Written by Kate Wood

Learn more about why the freeze trauma response happens and what you can do to get unstuck.

Are You Stuck in the Freeze Response?

If you’ve been dealing with chronic stress or traumatic experiences, you might know they can take a real toll on your nervous system and health overall. Trauma and survival energy activated in those experiences can linger in our bodies, showing up in our daily lives until we are able to process and release them through evidence-based treatments.

When it comes to trauma responses, you may have heard of fight, flight, freeze, fawn, and flop. This article is the first in our series about the survival responses of the nervous system. Throughout this series, we’ll dig into how trauma impacts the body, what signs to look for, how different treatments can help, and what clients can expect after treatment.

What Is Trauma?

First, let’s start with the basics: trauma is the internal reaction to a traumatic event, which can affect us mentally, physically, emotionally, and behaviorally. One helpful way to think about trauma is anything that is “too much, too fast, too often, or too little for too long” – trauma is an experience that overwhelms our system and leaves us unable to bounce back.

When we talk about trauma, many think of Veterans or physical assault survivors, but trauma takes many forms. Trauma symptoms may appear after a car accident, animal attack, near-death experience (NDE), physical injury, natural disaster, bullying, systemic trauma, prolonged emotional trauma, and more.

While these scenarios are just a few examples of traumatic events, any one of those experiences may or may not lead to trauma symptoms. Trauma responses depend on the individual person experiencing the traumatic event – as well as their nervous system state, health, and overall well-being. The experiences listed above may or may not lead to trauma symptoms; it truly depends on the individual.

Dr. Peter Levine, the founder of Somatic Experiencing describes it well, “Traumatic symptoms are not caused by the event itself. They arise when residual energy from the experience itself is not discharged from the body. This energy remains trapped in the nervous system where it can wreak havoc on our bodies and minds.”

Understanding Protective Survival Responses

To begin to understand our survival responses, first we must understand the “threat response cycle.” This is our nervous system’s sequence for reacting to new stimuli and is built into us through millions of years of evolution.

Stage 1: Preparatory Orienting

The threat response cycle starts when something in our environment—like a sudden sound—catches our attention. This is called “preparatory orienting,” where we stop mid-motion to assess the situation. We alertly orient towards the stimulus and make a split-second evaluation of whether or not the stimulus is threatening. If no action is needed, we discharge the tension with a sigh or laugh.

Stage 2: Startle Response

If a threat is present, our body shifts to the next stage of the threat response – the startle response. In this response, we may notice our heart racing, a holding of breath, and more muscle tension.

Stage 3: Defensive Orienting

The third stage in the threat response cycle, defensive orienting, specifically focuses on survival and assessment of threat and the need for fight vs. flight vs. freeze vs. fawn. This response is similar to preparatory orienting; however, there is far more survival energy and activation at this stage.

Defensive orienting can look like curiosity no longer being present with focused, narrow attention on the threat. In a person who has experienced a lot of trauma, this part of the threat response cycle can become stuck in “on” or “off,” being hypervigilant and hyper-responsive to perceived threats or being avoidant and under-responsive, respectively.

Stage 4: Protective Defensive Response

After defensive orienting and the animal has determined that a threat is imminent and requires a defensive response, they move into the protective defensive response: fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. This is a normal, healthy, adaptive response when dealing with a predatory animal, or an approaching car – life-threatening situations in general. However, when this response goes haywire, it can cause undue stress in one’s body, relationships, and life overall.

In this example, after the expression of a protective defensive response, like running away from an attacking dog, comes the discharge and completion. If the threat does not materialize or if they were able to get away or defeat the threat, the physiology will return to rest.

Stage Five: Return to Exploratory Orienting

The final stage in the threat response cycle is returning to exploratory orienting, a “relaxed alertness,” where we’re open and curious again. But if this cycle isn’t completed, leftover survival energy can cause chronic stress or keep us locked in fight, flight, or freeze responses.

Freeze: The Body’s Way of Playing Dead

Freeze happens when we’re faced with a threat so overwhelming that neither fight nor flight feels possible. Sometimes, it kicks in if the threat has been ongoing, and the body simply doesn’t have the energy left for other responses.

Freeze is a survival tactic, as it can fool a predator or attacker into leaving us alone by mimicking death. It’s an automatic response, triggering when internal nervous system survival energy or activation reaches a certain threshold, and it is managed by the dorsal vagal part of our nervous system.

You can watch this video to see how an impala reacts with the freeze response during a leopard attack (trigger warning).

Stuck in Freeze

The freeze response isn’t something we choose—it’s a hardwired survival mechanism. After a threat is gone, the body can usually “discharge” freeze energy by shaking or releasing tension. But in cases of repeated trauma, it becomes harder for our systems to release this energy.

Just like the fight or flight response, our bodies can go in and out of this protective response and discharge when we are healthy, like when the impala started shaking.

However, over time, and with more stressful or traumatic events, it can be more challenging to discharge freeze energy, especially when we feel social pressure to behave in certain ways.

Preventing this discharging and release of survival energy can cause more stress on the body. Having a ”stiff upper lip” in the face of extreme hardship can be incredibly advantageous in some environments; however, surpressing your body’s natural instinct to discharge a stress response can impede our biological need to let down and relax after stressful events. Completing the process after a stressful event restores our natural resiliency over time and helps us not get stuck in certain trauma patterns.

