#4 How Do We Respond To Trauma

Trauma occurs when an event causes harm to someone. Pinpointing the effects of this harm can be tricky because each one of us that feels or experiences a traumatic incident, processes it differently. However, there are some signs that show up that gives us a clue that we or others have been affected by trauma, no matter how big or small.

Your body is made for handling traumas via our sympathetic autonomic nervous system. In normal circumstances, it nicely controls your heartbeat, your digestion, your thought processes, your emotions etc. When danger appears, it quickly goes into action in four basic ways: Fight, Flight, Freeze and the newest kid on the block, Fawn.

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Transcription

When danger appears, it quickly goes into action in four basic ways:

First is the Fight Response. The fight response occurs when our survival instincts kick in. With the help of the fight response, we can fight off a predator or choose to stand up to injustice.

Second is the Flight Response. The flight response helps us run when fighting isn't an option. This can result in dissociating. We mentally escape into our “happy place” and zone out.

Third is the Freeze Response. If we can neither fight or get away, we tend to become unresponsive, our bodies can collapse and we become numb emotionally to protect ourselves.

The last response is The Fawn Response. Those of us who exhibit this response are often referred to as people pleasers. As people pleasers we try to “win the favour” of our attacker. This effect can lead one to giving into demands or putting the attacker on a pedestal.

After the initial danger has passed, the parasympathetic autonomic nervous system’s job is to bring our system back into balance. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always happen. Sometimes we become stuck in Fight, Flight, Freeze or Fawn, or a confusing combination of them.

As you might expect, the body can be affected negatively if we remain in this state. We will dive much deeper into our body’s health while in trauma in another Trauma Tips Episode.

Your initial reaction to trauma has a lot to do with your pre-set beliefs. If you feel confident in our ability to conquer dangers, your body will jump into fight mode. When you respond by freezing, it usually indicates you feel you can't win either by fighting or running. The fawn response can happen when you feel you can't protect yourself by fighting, flighting or freezing. Instead, you choose to go along with, or try to win over a person who is abusing you. You will compromise your needs, boundaries and wants in order to please the other person and keep yourself from possible danger.

Understanding your tendency to respond in a certain way is important. Secondarily, it’s important to find different ways to react.