What are the 4 types of trauma responses? Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn

Can I have more than one trauma response?

Yes! In fact, you probably do. When a car swerves into your path, you’re probably going to reflexively steer away. This is technically a “flight” response, but it is also the only option where you don’t get hit. Fighting the car probably won’t win in your favor, you don’t have time to fawn, and freezing is a sure-fire way to get into a car crash. Our bodies are primed to make these decisions lightning-fast. 

However, you are still likely to have one main trauma response that your body defaults to if given the choice. If someone starts coming at you aggressively—threatening you and yelling— what do you do?

• Fight: Make yourself big and yell back, trying to overpower their aggression. 
• Flight: Run away. 
• Freeze: Nothing, make yourself small so they don’t perceive you as a threat. 
• Fawn: Try to de-escalate the situation. 

Different circumstances may warrant different results, but you probably have one trauma response you go to more than others. 

Let’s take a look at each trauma response and how it affects us. 

Why Do I Respond to Trauma the Way I Do?

One theory of trauma response teaches that the type of trauma response you have depends on the type of trauma you’ve experienced. Usually, this trauma occurred as a child, but not always. A bigger traumatic event during adulthood can easily overwrite childhood trauma. 

The circumstances surrounding that trauma probably narrowed your available responses. Your trauma response forms through whatever action made the abuse stop. For example, if your parents were abusive but would stop when they were pleased, you may develop a fawn response. If you had people to protect, you might have developed a fight response. If you make yourself small and unnoticeable, you may develop a freeze or flight response. 

It’s also not just childhood abuse that causes trauma! Having struggled at school, faced a natural disaster, or experienced chronic sickness or a family tragedy are all formational traumas that can inform your trauma response. Even extreme stress, like with grades or sports, can inform a trauma response. 

This is highly variable and dependent on many different factors, including attachment style, personality, and protective factors. Let’s look at the four trauma responses now. 

Fight Trauma Response

One of the classic “fight or flight” responses, the fight response likely stems from the belief maintaining power and control is the only way to stay safe. It is common in children who grew up in a narcissistic household or with parents who would acquiesce to demands when shown enough force. 

Examples of a fight trauma response include:

• Yelling at your boss when they confront you about a mistake. 
• Stonewalling or giving your partner the silent treatment after they talked to their ex. 
• Insulting or belittling a friend after they accidentally break one of your possessions. 
• Spreading rumors through social media after someone upsets you. 
• Road-raging at a car that cut you off. 

A fight response does not have to be physically violent, but the intention is always to gain the upper hand. People with a fight response may unconsciously believe they are not safe when they are not in control. 

Flight Trauma Response

The other of the two most commonly known trauma responses, the flight response stems from the desire to avoid harm at all costs. People with a flight trauma response may care less about being in power and more about minimizing the harm they experience. 

Flight responses are common in children who were able to escape abuse or unkindness. If they could escape out the backdoor or into their room, that could coalesce into a flight trauma response as an adult. 

Examples of a flight trauma response include:

• Avoiding conflict at all costs
• Striving for perfection so no one can get mad at you
• Leaving when things get hard or seem like they may be headed for a conflict (quitting work, breaking up relationships, moving houses frequently)
• Ignore your own emotions by throwing yourself into a hobby, work, or social life. 

A flight response is not always physically sprinting away, just like a fight response is not always physically violent. Instead, a flight response is avoidance at all costs. 

Freeze Trauma Response

A freeze trauma response is lesser known but still a common trauma response. Some experts believe it stems from believing you have no escape. Researchers believe that everyone experiences a short freeze response when first presented with danger, in which their brain becomes hypervigilant and looks for the path out. However, people living in a freeze trauma response unconsciously believe there is no way out and will freeze up, turning their attention inward to avoid interacting with the pain as much as possible. 

Physically, this can look like dissociation, daydreaming, or going numb when faced with danger. On the extreme end, it can look like fainting or blacking out. You may be physically unable to call out for help, and, in cases of extreme trauma, a freeze response may have resulted in blank spaces from your memory. 

As an adult, a permanent freeze response can look like:

• Intense dissociation or maladaptive daydreaming
• Social isolation and withdrawal
• Sleep or other dissociative habits (mindless scrolling, binge-watching TV, or a social media addiction)

Many people probably experienced a freeze response during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your brain assessed for possible ways out of a traumatic situation and decided your best bet was to dissociate and wait it out. 

Fawn Trauma Response

The fawn trauma response is a relatively newly researched trauma response. It is found in children who were able to please their abusers into not harming them. It is also common in childhood overachievers who receive praise only when they perform perfectly in school and sports, such as the “golden child”. It stems from the belief that if you can please people, they won’t harm you. 

As an adult, a fawn response may look like:

• People pleasing constantly
• Lack of boundaries 
• Willingly agree to whatever someone else says, even if you internally disagree
• Constantly praise those around you, seeking to be kept on their good side
• Never sharing about yourself out of fear they will find something offensive
• Feeling like you know very little about yourself, and that your sense of identity is closely tied to others around you. 

A fawn response is more commonly found in women and people who face hierarchical power structures against them, where fighting or fleeing may not be a viable option. 

Trauma Therapy

It’s important to remember that a trauma response is not inherently bad. If someone attacks you, your trauma response will keep you safe. 

Trauma responses become harmful when you get stuck in them, and you aren’t able to distinguish life-threatening situations from simple conflicts. When every side-way glance or snippy comment threatens to push you into an all-out trauma response, therapy can help. You might be experiencing PTSD or c-PTSD. 

Therapy can help you work through childhood and adult trauma, understand how it affects you, and how to heal. If you’re interested in trauma therapy, Lifebulb Counseling and Therapy has trauma therapists near you with open availability and who accept insurance. Browse our list of therapists or give us a call. 

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