Understanding the Fight, Flight and Freeze Response

When we sense danger or feel threatened, our brain and body can respond before we have time to consciously think about what to do. This automatic survival response, commonly known as fight, flight or freeze, helps prepare us to respond quickly and protect ourselves.

Although we often associate this response with physical danger, it can also be activated by situations that feel psychologically or emotionally threatening. Understanding these responses can be particularly helpful in the context of trauma, where our brain and body may continue to react to perceived threats even after the original danger has passed.

Learning how our threat response works can help us make sense of some of the physical, emotional and behavioural reactions we experience during periods of stress and following trauma.

How our brain and body respond to threat

When the brain detects a potential threat, it rapidly activates systems within the body designed to help us respond. Stress hormones such as adrenaline are released, which can increase our heart rate and breathing, tense our muscles and heighten our awareness of what is happening around us.

These changes prepare us to take protective action. Depending on the situation, this may involve confronting the threat, trying to escape it, or becoming immobilised. These are commonly known as the fight, flight and freeze responses.

Fight prepares us to defend ourselves against a perceived threat. This might involve feeling angry, irritable or tense, becoming more reactive or feeling a strong need to defend ourselves.

Flight prepares us to escape or create distance. We might feel anxious, restless or panicked, experience an urge to leave, or avoid situations that feel unsafe.

Freeze may occur when confronting or escaping a threat feels impossible. Someone might feel stuck or numb, have difficulty thinking or speaking, or feel disconnected from what is happening around them.

Importantly, these responses are not necessarily conscious choices. They reflect ways our brain and body attempt to protect us when danger is perceived.

Fight, flight and freeze can play a protective role during traumatic experiences, helping us respond to situations that feel threatening or overwhelming. However, these responses can sometimes still be activated after the immediate danger has passed.

When our internal alarm goes off

Our fight, flight or freeze response can be thought of a little like a smoke alarm. A smoke alarm is designed to protect us from fire, but it may also be triggered by burnt toast. It responds because it detects potential danger, even when there isn't a fire.

Our brain and body can respond similarly. Following trauma, our brain and body may perceive things associated with what happened as signs of danger, activating a fight, flight or freeze response even when we are currently safe. A sound, smell, sensation, place or interaction may become associated with danger and activate our internal alarm.

Sometimes the connection between what has triggered us and how we are feeling is clear. At other times, we may experience a strong emotional or physical response without immediately understanding why.

What can help?

When our threat response is activated, grounding strategies that bring our attention to the present moment and our surroundings may help us reconnect with the here and now. Different strategies work for different people, and the aim is not necessarily to eliminate distress, but to support ourselves as our bodies begin to settle.

Psychological therapy can also help us better understand our responses, develop strategies for managing distress and process experiences that continue to affect us. For some people, this may include trauma-focused approaches such as Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), which our psychologists at Sellick Psychology are trained in. You can learn more about EMDR and how it works in our previous blog post.

Our fight, flight and freeze responses are designed to protect us from danger. Understanding how these responses work can help us make sense of why our brain and body sometimes react the way they do, particularly following trauma.