Flight, Freeze, Fawn: Understanding the Body's Stress Responses

The world around us can be an incredibly stressful place. From the places we go, the things we see and the people we interact with, the human experience is innately one that is exposed to challenging situations on a frequent basis.

You’ve probably heard of the concept of fight or flight - two physiological states that may occur when our bodies respond to perceived danger. You may not know that there are many other types of stress responses - each leveraging different physiological responses to tackle and address the challenges that face us.

Let’s explore the mechanisms behind these responses - from why our bodies react this way to how you can identify your dominant stress response. How can stress responses impact our mental health, and what can be done to regulate them?

If you believe you’re struggling to regulate stress after reading this article, it may be worth considering seeking help from a qualified health professional, such as a counsellor with a Graduate Certificate in Counselling online. 

What are Stress Responses?

The human body is a powerful organism with mechanisms developed over thousands of years of evolution to protect us from threats - from microorganisms and infection to immediate physical threats.

While the immune system exists as a physiological defense against illness and infection, our bodies have other defensive mechanisms to protect us from physical threats. These allow the body to respond with immediacy to a physical threat. Rather than thinking before we act, stress responses harness involuntary actions to react in the face of perceived danger. Stress responses exist solely to keep us safe, allowing people to respond to danger in ways their bodies believe will keep them safe. 

A great example is how different people react to insects in the home, such as spiders. While some spiders are dangerous, many are harmless. However, many people often react adversely to seeing a spider crawling around their home. Depending on our stress responses, we may respond differently to limit the impact of the perceived danger (the spider) on our physical well-being.

Fight or Flight?

Two of the most well-known stress responses are fight or flight. The concept behind them is straightforward: When presented with a threat, the two most obvious ways to address it are to either eliminate the threat (fight) or escape the danger (flight).

We can see many examples of this in film and television. Take, for example, the television trope known as the Indy Escape, first characterised by Harrison Ford as explorer Indiana Jones taking flight down a tunnel to escape a boulder. This is a classic example of a flight response - facing an impending danger, the body chooses to escape danger by fleeing the threat.

Whereas a flight response involves escaping a threat, a fight response involves facing the danger and protecting yourself from it. When confronted by mercenaries in Cairo, Indiana Jones demonstrates a fight response in action - faced with an immediate physical threat, he responds by fighting back by any means necessary.

While these examples are from the movie world, they have very real implications for the world around us. Faced with an immediate threat, we respond instinctively. So, rather than think, sometimes, we just act.

The Freeze Response

While fight and flight are relatively well-known stress responses, they are not the only ones you may experience. Have you ever felt frozen in a threatening situation - where you can see the danger, your brain is saying you should move, but you feel physically unable to do so?

This is actually another form of stress response known as the freeze response. Past research has described it as a form of attentiveness while being immobile - providing your body with the time necessary to understand your surroundings before deciding on a response.

It’s important to note that a freeze response is different from an apathy response, such as that demonstrated by the bystander effect. By freezing and trying to understand your surroundings, your stress response is trying to gather more information rather than deferring the next steps elsewhere.

A classic example of a freeze response is the phenomenon known as stage fright. Speaking to crowds can be tricky, and sometimes, a large audience can feel like a threat. Stage fright is the body’s response to a perceived danger (the crowd), and it can affect anyone.

Fawning Around 

What happens when your stress responses don’t lead to an outcome? After a number of failed attempts at fight, flight or freeze, sometimes people simply resort to people-pleasing or simple compliance. This is actually another form of stress response - known as fawning. 

Not to be confused with a young deer like Bambi, fawning is a type of stress response often displayed by those who have been victims of violence. While fawning is a stress response, it can often be detrimental, particularly if the person fawning is treated poorly.

Overwhelming Flop

What happens if the body is unable to make a decision? Sometimes, the body simply becomes overwhelmed with stressors, leading to adverse physical reactions, such as unresponsiveness or physical collapse. You may have experienced this before, perhaps when donating blood.

Fainting or collapsing as a stress response can be somewhat traumatic - and it’s a type of response known as a flop. It’s not uncommon in nature. Some animals utilise thanatosis, also known as playing dead, to evade predators, and it can be highly effective.

Identifying Your Dominant Stress Response

What steps can you take to identify your dominant stress response? The answer may be more straightforward than you think.

Cast your mind back to some recent stressful experiences you may have had. Perhaps you recently completed a job application, witnessed a crime or had an argument with a stranger in public. How did you respond?

Perhaps you chose to get involved in a physical conflict - maybe words became a shoving match. That’s an example of fighting back. Alternatively, you may have left the room, walked away, or left a situation. That’s an example of taking flight or fleeing from a threat. Perhaps you didn’t respond at all. Understanding how you react to danger can be a way to begin to identify strategies to better address threats.

Stress responses are powerful - and they’re a vital part of our physiological response to conflict. No matter whether you fight or take fight, freeze or fawn, the human body displays a remarkable capability to respond to the perceived dangers around us.