaks, disconnecting from media, maintaining routines, seeking support, and engaging in hobbies or physical activity.

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Crisis fatigue: Definition, symptoms, and how to cope

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Crisis fatigue is the result of ongoing stress, which can lead to tiredness, changes in appetite, and disrupted sleep. Learn about how to cope here.

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Childhood Trauma and Risk for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

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Childhood Trauma and Risk for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

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Childhood trauma can lead to the risk of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), affecting up to 2.5% of U.S. adults and resulting in significant economic loss. Identifying risk factors is crucial for understanding CFS and developing prevention strategies. Risk factors include female gender, genetics, certain personality traits, and exposure to physical or emotional stressors. Stress, particularly in combination with other risk factors, may trigger CFS by affecting the central nervous, neuroendocrine, and immune systems, leading to symptoms like fatigue, cognitive impairment, and pain. Abuse or neglect can be a probable cause to individuals by disrupting their ability to adapt to stress.

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Childhood Trauma and Risk for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

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Context Childhood trauma appears to be a potent risk factor for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Evidence from developmental neuroscience suggests that early experience programs the development of regulatory systems that are implicated in the pathophysiology of CFS, including the…

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In this article Bachert says, "The flop trauma response is when our body shuts down as a coping mechanism for dealing with distress." This usually results in the individual becoming both physically and mentally unresponsive as a means to cope with the distress. Even in animals, it can be seen as a natural response, notably in opossums who play dead and become unresponsive when faced with a threat. The mental and physical disconnect can lessen the impact of the situation, and is used as a defense mechanism to protect the mind from further harm. This kind of trauma response, under severe stress, can manifest as the individual losing consciousness or fainting when faced with a stressor. For example, someone fainting due to hearing the news of a loved one's passing.

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With the flop response, a person may become physically or mentally unresponsive in order to protect themself from a traumatic event.

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Fawning is described as a trauma response characterized by the suppression of an individual's own needs in favor of the needs of other people, feeling responsible for other people's emotions, having their voice unheard and keeping silent, and having unclear boundaries. Fawning as a trauma response develops when it has worked in the past against a traumatic situation, where fawning had led them to avoid further danger. Habits like being unable to say no, and being overly friendly to your own physical and mental detriment can be classified as fawning trauma response. Survivors of abuse are likely going to need a lot of social support and therapy in order to reduce the resurgence of these behaviors, because no matter how nice fawning might make a person seem, it's taxing both physically and mentally on the individual.

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Fawning As a Trauma Response | All Points North

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Fawning is a trauma response that uses people-pleasing behavior to appease or supplicate an aggressor, avoid conflict, and ensure safety.

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Stuck in Time: Understanding the Freeze Trauma Response

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Understanding the freeze trauma response requires exploring its biological, psychological, and emotional dimensions. At its core, the freeze response is an involuntary survival mechanism triggered by the perception of extreme danger. Unlike the fight or flight responses, which involve active engagement with a threat, freezing is characterized by stillness and immobility. It is often referred to as the body’s way of “playing dead,” a strategy seen in many animals to avoid detection or harm. While this response can be lifesaving in certain situations, it can have complex consequences for humans, especially when it occurs during trauma.

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Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you felt completely paralyzed-unable to speak, move, or even think clearly? Maybe you were in a stressful meeting, a heated argument, or even just standing in front of a crowd. Instead of reacting, your body seemed to betray you, freezing in place as if time itself had stopped. This moment of immobility, where your mind and body seem disconnected, is a common reaction to extreme stress or perceived danger. It's known as the freeze response, and it's something many people experience, often without fully understanding what's happening to them.

This article will explore the freeze trauma response in depth, helping you understand why it happens, how it manifests in your daily life, and what you can do to move forward.
What You'll Learn in This Article:

What Is the Freeze Response?: A closer look at how and why this survival mechanism kicks in.

Why Do People Experience the Freeze Response?: The connection between past trauma and current reactions.

How to Recognize When You're Stuck in Freeze Mode: Identifying the physical and emotional signs.

Healing and Moving Forward: Practical steps and therapies that can help you regain your sense of safety and control.

Counseling Associates for Well-Being: Discover how our experienced team can support you in navigating trauma responses and guide you toward healing.

If you've ever felt trapped by your own reactions, know that you're not alone. Understanding the freeze response is the first step on your healing journey, and with the right support, you can find ways to break free from feeling stuck. Keep reading to learn more about this common, yet often misunderstood, reaction to stress and trauma.

Frozen in Fear: What Is the Freeze Response?

The freeze response is one of the body's natural reactions to perceived danger, standing alongside the more widely known fight and flight responses. When faced with a threatening situation, our bodies are designed to protect us, often without conscious thought. While fighting back or running away might seem like obvious reactions, sometimes the body chooses a different route: freezing in place.

