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Behavioral Healthcare

The Lesser-Known Behaviors Due To Your Trauma (Freeze)



The Lesser-Known Behaviors Due To Your Trauma (Freeze)

Trauma can really shape our behaviors in ways we might not fully understand. Yet, the freeze response—a common but often misunderstood trauma reaction—isn’t talked about enough. Whether it stems from childhood trauma, PTSD, or CPTSD, the freeze response can manifest in various ways that significantly impact mental health and daily life. In this video, we explore what the trauma freeze response is, how unhealed trauma affects our reactions, and the subtle signs that may indicate its presence. Understanding these behaviors is crucial for healing and reclaiming your life. Join us as we uncover the connections between the freeze response and post-traumatic stress disorder, along with practical steps toward healing and self-awareness. If you’ve ever wondered about the complexities of trauma and its effects, this video is for you.

#trauma #freeze #cptsd

Disclaimer: This video is intended for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional diagnosis, treatment, or advice.

For additional information and resources on how to address and manage freeze responses, we encourage you to visit the following link:

This resource is provided by a licensed therapist Emma McAdam who explains practical strategies and techniques for managing and overcoming freeze responses. Please note that this resource is also not a substitute for professional diagnosis or treatment, and we encourage you to seek support from a qualified mental health provider if needed.
Article link: https://psych2go.net/youre-not-socially-awkward-its-your-trauma-freeze-response/

Writer: Stela Košić
Editor: Caitlin McColl
Script Manager: Kelly Soong
Voice Over: Amanda Silvera http://www.youtube.com/AmandaSillvera
Animator: Krisha Que
Youtube Manager: Cindy Cheong

References

Alm, P. A. (2004). Stuttering, emotions, and heart rate during anticipatory anxiety: A critical review. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 29(2), 123–133. doi.org/10.1016/j.jfludis.2004.02.001
Greene, N., PsyD. (2021, August 26). The Beginner’s Guide to Trauma Responses. Healthline Media. https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/fight-flight-freeze-fawn#freeze
Pete Walker, M.A. psychotherapy. (n.d.). Retrieved May 9, 2023, from hpete-walker.com/fourFs_TraumaTypologyComplexPTSD.htm
Roelofs, K. (2017). Freeze for action: Neurobiological mechanisms in animal and human freezing. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 372(1718), 20160206. doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2016.0206
Steuwe, C., Daniels, J. K., Frewen, P. A., Densmore, M., Pannasch, S., Beblo, T., Reiss, J., & Lanius, R. A. (2014). Effect of direct eye contact in PTSD related to interpersonal trauma: An fMRI study of activation of an innate alarm system. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 9(1). doi.org/10.1093/scan/nss105

View 46 Comments

46 Comments

  1. @Psych2go on

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  7. @ArchmageAU on

    Great video. My go to is generally "fawn", but "freeze" is a very close second. Years of being too weak to "fight" and unable to "flight" (flee), left only fawn or freeze as options.

    I find the freeze hyper-vigilance extends to environment, others and self. Effectively looking for any opportunity to escape and survive.

  8. @britneyfoster-b on

    Hello to everyone reading this. Right now, l'm inconsolable. My ex-partner left a few weeks ago, and I am heartbroken and saddened. This relationship is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Although I tried, I was unable to win him back. I don't know what to do

  10. @johnnyfischbein3159 on

    Im still a bit little, but i do. Do these things i normally don't like eye distance myself from my pers and i try to work on it, but it's ok cuse i think it's part of growing up😊

  13. @Skishtube on

    I don’t know if I even have trauma, I can’t think of anything but I have literally all of these😓, how can I tell if I’ve expirenced trauma?

  15. @politonno2499 on

    The thing is that trauma forces you to change specifically which can be counterproductive when a more stable life is reached. Then, you're "too complicated" and most people leave you away, because they are reflected and projected in your situation

  22. @gurthjitsumaster9697 on

    Socialization has been an issue for as long as I can remember. The cause is autism, partially, but also a trama in my early childhood. I already hated social things and that made it infinitely worse. It made me loose trust in my own thoughts and actions, anything and everything had the potential to hurt people, every word and every action coming with the risk of making people angry, sad, or even disgusted without the slightest inclination, until suddenly, everything falls apart. So I choose to do nothing. People are met with silence and fear. Conversation is nothing but stress and anxiety. I've only just recently begin to actually enjoy hanging out with my best and only friend after knowing him for more than 10 years now. I don't know what to do, I've tried everything. The only thing that worked, as little as it did, was extreme trauma. That friend left for a while over some nonsense, I was borderline suicidal for most of the 8 months he was gone, then he came back and we made up, ever since I actually get a slight bit of joy from hanging out with him. That's kinda hilarious. Anyways, you can tell the emotion I started writing this with deleted itself, I hate when it does that. Its 11 anyway so imma go to bed.

  23. @Hd17017 on

    im an introvert. iv allways been akward socialy, im not ashamed or afraid of it. i just openly speak the trueth when i meet people. im happy. my p.t.s.d. is not a thing of my life. I practice coping skills and meditation, breathing. and being confident about myself as much as i can be. i prefer to live alone for many consecutive days. when the judgment affects you or your childs wellbeing and is tresspassing in your boundairies somthing needs done & fear is not appropriate or necessary here. my experience with p.t.s.d. taught me to cope after getting over the shock.

