Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn: Trauma Responses & Domestic Violence

The idea of the "fight-or-flight" response to threats or danger was put forth over 100 years ago by Walter Cannon, an American psychologist. Cannon's work on the "acute stress response" established the foundation for what we understand today as trauma responses. Since its introduction, the work has expanded to include freeze and even fawning as trauma responses - processes that begin in the amygdala of the brain and prepare the body to react to a threat. Survivors of domestic violence often experience these trauma responses due to abuse from an intimate partner. And unlike isolated or one-time experiences of danger, survivors experience stress responses every single day, sometimes non-stop, escalating the brain into a continual fight, flight, freeze, or fawn mode. We explore the functions of the brain in both calm and stressful states, how it responds to the trauma of domestic violence, and how clinical services, education, and safety planning can restore homeostasis and encourage healing. Genesis' experts Ruth Guerreiro and Jordyn Lawson join the conversation, offering accessible information on not only how trauma responses occur but also why they happen, common misconceptions about these responses, and how evidence-based, trauma-informed services for domestic violence can restore balance, calm, and brain health.