Research by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) indicates that this response is part of the body's automatic threat detection system, rooted in our survival instincts. According to the NIMH, nearly 6% of U.S. adults will experience PTSD at some point in their lives, with freeze being a common response to such traumatic events.

This automatic response can make a person feel like time has stopped, their mind and body caught in a moment of suspended animation. This is a common reaction to trauma or extreme stress, but it's often misunderstood or overlooked.

Physiologically, the freeze response involves the nervous system going into overdrive. The sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the fight or flight reactions, is activated, but instead of preparing the body to move, it triggers a shutdown. Muscles tense, breathing becomes shallow, and the person may feel numb or detached from their surroundings. This reaction is an involuntary one, meaning it's not something a person can control or decide against. It's the body's automatic attempt to protect itself, even if the threat is emotional rather than physical.

Signs of the Freeze Response

The freeze response can manifest in various ways, both physically and emotionally. Some common signs include:

Physical immobility: Feeling stuck or unable to move, as though your body is frozen in place.

Muscle tension: Tightly clenched muscles, often accompanied by a sensation of being locked in place.

Shallow breathing: Breathing that becomes rapid or shallow, sometimes almost imperceptible.

Numbness or detachment: A sense of being disconnected from your surroundings or your own body, sometimes described as a "blank stare."

Dilated pupils: The body's heightened sense of awareness can cause pupils to dilate, even in normal lighting conditions.

Loss of control: Feeling as though you can't control your body or your reactions, leading to a sense of helplessness.

Additional Reading: Discover more signs of trauma in The Silent Unburdening: Signs Your Body Is Releasing Trauma.

Understanding that the freeze response is a natural reaction to overwhelming experiences can be the first step towards healing. It's not a sign of weakness or failure, but rather an indication that your body is trying to protect you. By learning to recognize the signs and understanding why this response occurs, you can begin to explore strategies for moving forward and regaining a sense of control in your life.

Why Do People Experience the Freeze Response?

The freeze response is often rooted in past traumatic experiences. When someone has faced significant trauma, such as childhood abuse, sexual assault, or domestic violence, their body and mind can become conditioned to freeze when faced with situations that feel even remotely similar, even if they're not actually dangerous. This is a common reaction among trauma survivors, as their nervous systems have been trained to respond this way in the presence of perceived danger.

Common triggers for the freeze response can include:

Stressful situations: Even everyday stressors, like a difficult conversation with a partner, can activate this response.

Reminders of past trauma: Sights, sounds, or even smells that recall a previous traumatic event can trigger the freeze response.

Overwhelming emotions: Intense feelings of anxiety, panic attacks, or a sense of dread can cause someone to freeze.

The impact of the freeze response on daily life can be significant. It can lead to difficulties in relationships, where a person may struggle to communicate or assert themselves. At work, it can cause issues with decision-making or meeting deadlines. Over time, this response can contribute to chronic stress, mental health conditions like anxiety disorders, and a reduced quality of life.

Understanding these triggers and their effects is an important step towards healing. If you recognize these signs in yourself, know that support is available, and therapies like CBT or EMDR can help you regain control.

Exploring Other Trauma Responses: The Fawn and Flight Reactions

While the freeze response is one way our bodies react to trauma, it's not the only one. People can also experience what's known as the fawn or flight responses. Understanding these can give you a fuller picture of how trauma affects us and why we might react in certain ways.

The flight response is what happens when your instinct is to escape the situation. Imagine feeling a sudden urge to run away, avoid conflict, or distance yourself from a stressful environment. This reaction is your body's way of trying to protect you by physically or emotionally removing you from what it perceives as danger. While sometimes useful, it can lead to chronic anxiety, avoidance behaviors, and difficulties in relationships or work.

On the other hand, the fawn response is less about escaping and more about trying to appease or please others to avoid conflict. If you find yourself constantly putting others' needs above your own, saying "yes" when you want to say "no," or feeling overly concerned with making others happy, you might be experiencing the fawn response. This can stem from past traumatic experiences, especially in relationships where you felt powerless or afraid of angering someone else.

Recognizing these responses is the first step in understanding your behavior and finding healthier ways to cope. Whether you're noticing flight, fawn, or freeze tendencies in your life, there are treatments and strategies that can help you regain a sense of control and improve your overall well-being.

Healing Freeze Trauma Response

Healing from the freeze response involves more than just recognizing when it happens; it's about creating a supportive environment that allows for recovery and growth. Support from friends, family, and mental health professionals is crucial. Surrounding yourself with understanding and patient people can make a world of difference as you work through your trauma responses.