What Does a Freeze Trauma Response Look and Feel Like?

The freeze response varies by person and trauma history, but it often feels similar for those experiencing it. People may feel numb, heavy, disconnected, or even physically cold – these are energy-conservation states.

Other signs of a freeze trauma response may also include:

  • Extreme lethargy
  • Feeling blank or detached
  • Shallow breathing – sometimes almost imperceptible, or like you’re lugging around extra weight
  • Difficulty speaking or engaging with daily life

Individuals may report these sensations or feelings, or they may be observed externally. Practicing curiosity, understanding, and empathy toward someone experiencing these sensations is an important part of helping them “thaw out” from a freeze state.

Symptoms of Prolonged Freeze Response

When the freeze response sticks around, it can lead to both mental and physical symptoms. Common issues include:

  • Depression
  • Brain fog
  • Chronic fatigue
  • Chronic pain
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Autoimmunity
  • Metabolic syndrome

Even though symptoms may be severe, recovery is absolutely possible. Working simultaneously on physical and mental health can be powerful for moving out of a freeze response.

Freeze Trauma Response Treatments

Several treatment modalities can help alleviate the symptoms of the freeze trauma response while working to address the root cause. Some of the treatment modalities best suited to address a freeze trauma response include:

  • Somatic Experiencing (SE)
  • Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)
  • Emotionally focused therapy (EFT)
  • Building and restoring healthy boundaries
  • Polyvagal informed therapies
  • Other research-based therapeutic approaches

What to Expect When Healing From the Freeze Response

Breaking free from the freeze response is like rediscovering parts of yourself you may not have felt in a long time. As you begin to process and release that stuck survival energy, you may notice a range of physical and emotional shifts. Here’s what many people report experiencing:

More Energy and Focus

You may find that tasks that once felt impossible—like making decisions, engaging with friends, or even just starting your day—begin to feel more manageable. Many people notice a renewed sense of energy after thawing out from a freeze response, allowing them to reengage with their life in ways they’d missed.

Emotional Clarity and a Range of Feelings

It’s common to feel emotions more freely after healing from a freeze trauma response, sometimes including grief or joy that may have been buried. Healing isn’t just about feeling happy; it’s about being able to feel again without that overwhelming numbness.

Increased Sense of Safety and Control

As your nervous system learns to regulate and release freeze responses, the world often feels less intimidating, and your sense of control and personal agency grows stronger. An increased sense of safety and control can open doors to taking on challenges you may have avoided in the past.

Physical Ease and Relaxation

People often report a new sense of calm in their body after thawing out from a freeze response—with less tension, fewer aches, better sleep. When the nervous system is able to reset, those chronic, low-level stress responses start to ease up, allowing you to rest and recharge.

Continued Improvement With More Time

Healing is a journey, and the “thawing” process doesn’t happen overnight. But as you work with evidence-based therapies and supportive professionals, you can expect to feel more connected, alive, and present in your own life.

Personal Reflection Questions to Identify the Freeze Response

Trauma can be subtle, even sneaky, in how it shows up. Here are some questions to help you get curious about your own experiences with the freeze response:

  • Have you ever felt stuck in a moment, unable to move or respond the way you wanted?
  • Do you sometimes feel disconnected, blank, or “numbed out” during or after stressful situations?
  • Have simple daily tasks like making a decision, responding to a text, or completing work ever felt overwhelmingly difficult?
  • Is there an area of life where you tend to avoid challenges or find yourself holding back?

Remember, these aren’t meant to make you feel judged—they’re invitations to notice. Trauma responses happen for real reasons, and if any of these sensations feel familiar, you’re not alone.

Encouragement to Seek Help

Experiencing a trauma response like freeze doesn’t mean there’s something “wrong” with you—it means your body is doing its best to keep you safe. This series is designed to help you understand that response and support you in moving through it.

Healing from trauma can seem daunting, but here’s what we know: with the right support and evidence-based approaches, moving out of the freeze response is possible.

At Plus by APN, our team is here to walk with you through every stage of your healing journey. If you’re ready to feel more grounded, resilient, and free from the weight of unresolved trauma, reach out. Call us at 866.271.6006 or fill out our confidential contact form for a free consultation. Together, let’s take that next step toward feeling more like yourself again.

Reference

  • Frewen, Paul, and Ruth A. Lanius. Healing the Traumatized Self: Consciousness, Neuroscience, Treatment. W.W Norton & Company, 2015.
  • “How to Overcome the Freeze Response.” NICABM, 15 Apr. 2024, www.nicabm.com/topic/freeze/.
  • Seltzer, Leon F. “Trauma and the Freeze Response: Good, Bad, or Both?” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 15 July 2015, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/evolution-the-self/201507/trauma-and-the-freeze-response-good-bad-or-both.
  • Porges, Stephen W. “The Polyvagal Perspective.” Biological Psychology vol. 74,2 (2007): 116-43. doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2006.06.009
  • Scaer, Robert. The Body Bears the Burden: Trauma, Dissociation, and Disease. Routledge, 2014.
  • Van der Kolk, Bessel A. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Penguin Books, 2015.