Common Responses to Stress: Fight, Flight, Freeze
Common Responses to Stress: Fight, Flight, Freeze
A herd of African antelopes graze harmoniously in the lush shrubbery when suddenly, the wind shifts, carrying a new yet familiar scent. The antelopes lift their heads, sniff slightly, and listen keenly for any cues of danger. The antelope’s initial response to danger is to not move a single muscle, to embody the statue stance, and resemble stone-stillness. Next, depending if a predator’s proximity is near, the antelope will lay down and pretend they are dead. However, if danger is off in the distance, this mammal will either prepare for battle with horns down or kick off and run like the wind.
Peter Levine, Ph.D has dedicated decades of his life studying and researching the freeze response. In his book, “Walking the Tiger: Healing Trauma. The Innate Capacity to Transform Overwhelming Experiences” he states, “All mammals instinctively enter these states of consciousness to survive.”
Humans are no different when experiencing these instincts. Often times when humans experience feeling unwanted, a freeze response will follow. When humans experience feelings of disrespect, a fight or flight response will result. These responses begin in our nervous system; neurons fire and hormones are released, then the fight, flight or freeze behaviors unconsciously and automatically happen.
But what if our perceptions of danger misfire? Or what if we perceive danger when in fact danger isn’t present? This can and will happen. Do you find your neurons “misfiring” more often than needed? Are your reactions to situations larger or more intense than necessary? Are your levels of fear internally intense and immeasurable? A remedy for this dilemma is emotional regulation. Clinical Psychologist Gross defines emotional regulation as “the process by which an individual influences which emotions they have, when they have them, and how they experience and express their feelings.”
Having defined emotional regulation, and with knowing the fact that our 3 stress/survival responses are automatic, what exactly can we do? One simple strategy to try is: immediately after you experience and feel the urge to fight, flight/run/avoid, and/or freeze/numb/shut down, you can ask yourself, “Is this threat real or perceived?” This simple internal question can ground and bring back the logic center of your brain. Just questioning the threat is an example of self-awareness.
A few more additional strategies to try are: seeking out those supports to break down or process situations, identify and name your exact feelings, delay your response times, breath, and define and label upcoming stressors to gain a sense of preparedness. Lastly, join a support group. Inner Peace and Strength is offering a therapeutic support group called “Learn to Soothe your Anxiety” where the fight, flight, and freeze responses will be discussed in detail. This support group is taking place Tuesday nights at 6:30pm now through July 27th here in Ellicottville, NY or on a virtual platform. To inquire about this opportunity, contact Laura Widger at 716-222-3949.
I leave you with a quote by Viktor Frankl: “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.”
Laura Widger is a NY State Licensed Clinical Social Worker with 15 years of experience in the field of emotional wellness and mental health. She currently works for CCA-Connecting Communities in Action and specializes in trauma healing with children and adults. She lives in Cattaraugus County with her husband, children, and German short haired dog. Laura personally and professionally strives to promote internal self leadership and the discovery of true genuineness and balance within.