Therapeutic approaches can be incredibly effective in addressing the freeze response and other trauma-related issues. Some of the most effective therapies include:

These therapies are backed by extensive research and have been shown to help trauma survivors regain a sense of control over their lives.

Practical tips for coping in the moment include:

Grounding exercises: Techniques like feeling the floor beneath your feet or holding a cold object can help bring you back to the present.

Mindfulness practices: Meditation and deep breathing exercises like 4-7-8 breathing can calm the nervous system. Try inhaling for 4 seconds, holding for 7, and exhaling for 8. This can reduce anxiety and help you feel more centered.

Seeking professional help: Regular sessions with a therapist trained in trauma can guide you through your healing journey.

Additional Reading: Read more about Meditation and Mindfulness for Trauma Treatment.

By integrating these practices into your daily life, you can gradually reduce the frequency and intensity of the freeze response. Healing is a process, but with the right support and tools, it's entirely possible to move forward and improve your quality of life.

Begin Your Healing Journey with Counseling Associates for Well-Being

At Counseling Associates for Well-Being, we specialize in helping people navigate a wide range of emotional and relational challenges. Whether you're dealing with trauma, depression, or anxiety, our team is here to support you. We understand that life can present overwhelming experiences, but you don't have to face them alone.

If you recognize yourself in any of the scenarios we've discussed-whether it's feeling stuck in freeze mode, struggling with chronic stress, or dealing with anxiety-we encourage you to reach out. Professional help is available, and taking that first step towards healing can make all the difference in your quality of life. Our team is committed to helping you regain a sense of safety, control, and well-being in your life.

Don't wait to get the support you deserve. Contact us today to schedule a consultation and start your journey toward healing and well-being.

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Top 3 Therapies for Overcoming Freeze Trauma Response

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Learn how to manage the freeze trauma response with easy-to-follow tips. Discover what causes this reaction, how it affects you, and practical ways to heal.

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Psychologically, the freeze response is closely associated with trauma, particularly in situations where neither fighting or fleeing is a viable option. This response is common in individuals who have experienced events such as abuse, assault, or other forms of violence. During these experiences, the brain’s amygdala, which processes fear, signals the body to freeze as a last-resort survival mechanism. While this response may have been protective at the moment of the trauma, it can have lingering effects. For instance, individuals may struggle with feelings of helplessness, shame, or self-blame, especially if they do not understand that the freeze response is involuntary and beyond their control.

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Almost everyone is familiar with the fight-flight response-your reaction to a stimulus perceived as an imminent threat to your survival. However, less well-known is the fight-flight- freeze response, which adds a crucial dimension to how you're likely to react when the situation confronting you overwhelms your coping capacities and leaves you paralyzed in fear.

Here, in brief, is how the survival-oriented acute stress response operates. Accurately or not, if you assess the immediately menacing force as something you potentially have the power to defeat, you go into fight mode. In such instances, the hormones released by your sympathetic nervous system-especially adrenaline-prime you to do battle and, hopefully, triumph over the hostile entity. Conversely, if you view the antagonistic force as too powerful to overcome, your impulse is to outrun it (and the faster the better). And this, of course, is the flight response, also linked to the instantaneous ramping up of your emergency biochemical supplies-so that, ideally, you can escape from this adversarial power (whether it be human, animal, or some calamity of nature).

So where, in what you perceive as a dire threat, is the totally disabling freeze response? By default, this reaction refers to a situation in which you've concluded (in a matter of seconds-if not milliseconds) that you can neither defeat the frighteningly dangerous opponent confronting you nor safely bolt from it. And ironically, this self-paralyzing response can in the moment be just as adaptive as either valiantly fighting the enemy or, more cautiously, fleeing from it.

Consider situations in which, realistically, there's no way you can defend yourself. You have neither the hormone-assisted strength to respond aggressively to the inimical force nor the anxiety-driven speed to free yourself from it. You feel utterly helpless: neither fight nor flight is viable, and there's no one on the scene to rescue you.

Say, you're attacked by a ferocious dog who's sunk his teeth into your neck and you're totally at his mercy. Or a child suddenly finding yourself captive to a vicious bully who's pulled you to the ground and is pummeling you with all his might. Or a victim of a sexual predator who's overpowered you and literally taken custody of your body. Or maybe you're trapped by a fast-moving natural disaster rendering you completely helpless-like an avalanche, earthquake, hurricane, tsunami, etc. Or finally, because of your age or highly suggestible state of mind, you're just imagining that your mortal welfare is at risk and that you're helpless to do anything about it.

In such alarming instances, you'd experience trepidation, panic, horror, dread. And these extreme feelings would be so fraught with anxiety, so laden with terror, that almost no one is " gifted" with the resources required to stay fully in the present-which is precisely what's needed to "process" to emotional and physical completion, or release, what so frighteningly besieges you.

