{"id":121358,"date":"2021-01-07T11:00:03","date_gmt":"2021-01-07T11:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/?p=121358"},"modified":"2023-03-06T11:47:41","modified_gmt":"2023-03-06T11:47:41","slug":"freeze-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/freeze-response.htm","title":{"rendered":"The Freeze Response – Known to Numb Out Under Stress?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"freeze<\/a>

By: Francisca Ulloa<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

by Andrea M. Darcy<\/span><\/p>\n

When bad things happen, does your <\/strong>mind suddenly go blank? Do you feel tired<\/a>? And just end up not responding? <\/span><\/p>\n

Your brain might use ‘the freeze response’ in the face of stress<\/a>. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Fight or flight<\/span><\/h2>\n

The way we respond to perceived danger was long called <\/strong>the \u2018fight of flight\u2019 response<\/a>. This idea was coined way back in the 1920s by psychologist William James and physiologist Carl Lange<\/a>, who declared that emotions are merely the result of physiological (bodily) reactions to events.<\/p>\n

The idea of ‘fight or flight’ is pretty much what it says. If we are faced with<\/strong> danger, we run away, or stay and fight.<\/p>\n

What is the freeze response?<\/h2>\n

Of course much has been learned since the days of Lange and James. We now know,\u00a0<\/strong>for example, that emotions are more complicated things than merely a response to physical experiences.<\/p>\n

And a third response to stress has been recognised,\u00a0<\/strong>called the ‘freeze response’. You don’t run away or fight, you instead become immobile.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

An example of fight, flight, or freeze<\/h2>\n

If a colleague suddenly explodes on you, <\/strong>furious you got the promotion they wanted, you might yell back and stand your ground. This is fight mode<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Or you might just back off and walk away, telling them to talk to you when they have calmed down<\/a>. This is flight mode<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then again, you might be the type who goes totally still and silent and just lets your<\/strong> colleague<\/a> rain down his anger<\/a> on you, as you feel more and more detached and unable to respond. You might even dissociate<\/a>, feeling very calm and as if you are watching yourself from outside of yourself. This is the freeze response.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The freeze response can also be an ‘in addition to’. You might freeze but then flee, or <\/strong>flee and then freeze. You walk away from your colleague and sit at your desk, numb and unable to move or have a coherent thought for a good half hour.<\/p>\n

A study looking at the human freeze response<\/span><\/a> in the face of a threatening stressor saw participants trapped in a device that administered a dose of CO2. The study produced an unexpected link between the freeze mode and a desire to flee. It seemed that panic and a desire to flee increased the belief that one was unable to move. [1]<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Symptoms of the freeze response<\/span><\/h2>\n

In the face of any stress, you will find that you: <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n