Stress Responses
Detaching emotionally from the situation to avoid dealing with painful feelings or stress.
Freeze - Emotional Numbing
This response is all about avoiding the threat. When faced with stress or danger
Flight
Intimidating others with prolonged eye contact to establish dominance in a confrontation.
Fight - Staring down
You watch a kid get up from his desk and get into the teachers personal space using domineering body language
Physical Posturing - Fight
● Increased heart rate, ● clenched fists ● tight jaw, ● feeling hot or flushed
Delaying or putting o tasks to avoid dealing with the stress they cause.
Flight - Procrastination
shutting down to avoid conflict or stress
Freeze
Going out of your way to keep others happy, often at your own expense.
Fawn - People pleasing
Drinking or doing drugs at a social event because you feel awkward.
Flight
● Numbness, ● heavy limbs, shallow breathing, ● feeling 'frozen' or stuck
Freeze
Quickly trying to fix or downplay problems instead of addressing underlying issues.
Fawn - Smoothing Over Problems
how people might react aggressively or defensively in stressful situations.
Fight
This involves actions or words meant to harm someone else, often as a way of asserting control.
Fight - aggression
Your friends are reaching out to hangout but you lie and say your busy when you just want to hangout in your room by yourself
Freeze - emotional numbing, withdrawal
● Heart pounding, ● rapid breathing, ● muscle tension, ● feeling the need to move or run away
Flight
Pointing out faults in others aggressively, which can be a defense mechanism to shift focus away from oneself.
Fight - criticizing
react in a way that overly pleases others to avoid conflict or stress.
Fawn
Using alcohol, drugs, or other substances to escape feelings or realities of stress.
Flight - Substance use
"I only called him a loser because he said I took his pencil"
Blaming
List five Calming Srategies
- deep breathing - Art
- talking about it - mindfulness meditation
- muscle relaxation - Physical exercise
- music - Journaling
Feeling completely overwhelmed to the point of being stuck, unable to decide how to react.
Freeze - Overwhelm
What are Somatic Symptoms?
Physical symptoms we can feel
Physically leaving or attempting to leave a situation to escape stress.
Flight - Running away
you let your friend borrow your favorite sweatshirt even though you didn't want to because they are messy and stain their clothes
Fawn - yielding
● Nausea, dizziness, ● a 'lump' in the throat, ● excessive sweating
Fawn