Freeze Response
/ˈfrēz ri-ˈspän(t)s/
You’ve heard of fight or flight—but wait, there’s more! Freezing is another way our nervous system responds when faced with a threat. And it’s exactly as it sounds: You literally feel stuck in place when you’re scared, and may also feel cold or experience “nausea or a racing heartbeat and shallow breathing,” explains Chandler Chang, PhD, clinical psychologist and founder of Therapy Lab, a mental healthcare provider. Our bodies developed these reactions to protect us from predators (bears? tigers?), but nowadays, those predators have been replaced with horrors such as seeing your ex on the subway or receiving a random “touch base” meeting invitation from your boss. Rationally, we might recognize that there’s no need to clam up in the face of these fears, but our bodies feel otherwise.
Freeze response can occur especially in moments of feeling trapped, but Chang says the response is simply your body trying to save you from harm. In those moments, work on communicating to yourself that you’re perfectly safe—and accepting that this is a natural reaction.
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