On This Page:ToggleWhat is Fight or Flight?What Is Fight, Flight, or Freeze?SignsFight ResponseFlight ResponseFreeze ResponseFawn ResponseWhy it is ImportantHow to CopeWhen to Seek HelpHow Does it Work?
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It is your turn to present in front of a big crowd. While out for a walk, a dog jumps onto your path and begins barking at you. You are driving down the highway, the car in front of you suddenly stops, and you slam the brakes.
These are examples that trigger the fight or flight response (also known as the acute stress response).
What is Fight or Flight?
The term “fight-or-flight” is our engrained survival instinct and represents the options our ancient ancestors could choose when dealing with dangerous environments.
Back then, when you faced a hungry saber-tooth tiger, you could only run or fight. Many of the high-arousal situations we face in the modern world are more psychological in nature (e.g., a job interview).
American physiologist Walter Cannon coined the term after realizing that an unconscious and automatic series of fast-acting reactions occurred inside the body to help assemble resources the body needs to manage threatening circumstances.
He also called it the acute stress response. To delve into the history, in Cannon’s (1915) book,Bodily changes in pain, hunger, fear, and rage, he noted that when a predator threatened an animal.
For example, their bodies proceeded to release the hormones epinephrine and adrenaline, which triggered the fight or flight response.
What Is Fight, Flight, or Freeze?
In the years since his research, physiologists and psychologists have developed and refined Cannon’s work, coming to a better understanding of how people react to threats.
Thus defining what is now called fight, flight, freeze, and fawn:
Again, when one feels threatened, the body rapidly responds to imminent danger.
The underlying goal of springing into fight, flight, freeze, or fawn, is to decrease, end, or evade the danger to return to a state of calm and control.
Signs
The stress response occurs when the demands of the environment are greater than our perceived ability to cope with them.
The stress level depends on the individual’s perception of the event and their ability to cope with the event.
Fight Response
When you feel in danger and believe you can overpower the threat, you are in fight mode. Your brain sends signals throughout your body to rapidly prepare for the physical demands of fighting.
Most signs to tell you are in a fight response include:
Flight Response
These emotional and physical responses signify you are in flight mode:
Freeze Response
When one feels neither like fighting nor flighting, freezing is an option. This list of responses lets you know you are in freeze mode:
Fawn Response
One may use the fawn response after unsuccessfully trying to fight, flight, and freeze. The fawn response is typically prominent in people who grew up in abusive families or situations.
If you are an abused child withnarcissistic parents, the only hope of survival would probably be agreement and helpfulness.
Why it is Important
The fight or flight or freeze or fawn response has been with us since the beginning of time and still plays a crucial role in coping with stress and threats in our environment.
These triggers can help you perform better at your job or school, in a situation where you can use pressure to do well, in cases where your life is in danger, and you need to escape or defend your life.
However, while the fight or flight or freeze or fawn response happens automatically, sometimes it is activated with no real reason or danger; therefore, it is not always accurate.
Inappropriate Responses
Phobias are great examples of this concept and how the fight or flight response might be falsely activated. A person who is afraid of the ocean might experience acute stress if they go on a family cruise or visit the aquarium.
Even though typically these things are enjoyable to most of us, the person in question will experience their body going into alarm mode, with their heartbeat and respiration rate rising. If the response is severe, it can lead to a dangerouspanic attack.
This kind of response is not nearly as adaptive in the modern world; in fact, we suffer negative health consequences when faced constantly with psychological threats that we can neither fight nor flee.
How to Cope
Thoroughly understanding your body’s natural fight or flight or freeze or fawn response is a way to help cope with these kinds of situations. When you notice that your body becomes tense, there are steps you can take to try to calm and relax your body.
There is no doubt that the fight or flight response has a distinct purpose and function, but everyday situations like work, bills, kids, finances, and health, can be some of the largest, non-threatening stressors. Stress management is key to your overall health.
The stress response, and precisely the fight or flight or freeze or fawn response, is one of the major topics studied in health psychology. Experts in the field are interested in helping people discover ways to combat stress, which sometimes can be unnecessary, to live healthier, more fruitful lives.
By understanding the fight or flight or freeze or fawn trigger more, psychologists are helping people uncover new strategies for dealing with the natural reaction of stress.
When thinking about the fight or flight or freeze or fawn trigger, it is essential to think big picture when you begin to feel yourself starting to get worked up over something that you know is not a genuine threat or danger.
Learning to slow down, be aware of yourself and your surroundings, and conceptualize what is truly happening to help you regain control is vital.