Under such unnerving circumstances, "freezing up" or "numbing out"-in a word, dissociating from the here and now-is about the only and (in various instances), best thing you can do. Being physically, mentally, and emotionally immobilized by your consternation permits you not to feel the harrowing enormity of what's happening to you, which in your hyperaroused state might threaten your very sanity. In such instances some of the chemicals (i.e., endorphins) you thereby secrete function as an analgesic, so the pain of any injury (to your body or psyche) is experienced with far less intensity.

Additionally, if you're not putting up a fight, the person or animal aggressing against you just might lose interest in continuing their attack. But whatever the provocation, if you can't make the assailant disappear, you're much better off "disappearing" yourself, by blocking out what's much too scary to take in. So, in its own way, the freeze response to trauma is-if only at the time-quite as adaptive as the fight/flight response.

Keep in mind that if you're a small child, your developmental capacity to protect yourself is markedly limited. So, rationally or not, you're likely to experience a whole host of situations as threatening to your survival. Merely a look of rejection or scorn in the eyes of a disapproving parent, for instance, can make you feel so uncared for, so unloved and abandoned, that you may feel compelled to numb yourself out. And this is why the freeze response occurs far more commonly in children than in adults.

Once you grow up, though, and your size, strength, cognitive development and emotional resources far transcend what you possessed as a child, your capability of dealing with ominous forces is far greater than it was earlier, when you felt profoundly more vulnerable. And herein lies the dilemma of your original freeze response.

That is, such "paralyzing" psychological phenomena as phobias, panic attacks, obsessive- compulsive behaviors, and various anxiety states can frequently be understood as symptoms of a freeze response that never had the chance to "let go" or "thaw out" once the original experience was over. And many features of post-traumatic stress disorder directly relate to this kind of unrectified trauma.

Though it's almost always entirely unconscious, some circumstance in the here-and-now can remind you of a trauma suffered years (sometimes, many, many years) ago. Never fully "discharged," the original fear or panic linked to that memory compels you to react to the current-day trigger as though what happened in the past is- right now -happening all over again. And so your original reaction of self-paralysis-however mystifying it may be to you, and to those around you-can't help but repeat itself. Your mind goes completely blank, your rational faculties missing in action.

This is why what was adaptive as a child-that is, dissociating from an event vastly beyond your capacity to handle-can become so frustratingly maladaptive as an adult. Paradoxically, at its extreme, a reaction of dissociation could be not at all life-preserving but, in fact, life- threatening. For when you're stymied by inappropriate, exaggerated fear, you're in no position to act sensibly to whatever might be menacing you.

It's been postulated that dissociating in the midst of a traumatic experience is the foremost predictor for developing PTSD symptoms later on (see, e.g., van der Kolk & van der Hart, 1989). And, as already pointed out, young children are particularly disposed to dissociate during episodes of trauma. So, for instance, a child who "froze" during incidents of frightening family abuse is, as an adult, especially susceptible to experience the freezing reaction again. And sometimes the current stimulus for such retraumatization isn't anything specific. It may simply emanate from being in a state of highly exacerbated stress, which itself serves as an unconscious reminder of the acute stress linked to the initial trauma.

So if any of the above descriptions describe you (or someone you care about), I can hardly overemphasize how useful it might be to seek professional help. That way you can finally "put to rest" what, at the time of its first occurrence, you weren't able to. Through combining psychology with basic principles of biophysics, what a large variety of trauma resolution methods make possible (e.g., Sensorimotor Processing, EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, etc.) is the opportunity to release the residual tension (or internal energy) that was left unresolved even after the actual trauma was over.

Finally, many chronic, stress-related diseases are now postulated by trauma experts as representing somatic manifestations of past unrectified trauma (see, e.g., R. C. Scaer's The Body Bears the Burden: Trauma, Dissociation, and Disease, 2001). It may, therefore, be invaluable to find a qualified practitioner to assist you in locating just where in your body this frozen energy still resides. And then help you-at long last-to discharge it.

NOTE 1: If you found this post instructive and think others mights as well, please consider passing on its link.

NOTE 2: To check out other articles I've written for Psychology Todayonline-on a wide variety of psychological subjects-click here.

© 2015 Leon F. Seltzer, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved.

--- To be notified whenever I post something new, I invite readers to join me on Facebook-as well as on Twitter where, additionally, you can follow my sometimes unorthodox psychological (and philosophical) musings.

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Trauma and the Freeze Response: Good, Bad, or Both?

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Almost everyone is familiar with the fight-flight response-your reaction to a stimulus perceived as an imminent threat to your survival. However, less well-known is the fight-flight-freeze response, which adds a crucial dimension to how you're likely to react when the situation confronting you overwhelms your coping capacities and leaves you paralyzed in fear.