Have you found yourself regularly struggling with emotional numbness, the feeling of detachment, hyper-vigilance, or even the constant desire to people-please? Have these ongoing challenges even led you to seek substances like drugs or alcohol to cope? The experiences you’re having could be what are called trauma responses, such as fight flight freeze fawn flop, signaling the effects of unresolved trauma in your life.
Fight Flight Freeze Fawn Flop: Understanding How Trauma Responses Work
According to Mind.org, trauma is defined as experiencing a very distressing, frightening, or stressful event that is difficult to cope with or out of our control. When you experience a traumatic event, your body responds in a certain way (and the way in which you respond may vary). The various reactions you take as a result of trauma are called stress or trauma responses.
You may be familiar with some of the typical stress or trauma responses, such as a rapid heart rate, fast breathing, or even experiencing nausea. Behind the scenes, these reactions are the natural result of your body doing what’s necessary to survive in the face of a perceived threat. Such reactions occur on autopilot through your body’s autonomic nervous system, explains the University of New Hampshire, and often fall under the categories of fight flight freeze fawn flop.
Fight Flight Freeze Fawn Flop, Explained
When faced with stress or trauma, it’s only natural for your body to respond in various ways to fend off danger and return to a normal state. These reactions traditionally were described as the fight flight freeze response; however, these trauma responses are now more broadly defined as fight flight freeze fawn flop:
Fight
In the face of a threat or danger, the natural response for some people is to fight back. Of the fight flight freeze fawn flop responses, the fight response is probably most well-known. Once your fight response kicks in, you may actually get into a physical altercation with another person or resort to a shouting match as you defend yourself verbally. Some common signs of the fight response include:
- Intense anger
- Tight jaw
- Wanting to punch, stomp, or kick
- Teeth grinding
- Knots or burning in your stomach
- Crying in anger
SOURCE: WebMD
Flight
Sometimes in the face of trauma, you may instead want to run away to safety. Called the flight response, this involves leaving the situation before things escalate further. When you face a conflict or uncomfortable experience, instead of engaging the perpetrator to defend yourself, you may flee in order to put distance between yourself and the danger. A few examples of the flight response getting activated include:
- Feeling trapped, fidgety, or tense
- Moving your legs, arms, or feet constantly
- Exercising excessively
- Eye dilation
- A sense of restlessness
- Numbness in arms or legs
SOURCE: WebMD
Freeze
When you think about the traditional fight flight freeze response, freeze involves slipping into a brief state of paralysis when you can’t fight or run away. Ultimately, you feel stuck in place, so your body’s muscles may tense up. The part of your brain responsible for survival then takes over involuntarily. The freeze response is often associated with childhood trauma. Key signs of the freeze response include:
- Body and muscle tension
- Built up, but unreleased, energy
- Shallow, rapid breath
- Increased heart rate
- Hyper-alertness
SOURCE: National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine (NICABM)
Fawn
Sometimes, in the face of trauma or stress, you may feel the best way to respond is to appease or help the source of your troubles. This is called the fawn response. Within fight flight freeze fawn flop, fawn often looks like people-pleasing. Consequently, you may deny your own needs in favor of someone else’s and have a hard time saying no. This is often due to being afraid of the fallout of not keeping others happy. Common fawning examples include:
- Not setting healthy boundaries in relationships
- Making choices based on someone else’s needs instead of your own
- Holding yourself responsible for another’s behavior
- Going along with another’s preferences instead of sharing yours
SOURCE: VerywellMind
Flop
Similar to freeze, the flop trauma response is an automatic reaction that causes your muscles to relax and your body to go limp. In a way, it’s likened to “playing dead.” You stop reacting to the perceived danger or trauma, even fainting or becoming physically or mentally unresponsive as you shut down. Signs of the flop trauma response include:
- Feeling anxious or depressed
- A sense of apathy
- A lack of emotion
- Skipping out on activities, responsibilities, or events
- Disengaging from the world around you
- Fainting
Addiction and Fight Flight Freeze Fawn Flop
Once you engage in the fight flight freeze fawn flop trauma responses, the trauma or stressor eventually ends, and your body returns back to a normal, relaxed state. However, for some people, the effects of trauma linger for years, leading them to continue to experience some forms of chronic fight flight freeze fawn flop. Sadly, this can drive people to seek out substances as a way to cope, leading to addiction.
If you think you may be struggling with addiction as a result of lingering past trauma (including ACES trauma), know that there is hope. With the right professional treatment, you can break free from this vicious cycle and find long-term healing. At Sana at Stowe, our drug and alcohol addiction treatment programs take a holistic approach to recovery, addressing both your underlying trauma and the addiction itself. To learn more about how our rehabs in Vermont can help you find real peace of mind, as well as lasting sobriety, call us today.
Unsure if you’ve dealt with ACEs in your past? Take our FREE adverse childhood experiences test to find out if you may be struggling with the effects of unresolved childhood trauma—and get the clarity you need to seek help now.
