The Four Fear Responses: Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn

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Theemotion of fearis a core part of the human experience. Our brains are wired to experience fear as a way to warn us that we might be in danger, such as when faced with a bear in the woods. But what happens when we feel afraid?

Discover how this emotion impacts the brain and the responses this can create, namely fight, flight, freeze, and fawn. Continue reading to also learn whether we can change our fear responses when faced with scary situations.

At a GlanceThe four fear responses are fight, flight, freeze, and fawn. These responses are how our brain keeps us safe in potentially dangerous situations. Understanding the mechanisms behind them can help us be aware of and regulate our emotions in an appropriate and healthy way.

At a Glance

The four fear responses are fight, flight, freeze, and fawn. These responses are how our brain keeps us safe in potentially dangerous situations. Understanding the mechanisms behind them can help us be aware of and regulate our emotions in an appropriate and healthy way.

Fear and the Brain

The experience of fear begins in the amygdala, thepart of the brainthat processes many of our emotions. When the amygdala is activated due to possible danger, it elicits the fear response. This can happen when:

While the amygdala processes emotional experiences, the frontal lobe and prefrontal cortex control things like language andimpulse control. When we experience fear, our brain re-routes energy to the amygdala, slowing down processing in other areas. That is why it can be difficult to speak or make rational decisions when we are afraid.

Although some form of damage to the brain can impair fear responses,most people feel afraid sometimes.

Fear Responses

When we experience fear and the amygdala is activated, our brain makes quick decisions about what to do next. Its goal is to keep us safe, seeking the choice that will get us away from perceived danger with minimal harm. This response can be described through four categories: fight, flight, freeze, and fawn.

Fight

Flight

If our brain does not feel that it can successfully fight off danger, it may decide to try and escape, triggering a flight response. Essentially, this fear response involves trying to get as far away from the dangerous situation as quickly as possible. If the danger is something that can be outrun, the flight response can be effective.

Freeze

Another fear response is to freeze or to try to be very still and quiet until the danger passes. Some people with social anxiety disorder experienceselective mutism,where they find themselves unable to speak in anxiety-provoking situations. Their vocal cords become paralyzed due to fear, and they are unable to speak until the anxiety passes. This is an example of the freeze response at work.

Fawn

If someone complies with an aggressor to reduce the risk of physical harm, they are not consenting to abuse. Their brain is simply trying to keep them as safe as possible in a bad situation.

Can You Change Your Fear Response?

Because the four fear responses are chosen so quickly, we are typically not actively deciding which is most effective or appropriate in a given situation. These processes happen automatically because when we are in danger, there is often no time to sit and weigh our options. Our brain simply does its best in the moment.

Unfortunately, this means we may not make the most effective decision when the amygdala is activated. For example, a person might lash out at their spouse due to a fight response whenfeeling anxious about work. Or they may freeze and be unable to deliver an important presentation.

When someone has ahistory of trauma, their brain might become more likely to activate fear responses.

Mindfulness of our emotionscan help us notice when we are having a fear response and enable us to try to reactivate the logical part of our brain. When we notice that we are experiencing this response, we can try and make a different choice. Research shows we can train ourselves to respond differently to fear.

When Fear Responses May Be an Issue

Because fear is one way our brain keeps us safe, it would not be healthy to never experience a fear response. For example, early humans who did not experience fear probably tried to pet the saber tooth tiger instead of hiding, a choice that probably did not end well for them.

We want our brains to accurately perceive whether or not something is a threat and make the best choice to keep us safe. But if you find that you avoid situations that are not actually dangerous (such as social situations), get into frequent arguments, or put others' wants and needs ahead of your own to your detriment due to fear, there may be something else going on.

Frequent, intense fear responses when there is not an actual threat can be asign of anxiety, for instance.With anxiety, fear responses can occur when there is no danger or may be more intense than the situation requires. Fortunately,anxiety can be effectively treatedthrough therapy and medication.

