Escaping The Fawn Response

The Forgotten Brother to Fight/Flight/ and Freeze

Photo by Scott Carroll on Unsplash

Most people recognize the fight/flight and freeze from articles they have read or television programs. Fight/flight/freeze occurs when you feel endangered, whether or not that danger is real. However, many have not heard of the fawn response to complex trauma.

This article will focus on the fawn response, what it is, and how it affects the lives of survivors who live with the effects of complex trauma.

What is Complex Trauma?

Complex trauma occurs when people are young as multiple traumatic events of an invasive and interpersonal nature. Because the trauma is usually perpetrated by a caregiver such as the child’s parents, the child’s mental and physical health suffers, and their outlook on life becomes unstable without a sense of safety.

Some potential causes of complex trauma are:

· Ongoing physical or emotional abuse

· Sexual abuse and incest

· Chronic neglect

· Chronic abandonment

· Medical abuse

· Medical trauma

· Torture

· Being held captive