Updated: 03/20/2024
Life-threatening experiences like conflict, disasters, and accidents are the typical causes of fear or trauma. Yet, painful events like a breakup or the death of a loved one might also occur. It can really help you learn to deal with frightening or distressing events if you are aware of your body’s typical trauma response, also known as your fear response, to any emotional triggers. Our Fight Flight Freeze Fawn Quiz can help you determine your primary fear response.
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Take the Fight Flight Freeze Fawn Test Now
This trauma response test consists of 20 items with answers ranging from Strongly agree to Strongly disagree. While not a diagnostic tool, your selections will help you to assess your primary trauma response.
4 Types of Trauma Response Test Results
We are neurobiologically equipped to handle stress since our bodies and minds were created to assure survival.
We respond to trauma by having a trauma response. It’s a conditioned reaction that often starts to emerge in early infancy. In the future, how we react to stress and danger will be influenced by how we learned to react to trauma in the past.
Hence, our fear responses have a significant impact on how our personalities develop.
Now that you have taken the Fight Flight Freeze Fawn Quiz and have your results, let’s take a more in-depth look at the 4 trauma responses.
What Are The 4 Trauma Responses?
Fight Response
The fight response can be healthy when used to assert oneself and set boundaries, but it can also be unhealthy when used as a trauma response. In some cases, it is a fear state where one reacts with anger and aggression to confront the threat. This can look like physical fights, yelling, aggression, and property destruction.
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To release the fight response, one can practice deep breathing, mindfulness, and exercise to activate the parasympathetic system. This helps release anxiety and allows the person to feel safe and reconnect with their surroundings. It is important to be aware of these behaviors and to take a moment to slow down and think about how one is positioning themselves in the situation, as accessing physicality can come at the cost of connection and others feeling secure around you.
Try our emotional trauma quiz.
Flight Response
The flight response is an avoidant behavior that corresponds with escaping dangerous situations. In healthy individuals, it is a discerning response to disengage within limits, but as a trauma response, it can lead to isolation. This can look like avoiding interactions with others or fleeing the situation altogether.
To drop back into oneself and relax the mind, it is recommended to do things that create an immediate physical response, such as bodywork or intentional movements. Coping techniques that are tactile and grounding, such as drinking a warm beverage or eating crunchy food, can also be helpful. Additionally, building connections with others can increase feel-good chemicals in the brain, such as endorphins and serotonin.
Discover the symptoms that stress may be affecting your mental health.
Freeze Response
The freeze response is a defense mechanism that can be helpful in allowing us to slow down and assess situations when we’re feeling overwhelmed. However, when it becomes unhealthy, it can result in dissociation and immobilizing behaviors. This can cause us to feel mentally checked out and disconnected from reality as a means of finding emotional safety. When we experience a freeze trauma response, we may feel like we’re at a loss for words, retreating into our mind, or going emotionally or physically numb.
To counteract this loss of connection with ourselves, therapists recommend grounding exercises like “See Red,” which involves focusing on objects in our immediate surroundings and taking deep breaths. This exercise can help bring us back to the present moment and the environment we’re currently in, rather than allowing the trauma response to take us out of the present moment. By practicing grounding exercises, we can better manage our freeze response and maintain a stronger connection with ourselves.
Fawn Response
Fawning is a response to trauma characterized by prioritizing the needs of others in order to diffuse conflict and secure safety, often at the cost of one’s own needs and desires. People who fawn may feel unseen and eclipsed by those around them. Fawning can lead to a loss of connection with oneself, where thoughts, emotions, and body sensations are abandoned.
If someone is noticing that they fawn often, they should be compassionate with themselves and learn to separate their own feelings from those of others. Observing oneself around others and adding buffering time can help prevent resorting to fawning. The first step is to become aware of the behavior and establish boundaries to take up space. Although it can be challenging to become aware of fawning, it is possible to re-establish safety within oneself through self-compassion and boundary-setting.
Trauma Response Resources
In this section, I’ve personally selected a variety of resources that can provide support and guidance for those dealing with trauma responses. These materials are designed to help you understand, manage, and heal from the effects of trauma, providing a path toward recovery and resilience.
“Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving” is an empowering audiobook by Pete Walker. It’s a guide that helps you understand and overcome the lingering effects of traumatic experiences. With this resource, you can start your journey toward healing and reclaiming your life. It’s not just about surviving; it’s about thriving. This could be the tool you need to start a new chapter in your life. Grab your copy on Amazon now.
“The Presence Process” is your guide to personal growth. It’s a journey that helps you understand your emotional patterns and how they impact your life. This book doesn’t just tell you what to do, it shows you how to experience emotional balance and inner peace. It’s not about quick fixes, but lasting change. Find it on Amazon today.
Discover the power of your body’s wisdom with the “Somatic Psychotherapy Toolbox“. This book offers 125 worksheets and exercises to help you reconnect with your physical self and heal from trauma. It’s like a personal guide, leading you towards a more balanced and harmonious life. Don’t just read about change, experience it! Buy it now at Amazon.
Final Thoughts
Thank you for taking the Fight Flight Freeze Fawn Quiz. If you experience one of the 4 F trauma responses, it’s important to know that you are not alone. Seeking social support and journaling can help you better understand your behaviors and work toward recovery. It can also be helpful to talk to someone who cares about you and won’t judge or give unsolicited advice. Identifying your current behaviors is the first step towards healthier living, and making adjustments will take time.
Embodied healing is also important for feeling safe in your body. Managing your mental and physical health can help you cultivate healthy responses, and practicing yoga can help calm the survival brain. Finding a trauma-informed therapist on BetterHelp can also be beneficial.
It’s important to show yourself grace, kindness, and compassion, as you have been doing what’s necessary to survive. Unlearning these behaviors will take time, but it’s okay to take things at your own pace.
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