10 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Inman CS, Bijanki KR, Bass DI, Gross RE, Hamann S, Willie JT.Human amygdala stimulation effects on emotion physiology and emotional experience.Neuropsychologia. 2020;145:106722. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.03.019Andrewes DG, Jenkins LM.The role of the amygdala and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex in emotional regulation: implications for post-traumatic stress disorder.Neuropsychol Rev. 2019;29(2):220-243. doi:10.1007/s11065-019-09398-4Klumpers F, Morgan B, Terburg D, Stein DJ, van Honk J.Impaired acquisition of classically conditioned fear-potentiated startle reflexes in humans with focal bilateral basolateral amygdala damage.Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2015;10(9):1161-1168. doi:10.1093/scan/nsu164Muris P, Ollendick TH.Selective mutism and its relations to social anxiety disorder and autism spectrum disorder.Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev. 2021;24:294-325. doi:10.1007/s10567-020-00342-0Lojowska M, Ling S, Roelofs K, Hermans EJ.Visuocortical changes during a freezing-like state in humans.NeuroImage. 2018;179:313-325. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.06.013Bailey R, Dugard J, Smith SF, Porges SW.Appeasement: replacing Stockholm syndrome as a definition of a survival strategy.Eur J Psychotramatol. 2023;14(1):2161038. doi:10.1080/20008066.2022.2161038Norrholm SD, Glover EM, Stevens JS, et al.Fear load: The psychophysiological over-expression of fear as an intermediate phenotype associated with trauma reactions.Int J Psychophysiol. 2015;98(2):270-275. doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2014.11.005Wendt J, Löw A, Weymar M, Lotze M, Hamm AO.Active avoidance and attentive freezing in the face of approaching threat.NeuroImage. 2017;158:196-204. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.06.054Dymond S, Dunsmoor JE, Verfliet B, Roche B, Hermans D.Fear generalization in humans: Systematic review and implications for anxiety disorder research.Behav Ther. 2015;46(5):561-582. doi:10.1016/j.beth.2014.10.001Bandelow B, Michaelis S, Wedekind D.Treatment of anxiety disorders.Dialog Clin Neurosci. 2017;19(2):93-107. doi:10.31887/DCNS.2017.19.2/bbandelow

10 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Inman CS, Bijanki KR, Bass DI, Gross RE, Hamann S, Willie JT.Human amygdala stimulation effects on emotion physiology and emotional experience.Neuropsychologia. 2020;145:106722. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.03.019Andrewes DG, Jenkins LM.The role of the amygdala and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex in emotional regulation: implications for post-traumatic stress disorder.Neuropsychol Rev. 2019;29(2):220-243. doi:10.1007/s11065-019-09398-4Klumpers F, Morgan B, Terburg D, Stein DJ, van Honk J.Impaired acquisition of classically conditioned fear-potentiated startle reflexes in humans with focal bilateral basolateral amygdala damage.Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2015;10(9):1161-1168. doi:10.1093/scan/nsu164Muris P, Ollendick TH.Selective mutism and its relations to social anxiety disorder and autism spectrum disorder.Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev. 2021;24:294-325. doi:10.1007/s10567-020-00342-0Lojowska M, Ling S, Roelofs K, Hermans EJ.Visuocortical changes during a freezing-like state in humans.NeuroImage. 2018;179:313-325. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.06.013Bailey R, Dugard J, Smith SF, Porges SW.Appeasement: replacing Stockholm syndrome as a definition of a survival strategy.Eur J Psychotramatol. 2023;14(1):2161038. doi:10.1080/20008066.2022.2161038Norrholm SD, Glover EM, Stevens JS, et al.Fear load: The psychophysiological over-expression of fear as an intermediate phenotype associated with trauma reactions.Int J Psychophysiol. 2015;98(2):270-275. doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2014.11.005Wendt J, Löw A, Weymar M, Lotze M, Hamm AO.Active avoidance and attentive freezing in the face of approaching threat.NeuroImage. 2017;158:196-204. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.06.054Dymond S, Dunsmoor JE, Verfliet B, Roche B, Hermans D.Fear generalization in humans: Systematic review and implications for anxiety disorder research.Behav Ther. 2015;46(5):561-582. doi:10.1016/j.beth.2014.10.001Bandelow B, Michaelis S, Wedekind D.Treatment of anxiety disorders.Dialog Clin Neurosci. 2017;19(2):93-107. doi:10.31887/DCNS.2017.19.2/bbandelow

