Automatic Stress Response

Fight / Flight / Freeze / Fawn - These 4 short words describe how most react to stress, and for some, the state in which they spend a lot of their day.

What do they mean? Fight, flight, freeze, and fawn describe automatic responses to stressful situations (real or imagined). Each of these words describe innumerable thoughts, emotions, body sensations, nerve signals, and chemical reactions that send alerts from the brain.

Ideally, when our life is truly threatened or when we are in harm’s way, these reactions can save our life or keep us safe from danger until it passes. However, for the vast majority, these responses occur on a daily basis to even minor stressors like getting stuck in traffic or having a disagreement with someone. In these cases, they can be debilitating or keep us from being able to clearly communicate our needs or listen attentively to the needs of others.

In the image below are reactions we have when in a stress response. Take a look to identify what your go-to stress responses are. You may identify with varying responses in different relationships or situations. The importance of understanding these responses is the ability to have more control within yourself when you go in to a stress response.

We have a video that describes in further detail the ASR. Watch Part 1 HERE.

And for Part 2 of our ASR series watch HERE.