Fight, Flight, Freeze, & Fawn

Key Takeaways

• Fear responses happen automatically and are designed to keep us safe.
• There are four types of fear responses: fight, flight, freeze, and fawn.
• Mindfulness can help us notice when we’re having a fear response and make a different choice.

The emotion of fear is a core part of the human experience. Our brains are wired to experience fear as a way to warn us that we might be in danger, such as when faced with a bear in the woods. But what happens when we feel afraid?

Discover how this emotion impacts the brain and the responses this can create, namely fight, flight, freeze, and fawn. Continue reading to also learn whether we can change our fear responses when faced with scary situations.

Fear and the Brain

Fear starts in the amygdala, the part of the brain that processes emotions. When the amygdala detects potential danger, it triggers a fear response. This happens when:

• We face real danger
• We think we are in danger
• We encounter “scary” stimuli, such as a horror movie
• The amygdala is artificially stimulated

The amygdala handles emotional responses, while the frontal lobe and prefrontal cortex manage language and impulse control. During fear, energy shifts to the amygdala, slowing other brain functions. This is why it’s hard to speak or think clearly when afraid.

Although some form of damage to the brain can impair fear responses, most people feel afraid sometimes.

Fear Responses

When we feel fear and the amygdala is activated, our brain quickly decides how to respond. The goal is to keep us safe by choosing an option to avoid danger with minimal harm. These responses are categorized into four types: fight, flight, freeze, and fawn.

Fight

As Rajneesh said, “anger is fear in disguise,” which neatly captures the fight response. When the brain detects danger, it may choose to confront the threat. This can result in physical or verbal confrontations, often accompanied by strong anger.

In a fight response, our brain seeks to neutralize danger by overcoming it. This approach can be effective if the danger is real and can be managed through strength. However, if the perceived threat isn’t actual, this response may lead to problems.

Flight

If our brain does not feel that it can successfully fight off danger, it may decide to try and escape, triggering a flight response. Essentially, this fear response involves trying to get as far away from the dangerous situation as quickly as possible. If the danger is something that can be outrun, the flight response can be effective.

Freeze

Another fear response is to freeze or to try to be very still and quiet until the danger passes. Some people with social anxiety disorder experience selective mutism, where they find themselves unable to speak in anxiety-provoking situations. Their vocal cords become paralyzed due to fear, and they are unable to speak until the anxiety passes. This is an example of the freeze response at work.

Evolutionary theories suggest that the freeze response might be the brain’s attempt to avoid detection by predators by essentially holding very still until the threat goes away. The fear response shuts down the body’s ability to move, causing the person to literally feel frozen or stuck until the fear passes.

Fawn

“Fawning” is a fear response where the brain tries to appease the source of fear to prevent harm. Trauma survivors often use this people-pleasing approach to avoid abuse by keeping the abuser content. It can also manifest as compliance to avoid harm.

When someone complies with an aggressor to reduce the risk of harm, they aren’t consenting to abuse. Their brain is attempting to ensure safety in a challenging situation.

Can You Change Your Fear Response?

Because the four fear responses are chosen so quickly, we are typically not actively deciding which is most effective or appropriate in a given situation. These processes happen automatically because when we are in danger, there is often no time to sit and weigh our options. Our brain simply does its best in the moment.

Unfortunately, this means we may not make the most effective decision when the amygdala is activated. For example, a person might lash out at their spouse due to a fight response when feeling anxious about work. Or they may freeze and be unable to deliver an important presentation.

When someone has a history of trauma, their brain might become more likely to activate fear responses.

Mindfulness of our emotions can help us notice when we are having a fear response and enable us to try to reactivate the logical part of our brain. When we notice that we are experiencing this response, we can try and make a different choice. Research shows we can train ourselves to respond differently to fear.

When Fear Responses May Be an Issue

Because fear is one way our brain keeps us safe, it would not be healthy to never experience a fear response. For example, early humans who did not experience fear probably tried to pet the saber tooth tiger instead of hiding, a choice that probably did not end well for them.

We want our brains to accurately perceive whether or not something is a threat and make the best choice to keep us safe. But if you find that you avoid situations that are not actually dangerous (such as social situations), get into frequent arguments, or put others’ wants and needs ahead of your own to your detriment due to fear, there may be something else going on.

Frequent, intense fear responses when there is not an actual threat can be a sign of anxiety, for instance. With anxiety, fear responses can occur when there is no danger or may be more intense than the situation requires. Fortunately, anxiety can be effectively treated through therapy and medication.

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

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By Amy Marschall, PsyD

Dr. Amy Marschall is an autistic clinical psychologist with ADHD, working with children and adolescents who also identify with these neurotypes among others. She is certified in TF-CBT and telemental health.

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