Fight-Flight-Freeze: Your Body’s Automatic Response to Stress
Key takeaways:
The fight-flight-freeze response is an automatic reaction that happens when you encounter a stressful event.
In modern life, many of the stressors we encounter are chronic, which can lead to staying in fight-flight-freeze mode for long periods of time.
Deep breathing, mindfulness, and grounding techniques can help you cope with stress and recover from a fight-flight-freeze response.
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If you’re driving on the highway and a car unexpectedly swerves into your lane, you may quickly accelerate or brake to avoid a collision. You usually react without really thinking about what you’re doing until the moment has passed. By moving your vehicle out of danger, you’re responding instinctively to a threat and preserving your safety.
This automatic response to danger is an example of your fight-flight-freeze response, or survival reaction. It’s an important defense system built into all animals to stay alive.
What is the fight-flight-freeze response?
Your fight-flight-freeze response is an automatic reaction to danger that evolved as a key survival tool. It has existed for hundreds of thousands of years and dates back to when humans needed to escape from wild animals or react during tribal battles. The response promotes survival by getting your body ready to react to a life-threatening situation in a split second.
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When you’re faced with danger or a threat, you may react to the situation in one of a few ways. Based on a rapid threat assessment, your brain and body will automatically decide how to best respond to the situation. The most well-known survival responses are:
Fight: Defending yourself from an attack
Flee (flight): Running away from danger
Freeze: Remaining paralyzed or unable to react to a threat
As researchers learn more about the brain’s reaction to a threat, they have added a fourth type of survival response. It has been referred to as “tend-and-befriend,” attach/cry for help, or the fawn response. All have a similar meaning: You choose to go along with what an attacker wants so they see you as an ally. If you can convince your attacker that you are both on the same team, they may be less likely to hurt you.
Common examples of fight-flight-freeze responses
Your response to a threat will depend on the situation. Most of the time, you will react instinctively, without thinking about what to do. Here are some examples of what this could look like:
Fight: If someone smaller than you tries to steal your wallet, you may try to scare them off by threatening them with force.
Flight: If you’re hiking and come across a bear, you may quickly turn around and leave.
Freeze: If someone points a gun at you, you may be so frightened that you stand still.
Fawn: If you’re in an abusive relationship, you may say yes to certain things to appease your partner so they don’t get angry.
How the fight-flight-freeze response affects your nervous system
The nervous system includes your brain and spinal cord. It controls all of your body’s main functions, including the fight-flight-freeze response. When you pick up on something that could be dangerous, the amygdala, a part of the brain involved in emotion processing, becomes activated. The amygdala sends a warning signal to another part of the brain called the hypothalamus.
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The hypothalamus is like your brain’s command center. It oversees its most important functions. When the hypothalamus receives a distress signal from the amygdala, it triggers the fight-flight-freeze response. It does this by activating your autonomic nervous system (ANS), a part of the nervous system that functions without you having to think about it. The ANS is divided into two branches — the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
Your body’s sympathetic nervous system is designed to help you take action. It sends a message to your adrenal glands to release the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline. This surge prompts you to react by defending yourself or running away.
When your ANS is responding to a potential danger, you may notice these fight-or-flight symptoms:
Faster heart rate
Rapid breathing
Muscle tension
Increased blood pressure
Sweating
If your automatic defense system determines you can’t safely flee or fight, it may instead respond with freeze mode. In this case, your parasympathetic nervous system jumps in to put the “brakes” on your ability to act. It slows down your heart rate and causes you to have a freeze response.
The freeze response acts as a protective measure by reducing the amount of pain you may feel. And similar to an animal “playing dead” in hopes its attacker will leave it alone, the freeze response has a similar effect in humans.
What triggers the fight-flight-freeze survival response?
Today, your fight-flight-freeze response is often triggered by threats that are very different from what people experienced hundreds of thousands of years ago. In fact, many of the situations that your brain interprets as “threats” aren’t truly life-threatening. But your built-in survival system still experiences fear and kicks off the fight-flight-freeze reaction, just as if your life were in danger.
Modern stressors that can trigger fight-or-flight might include:
Getting stuck in traffic
Experiencing constant on-the-job stress
Worrying about your finances
Arguing with your partner
Can you get stuck in fight-flight-freeze mode?
In some cases, your nervous system may get “stuck” in fight-flight-freeze mode. The fight-flight-freeze response is intended as a way to get you out of danger. Once you are out of harm's way, your parasympathetic nervous system should help you recover and return back to your baseline. But when you’re faced with chronic stress, your nervous system may have trouble getting out of fight-or-flight.
Chronic stress impacts nearly every system in the body. It may lead to stress-induced health problems, including:
Trouble sleeping
Social withdrawal
Trouble thinking, concentrating, or learning new information
It’s also important to note that many modern-day traumatic events are serious or life-threatening. Abuse, a natural disaster, community violence, or military combat, for example, are all major traumas that are likely to trigger your survival defenses.
