Understanding Fight, Flight and Freeze

You may have heard of the phrase ‘fight or flight mode’ but what does it actually mean?  Fight, flight and freeze are ways in which our body can react to danger or stress around us.  We may not realise that we are reacting in a certain way but it is our body protecting us from potential danger.  This has been ingrained in to us, a part of us as our survival instinct.

However our body can also respond with one of these responses in daily life stresses.  When this happens it is important for us to recognise how we respond so that we can understand how we can calm ourselves down from these moments.

Fight

This is confronting the threat.  Consider an animal being cornered and lashing out.  This could look like raising your voice, being defensive, blaming others and becoming argumentative.

When in fight mode you are protecting yourself.  Your heart beat will be raised, your muscles tense and your senses will be heightened.

You may notice that during the day you are argumentative at work or home, you get angry when in traffic or you are quick to become critical when you feel targeted.

Flight

This is about getting away. This could mean leaving the situation and going somewhere else, avoiding the situation or the person.

When you are in flight mode the main aim is to leave, removing yourself from the potential danger as quickly as possible.

You may have the urge to escape a room or person, you feel uncomfortable wishing you were somewhere else or you may be making excuses to avoid a difficult situation or conversation. It could also look like procrastinating on a difficult task or doing another task instead.

Freeze

In this mode you feel stuck, unable to move, frozen. You may not be able to speak or think clearly and it is as if you have completely shut down. You are on high alert but you are unable to move.

When neither fight or flight is possible this mode is a way to conserve energy and try to avoid being seen, this would be like playing dead.

This could look like your mind going completely blank during a presentation or not being able to react is someone is being critical towards you. You may feel completely stuck when faced with a big decision.

Next steps

Although it is important that these responses are in place when there is potential danger or a stress, we do not want our body to regularly be in one of these responses all the time so it is good to know our triggers and what to do about them.

You may have been nodding along as you have been reading this or even picturing scenarios which you can resonate with being either in fight, flight or freeze mode. Have you been able to identify your common response?

When we get curious about how we respond and how often we are reacting in certain ways we can then look at how best to calm ourselves down so that we are not in these modes for longer than we need to be.

If this has drawn your attention to anything and you would like to learn more or discuss next steps click here.