2 years ago
780
136
🌻FREEZE🌻⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Many of us are quite familiar with fight or flight responses and how they play out in our lives after trauma ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Freeze is a little less understood and it can be easy to disregard as playing a real part in our lives. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Freezing as a response to a threat is a sort of primal “playing dead” in the face of danger protective mechanism. Have you ever seen a deer in headlights? That is the freeze response. A threat is sensed but we are destabilised & frozen: unable to fight or flee⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ In humans freezing manifests as an inability to communicate, react, or take any action of self-preservation or defense⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ When a child is subjected to emotional or physical abuse by someone or something it cannot defend itself from, they are left feeling helpless, unable to tap into the biological systems designed to assist them in either fighting or fleeing⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This can lead to a wired natural state of paralysis or “tonic immobility”- something that is otherwise counter-intuitive for a human in the presence of danger⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ In other words, a child that suffered from constant anxiety and fear due to trauma may develop a tendency to freeze as a response to triggers as an adult. This may surface in different forms:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ➕dissassociation ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ➕feeling zoned out ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ➕going through periods of no productivity⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ➕feeling stuck in a certain part of the body⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ➕feeling cold or numb ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ➕stiffness or heaviness of limbs⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ➕restricted breathing or holding of the breath⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ➕sense of dread⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ➕decreased heart rate⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ➕sudden exhaustion⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ➕wanting to be alone ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ➕derealisation ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ➕inability to make decisions ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ➕immobile⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ➕having no emotions/ feeling blank ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ . ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Remember this is a powerful protective response and is not your fault⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Have you experienced the freeze response?
Yes. Freeze is my go-to response. I am a master at it but I’ve been working hard to rewire my system and heal.
2 years ago
Thank you🙏🏼💗
1 year ago
Yes
6 months ago
I froze when that man attacked me that day. he approached me with kindness to ensure that I approached him, and not him towards me. as soon as we found ourselves alone he changed, I was 13 years old. he could have been my father's age. Finding myself with no escape route I stiffened, we were in absolute nothingness. in an uncultivated field owned by his family. I didn't scream. I didn't say anything. I didn't even lift a finger. it hurts so much to think that I didn't defend myself in any way. I feel like shit. How can this be remedied? I would like to rip it out of my brain.
2 months ago
I feel like my life can't move forward. I start and feel I am conducting my life in a 'normal' way taking action and looking after things, engaged with friends and family and the world but it never lasts for long. I return to the unable to do anything state. It is accompanied by fatigue, anxiety and depression. It's in a loop of being out for a time but only to fall back. A constant one step forward and two steps back. It was born out of a period in my life when I was under constant anxiety. A nasty divorce, bankruptcy, severely sick children, and having no home. I am not able to get out of the cycle.
2 months ago