  24. @leriandra on

    I freeze in any stressfull situation. Like call with the manager, when something went wrong. And it's really hard to overcome. And i know where it comes from.

    But in calm interactions im great, or with new people) So working on it.

  25. @Treiden21 on

    Yeah, this one was a bit confusing… I needed this one… I was always so confused with why that happened to me, and why a deer even gets caught in headlights…
    But hell, I think a LOT…

  26. @Cloverotte on

    This isn't exactly on topic but goes with the fight or flight, freeze bit

    Whenever I get really scared I stop making any noise and snap my head towards the direction, if I cannot properly identify on what it was then I often tease up and freeze in place for awhile

    For example my friends and I go camping sometimes, we almost always split up into groups and at night we like to pull pranks by scaring a specific person (they like to make creepy noises or dash from behind tree to tree in the darkness)

    When it is my turn, I typically freeze if I don't immediately see them and I have been told that I "menacingly" stare them down in this state

    None of my friends do this either, so a lot of the time I don't get pranked with scares because they want someone to freak out or scream xD

  29. @BerkKatay on

    Is it possible for you to upload a video called "Ways to deal with psychopaths"? If possible, can you make Turkish subtitles?
    It doesn't have to be a psychopath, there can be people who harm us.

  30. @artistinyou8181 on

    Few days back i had a metting with my where am working i work from home so its time am metting everyone and there was a part where we have introduce ourself when it was my turn i was just freze i had nothing to say just ecohing the words what they saying we are waitning for u are u okay is it a part of trauma or just am scared in anxity

  31. @tartoey5 on

    Whenever my sibling spoke to someone and that person tells everyone, (one of the thing I don’t want people to know due to a deep reason inside it). I felt my body becoming warmer and hotter. I didn’t know what to do.. idk why that happened?

  35. @BAS17_ on

    Wow I have all the signs, this video speaks to me. I find comfort in isolation which is I'm doing right now, that's why I built a youtube channel which no one knows. I think I have PTSD, i am stressed right now, I have pain in my body that doctors said is in my mind. I also have panic attacks in the past, and my hair is thinning mybe due to stress. People should stop calling depression as a disability, I think it's the body's natural coping mechanism which you just can't command to go away.

  36. @richardrickford3028 on

    This also offers good insight into why it is so hard for a traumatized person to ask someone they really like out on a date. Most people find this I think rather a nerve wracking situation although they may try and play it cool. But if you are fighting against your bodies wish and knee jerk action to close down and run away from the situation it can be made much harder still. And if you don't run away you may try and speak but find you can't.

    Also many people can have the adverse childhood experience of being neglected by their parents or their parents sidelining them. This if severe enough can traumatize them long after the event. They can then be terrified that their potential date is only going to do the same thing and reject them thus confirming the highly negative voice in their head that says they are completely unlovable.

  38. @achd73 on

    miss psychology do you know what it is like to get up out of bed and not have a job huh
    no woman there no money
    you have to steal little things because
    that is me do you know what that feels like

  39. @achd73 on

    no job looking for me no money basically
    your thinking does everyone hate you
    that woman over there wants to get pregnant but at the same time she is being severely misguided by her phone

  40. @achd73 on

    when you realize people at least in America have a strange means of showing you they like you
    what compels people to be this way
    I understand there is people anywhere I walk at least in America that potentially hate me
    why do you think she wears those outfits what moves this woman to be this miserable

  41. @achd73 on

    you want to reach out and touch that woman
    but she hides miss psychology like you do
    sometimes I yell about things and my neighbors hate me when I do that
    I thought we were all friends but they call the police on me do you know how that feels

  43. @321GhostRider123 on

    I'm a bit flashed. The description here is absolutly me. I didn't know this behavior had a name. When i talk with other's it feels so intense, so stressfull, like my life would depend on the conversation with the person. Like everything i say or do could bring me in to jail. When i talk someone i eighter try to avoid eye contact or i just stare them in to the eye's non stop. I pay attention to everything the person does and say's but can't remember most of the things after that. Same go's for me, i watch how i look, imagin how my oponent see's me, think ahead what i say and how my oponent might react to what i say. I don't want to i wish i could just casualy talk to someone but it all happens on it's own like my life would depend on it. I started stutering about 10 years ago and it streses me so much.

    Every few week's or months i discover something new i have when i watch your video's. Not that i dislike them, but i hate watching them by now. I caught my self avoiding them when i get them recomended cause the pile of problem's and issue's i have or seem to have get's bigger and bigger and even tho it feel's like i do what i can i improve on no site. I just find my self sinking deeper and deeper to the bothom of a ocean.

  45. @MeganSingh-w7p on

    When I was younger and I’d cry it was hard for me to talk and explain myself. As a result my dad thought it was attitude and me being defiant. He’d ask me questions and everytime I don’t answer he asks them louder and eventually led to a bit of yelling. Not only would I freeze and be totally unable to talk, if I did try to open my mouth I’d panic and hyperventilate. I never knew how to explain that I couldn’t talk and why it would sound like I was shouting (my voice comes out wrong when I hyperventilate and cry).

    It sounds like symptoms of a panic attack but I don’t think it’s that.

  46. @jazz10169 on

    I was in terrible domestic violence l often would freeze and sometimes l started to stutter🥺😭😭😭😭🙏🙏l have complex ptsd😭😭🛡️l will never forget the trauma l have went through during my lifetime 👑God Wil use everything 🙏🙏💎

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