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Inman CS, Bijanki KR, Bass DI, Gross RE, Hamann S, Willie JT.Human amygdala stimulation effects on emotion physiology and emotional experience.Neuropsychologia. 2020;145:106722. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.03.019Andrewes DG, Jenkins LM.The role of the amygdala and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex in emotional regulation: implications for post-traumatic stress disorder.Neuropsychol Rev. 2019;29(2):220-243. doi:10.1007/s11065-019-09398-4Klumpers F, Morgan B, Terburg D, Stein DJ, van Honk J.Impaired acquisition of classically conditioned fear-potentiated startle reflexes in humans with focal bilateral basolateral amygdala damage.Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2015;10(9):1161-1168. doi:10.1093/scan/nsu164Muris P, Ollendick TH.Selective mutism and its relations to social anxiety disorder and autism spectrum disorder.Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev. 2021;24:294-325. doi:10.1007/s10567-020-00342-0Lojowska M, Ling S, Roelofs K, Hermans EJ.Visuocortical changes during a freezing-like state in humans.NeuroImage. 2018;179:313-325. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.06.013Bailey R, Dugard J, Smith SF, Porges SW.Appeasement: replacing Stockholm syndrome as a definition of a survival strategy.Eur J Psychotramatol. 2023;14(1):2161038. doi:10.1080/20008066.2022.2161038Norrholm SD, Glover EM, Stevens JS, et al.Fear load: The psychophysiological over-expression of fear as an intermediate phenotype associated with trauma reactions.Int J Psychophysiol. 2015;98(2):270-275. doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2014.11.005Wendt J, Löw A, Weymar M, Lotze M, Hamm AO.Active avoidance and attentive freezing in the face of approaching threat.NeuroImage. 2017;158:196-204. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.06.054Dymond S, Dunsmoor JE, Verfliet B, Roche B, Hermans D.Fear generalization in humans: Systematic review and implications for anxiety disorder research.Behav Ther. 2015;46(5):561-582. doi:10.1016/j.beth.2014.10.001Bandelow B, Michaelis S, Wedekind D.Treatment of anxiety disorders.Dialog Clin Neurosci. 2017;19(2):93-107. doi:10.31887/DCNS.2017.19.2/bbandelow

Inman CS, Bijanki KR, Bass DI, Gross RE, Hamann S, Willie JT.Human amygdala stimulation effects on emotion physiology and emotional experience.Neuropsychologia. 2020;145:106722. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.03.019

Andrewes DG, Jenkins LM.The role of the amygdala and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex in emotional regulation: implications for post-traumatic stress disorder.Neuropsychol Rev. 2019;29(2):220-243. doi:10.1007/s11065-019-09398-4

Klumpers F, Morgan B, Terburg D, Stein DJ, van Honk J.Impaired acquisition of classically conditioned fear-potentiated startle reflexes in humans with focal bilateral basolateral amygdala damage.Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2015;10(9):1161-1168. doi:10.1093/scan/nsu164

Muris P, Ollendick TH.Selective mutism and its relations to social anxiety disorder and autism spectrum disorder.Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev. 2021;24:294-325. doi:10.1007/s10567-020-00342-0

Lojowska M, Ling S, Roelofs K, Hermans EJ.Visuocortical changes during a freezing-like state in humans.NeuroImage. 2018;179:313-325. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.06.013

Bailey R, Dugard J, Smith SF, Porges SW.Appeasement: replacing Stockholm syndrome as a definition of a survival strategy.Eur J Psychotramatol. 2023;14(1):2161038. doi:10.1080/20008066.2022.2161038

Norrholm SD, Glover EM, Stevens JS, et al.Fear load: The psychophysiological over-expression of fear as an intermediate phenotype associated with trauma reactions.Int J Psychophysiol. 2015;98(2):270-275. doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2014.11.005

Wendt J, Löw A, Weymar M, Lotze M, Hamm AO.Active avoidance and attentive freezing in the face of approaching threat.NeuroImage. 2017;158:196-204. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.06.054

Dymond S, Dunsmoor JE, Verfliet B, Roche B, Hermans D.Fear generalization in humans: Systematic review and implications for anxiety disorder research.Behav Ther. 2015;46(5):561-582. doi:10.1016/j.beth.2014.10.001

Bandelow B, Michaelis S, Wedekind D.Treatment of anxiety disorders.Dialog Clin Neurosci. 2017;19(2):93-107. doi:10.31887/DCNS.2017.19.2/bbandelow

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