Examining The 4 Trauma Responses
In the ancient past, it was useful for our ancestors to respond quickly to apex predators and escape with a fight-or-flight action. In modern society, although physical, predatory threats are few and far between, the same evolutionary responses are still deeply embedded within our bodies. When a situation arises that the body deems unsafe, the limbic system (the part of your brain responsible for memory, emotions, and survival) acts as a base of operations. It automatically jumps into action, with largely instinctive protective measures to safeguard you. But what happens when there isn’t any danger around and you still find yourself hypervigilant and activated, as though you’re unable to return to a baseline of relative security? Trauma may be the invisible factor stimulating those overwhelmingly intense feelings and causing an over-reliance on survival instincts, sometimes referred to as a trauma response.
What Is A Trauma Response?
A trauma response is the reflexive use of over-adaptive coping mechanisms in the real or perceived presence of a trauma event, according to trauma therapist Cynthia M.A. Siadat. The four trauma responses most commonly recognised are fight, flight, freeze and fawn,
