Fight, Flight, Freeze… and Fawn: Understanding Trauma Responses

Sep 29

When we think about trauma, “fight or flight” usually comes to mind. But our nervous systems have a much richer language of survival. Alongside fighting back or running away, we may also freeze, or even fawn, a response that’s gaining recognition thanks to authors like Ingrid Clayton, PhD, and Pete Walker.

These responses aren’t flaws. They’re evidence of how brilliantly your nervous system has worked to protect you. The challenge comes when patterns meant for past survival show up in present-day life, leaving us anxious, shut down, or disconnected.

Let’s look at each response, why it shows up, and how we might meet it with compassion.

Fight: Protecting Through Power

The fight response gears the body up for self-defense. You might feel a rush of energy, anger, or the need to take control.

In the moment, this could look like arguing, snapping, or feeling irritable.
On a body level, your muscles tense, your heart rate rises, and adrenaline spikes.

Research shows that people’s defensive responses vary based on prior stress exposure and individual biology (Niermann et al., 2017). For some, fight comes online quickly; for others, it’s less accessible.

Reframe: Fight isn’t “bad.” It’s your nervous system’s attempt to protect. Awareness can help you pause and choose how to channel that energy in ways that serve you.

Flight: Escaping to Safety

Flight is about moving away, sometimes literally, sometimes emotionally.

You might feel restless, anxious, or driven to escape.
It can look like leaving a room, burying yourself in work, or numbing out with scrolling or TV.

The defense cascade model (Kozlowska et al., 2015) shows how the nervous system escalates through fight, flight, and freeze depending on how safe, or unsafe, escape feels.

Reframe: Flight energy isn’t weakness. It’s your body’s way of saying, “Let’s move to safety.” With practice, that energy can be redirected into healthier outlets—like movement, boundary-setting, or mindful breaks.

Freeze: When the Body Presses Pause

Sometimes neither fighting nor fleeing feels possible. That’s when freeze shows up.

You may feel numb, foggy, or disconnected from your body.
Decisions feel impossible; time may feel slowed or distant.

Kozlowska et al. (2015) describe freeze as “fight-or-flight put on hold.” More recent work by Siligato and colleagues (2024) explores how freeze overlaps with the bystander effect: when overwhelming uncertainty and fear keep us stuck.

Reframe: Freeze is not failure. It’s your nervous system’s ancient survival tool. Healing means gently noticing when freeze takes over—and practicing small ways of “coming back online.”

Fawn: Keeping the Peace

Fawning is less known in academic research but widely recognized in clinical settings and lived experience accounts (Clayton, 2023; Walker, 2013). It’s a survival response shaped by relational trauma.

You may find yourself saying “yes” when you mean “no.”
You might over-apologize, silence your needs, or focus on others’ comfort at your own expense.

This is the nervous system’s way of preserving safety through appeasement. It often develops when direct fight or flight weren’t safe options, especially in childhood.

Reframe: Fawning is not people-pleasing out of personalityit, ’s a survival strategy. With awareness, you can learn to set boundaries and honor your own needs without losing connection.

Moving Toward Healing

Each trauma response, fight, flight, freeze, or fawn, reflects resilience. Your body found a way to keep you alive.

Healing doesn’t mean “getting rid of” these responses. It means:

Recognizing them when they show up
Meeting them with compassion rather than shame
Gently building new ways of responding

Modalities like EMDR, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Brainspotting, and somatic therapies are designed to help people process trauma and reconnect with choice.

✨ You are not broken. These responses are proof of survival—and with support, you can write new patterns of safety and connection.

Bibliography

Kozlowska, K., Walker, P., Carrive, P., et al. (2015). Fear and the defense cascade: Clinical implications and management. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 23(4), 263–287. https://doi.org/10.1097/HRP.0000000000000065
Niermann, H. C. M., et al. (2017). Individual differences in defensive stress-responses: The role of childhood trauma and autonomic psychophysiology. Neurobiology of Stress, 7, 62–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ynstr.2017.03.001
Siligato, E., Iuele, G., Barbera, M., et al. (2024). Freezing effect and bystander effect: Overlaps and differences. Psych, 6(1), 273-287. https://doi.org/10.3390/psych6010017
Walker, P. (2013). Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving. Azure Coyote.
Clayton, I. (2023). Fawning: Why the Need to Please Makes Us Lose Ourselves—and How to Find Our Way Back. She Writes Press.

Jen McNaughton