12/29/2023 0 Comments Fight flight freeze fawn cptsd![]() ![]() ![]() Disassociation is where we check out of ourselves in order to avoid the stressor, and a person who struggles with it might regularly feel disconnected from their surroundings, zoned out and unable to respond, or even feeling detached from reality. As a response to triggering events that resemble childhood trauma, disassociation can be one of the most harmful ways one freezes. Those who froze as a response often as children may develop a tendency towards disassociation, anxiety or panic disorders, and even post-traumatic stress disorder. In other words, a child that suffered from constant anxiety and fear due to trauma may develop a tendency to freeze as a response to triggers as an adult. Anxiety and panic are indicated as two factors that contribute to the concept of tonic immobility, or a natural state of paralysis, something that is otherwise counter-intuitive for a human in the presence of danger. When a child is subjected to emotional or physical abuse by someone or something it cannot defend itself from, they are left feeling helpless, unable to tap into the biological systems designed to assist them in either fighting or fleeing. Trauma as a child can be one of the most common causes of panic and fear. When a child isn’t able to fight or run from perceived danger, it incites a panic response, making one numb or immobile in the face of the stressor. ![]() Therefore if one felt routinely unsafe or unprotected by their parent or guardian, they could have a tendency toward this response as adults. As children, the ability to protect or defend oneself is limited and mostly reliant upon the caregiver. The freeze response is more common for those that experience a large amount of fear in response to certain stressors. Where does someone develop this tendency, how does it affect the ability to cope with stress, and how can it be avoided when it harms the mental state? Freezing in Early Development Freezing as a response to a threat might seem effective, a sort of “playing dead” in the face of danger however, in humans freezing manifests as an inability to communicate, react, or take any action of self-preservation or defense. While fight-or-flight was conceptualized as a way humans respond to certain stressful stimuli in the 1920s, the additional and perhaps less noted third response, freeze, was not widely considered until around 50 years later, and still had not been studied as widely as a response. ![]()
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