Have you ever felt like you’re in a constant state of stress, no matter how hard you try to change things? Like your body is stuck in “survival mode,” but you’re not sure why or how to escape it?
It might be because your brain and body are reacting to triggers the same way they would if a tiger were about to pounce. These survival responses were designed to keep you safe, but today, they might be holding you back from living a fulfilled, joyful life.
Let’s break it down: The Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn, and Faint responses are the body’s natural reactions to any perceived threat. You’ve probably heard of the first two—Fight and Flight—but did you know that Freeze, Fawn, and Faint also play a role in your survival system?
Back in the day, these reactions were lifesavers. When faced with an immediate danger, like a wild animal or a rival tribe, your body had only two options: fight it out or run for your life. But what about when you couldn’t do either? Your body might freeze, hoping the danger would pass by unnoticed, faint (playing dead to avoid detection), or fawn (appeasing the threat to stay safe).
Fast forward to today's world, and these same survival responses are still hard at work, even though the "tigers" we face have changed. The threats we deal with are no longer mostly physical, but emotional, psychological, and even social.
How Each Response Might Show Up in Your Life
Fight Response
The Fight response is all about standing your ground, defending yourself, or pushing back. You might notice this response when you become defensive, irritable, or even aggressive in conversations.
In today’s world, Fight might look like:
Snapping at a loved one or colleague when you feel overwhelmed.
Feeling the need to control everything around you.
Constantly pushing through exhaustion, believing that rest equals failure.
Over-explaining or justifying yourself to prove you’re right.
Flight Response
The Flight response makes you want to escape or avoid discomfort. If you often feel the need to keep moving, stay busy, or distract yourself, you might be in a Flight response.
Examples of Flight in everyday life:
Burying yourself in work, social media, or binge-watching TV to avoid uncomfortable emotions.
Procrastinating or avoiding making decisions.
Feeling the urge to walk away from relationships or commitments when things get difficult.
Constantly feeling restless or anxious when there’s nothing to do.
Freeze Response
The Freeze response happens when your brain decides the best way to survive is to stay still. You might feel stuck, numb, or unable to take action, even when you know what needs to be done.
Freeze might show up as:
Feeling overwhelmed and shutting down instead of making decisions.
Struggling to express your thoughts or feelings in a stressful situation.
Feeling emotionally detached, as if you’re watching life happen rather than participating in it.
Becoming hyper-focused on thinking and planning but never actually taking action.
Fawn Response
The Fawn response is a lesser-known survival reaction that happens when we try to appease or please others in order to stay safe. This often develops from experiences where conflict, rejection, or abandonment felt dangerous.
Fawn might look like:
Saying “yes” when you really want to say “no” to avoid upsetting others.
Putting other people’s needs above your own, even when it drains you.
Feeling anxious when someone is upset with you and trying to fix it immediately.
Struggling with boundaries, feeling guilty when you try to set them.
Becoming overly accommodating in relationships to avoid conflict.
For midlife women, the Fawn response is especially common after years of caretaking, whether for family, partners, or colleagues. It can feel like an ingrained habit—keeping the peace at your own expense.
Faint Response
The Faint response (sometimes grouped with Freeze) is the body’s way of shutting down completely when overwhelmed. This can happen when stress or trauma feels unbearable.
Faint might look like:
Feeling completely drained, emotionally or physically.
Becoming detached or dissociated from what’s happening around you.
Experiencing sudden dizziness, low blood pressure, or lightheadedness in moments of extreme stress.
Zoning out or feeling like you’re “not really there” in difficult situations.
How These Responses Keep You Stuck
When you live in a prolonged state of survival mode—whether through Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn, or Faint—you may start to notice patterns in your behaviour and emotional reactions. These responses can become automatic, triggering without your conscious awareness, and preventing you from moving forward.
You might feel like you’re always “on edge,” whether it’s at work, in relationships, or even with your own body. Perhaps you’ve tried to make changes—like practicing self-care or setting boundaries—but nothing seems to stick. This is because your survival system is still in charge, and it’s hard to create change when your body is in a constant state of alert.
Here are some common triggers that might set off these survival responses:
Work stress: A demanding boss or an overwhelming workload can trigger the Fight or Flight response. You might feel the urge to snap or avoid the situation entirely, either reacting with anger or shutting down to avoid confrontation.
Unresolved trauma: Past experiences—whether they’re childhood wounds, toxic relationships, or any form of emotional hurt—can cause the Freeze, Fawn, or Faint response to kick in.
Relationship dynamics: Conflict in relationships, whether with a partner, family, or friends, can bring on the Fight, Flight, Freeze, or Fawn response.
Health concerns: Physical pain or health challenges can cause the Freeze or Faint response, where you may feel trapped in your own body, unable to take action or cope effectively with the situation.
Breaking the Cycle
The key to breaking free from these survival responses lies in understanding and addressing the root causes of your reactions. It’s not about simply trying to “calm” yourself in moments of stress. It’s about uncovering why your body is so on alert, why certain triggers bring up these responses, and then releasing the underlying emotional patterns.
By becoming aware of how these responses show up in your life, you can begin to create space for change. This might look like revisiting old wounds with compassion, setting healthier boundaries, or learning to soothe your nervous system in ways that support growth instead of survival.
When we stop living in constant defense, we open up the possibility for real transformation—moving from a place of fear to one of empowerment, peace, and growth. It’s not about eliminating the fight-or-flight instincts it's about knowing how to navigate them with more awareness and control.
If you would like to explore this further in a personalised Resolve Session you can book here:
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