When to Seek Help
When the fight or flight, freeze, or fawn response becomes overly frequent, intense, and activates at the most inappropriate times, this can imply that you are suffering from a range of clinical conditions that includemost anxiety disorders.
Again, while the fight or flight or freeze or fawn response has a clear purpose, it should not be activated whenever you do not have to defend your life.
If you feel this could be you, a valuable part of treatment for this kind of anxiety is an improved understanding of the fight or flight or freeze or fawn response’s function, purpose, and process (which is what this article is all about).
For example, patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may confuse the heightened physiological arousal as an indicator of a real threat.
If you are at a point where stress heavily impacts the quality of everyday living, contact your doctor. Medication, therapy, and stress management strategies can help you reach a more stable state of being.
Here is a specific list of symptoms; you should seek help if you experience any of the following:
Reaching out for help is always essential. If you are worried about your mental or physical state or both, be sure to make yourself a priority.
A mental health consultant can aid in rooting the underlying causes of these overwhelming feelings.
How Does it Work?
You can possibly think of a time when you encountered the fight or flight or freeze or fawn trigger.
Whether it was a physical danger (finding a predatory animal like a snake on a nature walk) or a psychological danger (asking someone out on a date), you may start breathing faster, you can feel your heartbeat quicken, and your whole body becomes tense – ready to take action if necessary.
The ANS comprises the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous systems – the fight or flight response is in the former.
Thesympathetic systemactivates and then stimulates the adrenal glands to trigger the release of catecholamines, including adrenaline and noradrenaline.
Acute stress response: Sympathomedullary PathwayWhen a stressor is perceived, the hypothalamus activates the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system. This, in turn, causes the adrenal medulla to release adrenaline into the bloodstream. This prepares the body for “fight or flight.”The adrenaline and noradrenaline increase the heart and breathing rates, the blood circulation is redirected to the skeletal muscles, and digestion stops.When the stressor subsides, theparasympatheticbranch of the nervous system is activated, the heart and breathing rate decrease, digestion restarts, and all other functions return to normal.
Acute stress response: Sympathomedullary Pathway
When a stressor is perceived, the hypothalamus activates the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system. This, in turn, causes the adrenal medulla to release adrenaline into the bloodstream. This prepares the body for “fight or flight.”
The adrenaline and noradrenaline increase the heart and breathing rates, the blood circulation is redirected to the skeletal muscles, and digestion stops.
When the stressor subsides, theparasympatheticbranch of the nervous system is activated, the heart and breathing rate decrease, digestion restarts, and all other functions return to normal.
The Physiological (Bodily) Stress Response
Here is a list of physiological signs and symptoms that can indicate whether or not the fight or flight or freeze or fawn response has kicked in:
Since everyone’s bodies are unique, the specific physiological reactions can vary, depending on how one usually responds to stress. Understandably, after you perceive the danger is gone, it can take between 20 to 60 minutes before your body is in a normal state once again.
The Psychological (Mind) Stress Response
Along with the physiological response, it is entirely possible that one may experience psychological effects too. In the form of nervousness, acute stress tends to increase the intensity of anger or movements when evading danger.
Alternatively, it could simply cause one’s mind to blank, making it impossible to think clearly and decide what to act upon next. Several psychological responses can occur anxiety, focus shifts, and attention spurts.
Both physiological and psychological stress causes one’s body and mind to move into survival mode.
The Bottom Line
Psychological or physical threats trigger the fight or flight or freeze or fawn response.
If you discover yourself experiencing the fight or flight or freeze or fawn response to extreme levels and see that you overreact to non-life-threatening situations, seek a mental health professional to help you uncover underlying causes and strategies to cope.
Now, praise yourself for taking the first step: gaining a deeper understanding of the fight or flight or freeze or fawn response.
References
Cannon, W. B. (1915). Bodily changes in pain, hunger, fear, and rage. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Schauer, M., & Elbert, T. (2010). Dissociation following traumatic stress. Journal of Psychology, 218, 109-127.
What Happens During Fight or Flight Response. (2019, December 09). Retrieved from https://health.clevelandclinic.org/what-happens-to-your-body-during-the-fight-or-flight-response/
Florence Yeung
BSc (Hons), Psychology, MSc, Clinical Mental Health Sciences
Florence Yeung is a certified Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner with three years of clinical experience in NHS primary mental health care. She is presently pursuing a ClinPsyD Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (HPFT). In her capacity as a trainee clinical psychologist, she engages in specialist placements, collaborating with diverse borough clinical groups and therapeutic orientations.
Saul McLeod, PhD
BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester
Saul McLeod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.
Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc
BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education
Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.