How do I get my body out of fight-flight-freeze mode?
If you’re still feeling revved up after an upsetting moment passes, there are techniques that can help you get out of fight-flight-freeze mode. These same coping skills may also help lower your stress levels in general.
Breathing exercises
When we’re in fight or flight, our breath tends to be fast and shallow. This form of breathing is mainly through the chest. Deep breathing exercises use the diaphragm, which helps your body recover from fight-flight-freeze mode.
There are many different types of breathing exercises that can help:
Square breathing: Picture a square in your mind. As you inhale, count to four and imagine drawing a line down the left vertical side of a square. As you exhale, count to four and imagine continuing that line on the top horizontal part of the square. Now inhale again for a count of four as you draw the right vertical side. Lastly, exhale for four and draw the bottom horizontal line. Continue this pattern for several more rounds.
Breath counting: Starting with 1, count your inhales and exhales. Take long, deep breaths. When you make your way to 10, start over at 1 again.
Affirmation breathing: This breathing exercise involves combining deep breathing with an affirmation. As you inhale, say in your mind, “I am.” As you release the air, say, “at peace.” You can also change the affirmation to, “I am enough,” “I am strong,” or something else that resonates for you.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness involves paying attention to the present moment, rather than replaying the past or worrying about the future. Practicing mindfulness is another way to help yourself recover from the fight-flight-freeze response.
Mindfulness can be practiced as a meditation. It is also a part of yoga, where you bring your attention to your breathing and the sensations of the poses in your body. You can also practice mindfulness informally throughout your day by bringing your attention to the present moment. Even everyday activities like eating or walking can be turned into mindfulness.
Grounding
Grounding, similar to mindfulness, helps you reconnect with a sense of safety using your senses. It can be as simple as taking a moment and feeling your feet flat on the floor. You can also practice grounding more formally.
Common grounding techniques include:
5-4-3-2-1 exercise: To practice this technique, take a deep breath and name five things you see, four you touch or feel, three you hear, two you smell, and one you can taste.
Journaling: Journaling your thoughts and feelings can also be a grounding activity. As you write, notice what comes up for you, without judgment. Also take note of how your hands feel writing or typing and any other sensations that you have.
Moving around: Sometimes it helps to get your body moving. Consider something active like taking a walk, dancing, or doing dishes. Try to fully immerse your senses in your activity of choice.
The relationship between fight-or-flight survival and PTSD
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that can develop after a person witnesses or experiences a traumatic event. When a traumatic event occurs, it triggers the fight-flight-freeze response.
People with PTSD may have trouble moving past what they’ve experienced or witnessed. They may relive the moment, which triggers the fight-flight-freeze response again and again.
If you’re struggling after a stressful or traumatic incident, reach out to a healthcare provider. They will be able to assess you for PTSD and discuss treatments that can be helpful. Therapy and medication help many people recover from PTSD and other traumatic events.
To search for a mental health professional in your area, ask your primary care provider for a recommendation or contact your health insurance company. You can also search online using therapist databases such as:
Gaylesta (LGBTQ-friendly therapists)
InnoPsych (BIPOC therapists)
Open Path Psychotherapy Collective (low-cost therapy)
The bottom line
The fight-flight-freeze response evolved as a way to help you react quickly and automatically to dangerous or threatening situations.
In today’s world, we no longer come across the same threats as our ancestors. But our nervous system still responds in the same way. Events like abuse, natural disasters, and even daily stressors like commuting to work can trigger our fight-flight-freeze response. This can lead to chronic stress and other health problems.
Using calming practices before, during, and after a stressful event can help you recover and minimize any long-term effects of a chronic fight-flight-freeze response.
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References
American Psychological Association. (2023). Stress effects on the body.
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Echouffo-Tcheugui, J. B., et al. (2018). Circulating cortisol and cognitive and structural brain measures. Neurology.
Harvard Health Publishing. (2020). Understanding the stress response.
Kozlowska, K., et al. (2015). Fear and the defense cascade: Clinical implications and management. Harvard Review of Psychiatry.
Mirgain, S. A., et al. (2016). Breathing. U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, Whole Health Library.
National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine. (n.d.). A mistake practitioners might make when their patient is stuck in the ‘attach/cry-for-help’ response.
Powell, A. (2018). Health and medicine: When science meets mindfulness. The Harvard Gazette.
Roelofs, K. (2017). Freeze for action: Neurobiological mechanisms in animal and human freezing. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences.
Smith, S. (2018). 5-4-3-2-1 coping technique for anxiety. University of Rochester Medical Center, Behavioral Health Partners.
Taylor, S. E., et al. (2000). Biobehavioral responses to stress in females: Tend-and-befriend, not fight-or-flight. Psychological Review.
Zingela, Z., et al. (2022). The psychological and subjective experience of catatonia: A qualitative study. BioMed Central Psychology.
For additional resources or to connect with mental health services in your area, call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357. For immediate assistance, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988, or text HOME to 741-741 to reach the Crisis Text Line.
