Mental Health Tip: Understanding Your Nervous System Response

Have you ever thought about how your nervous system responds to stress? Understanding your response can help you navigate your emotions better. Check out the nervous system responses below to discover your nervous system response.

Fight

Fight is one of the more common responses people experience. People with the fight nervous system response often act aggressively in stressful situations. They are more likely to engage in conflict and move towards what feels threatening. This often causes feelings such as irritability, anger, and aggressiveness.

Flight

Another common nervous system response we hear the most about is flight. Those with this nervous system response have a tendency to want to escape the situation, they want to move away from the threat. This nervous system response often invokes feelings of anxiety, fear, and being overwhelmed.

Freeze

Freeze is a nervous system response that we hear less about. People who experience this nervous system response shut down in stressful situations. They wil likely hide or isolate themselves from whatever feelings threatening. These people also often feel disengaged and detached from the situation. Those with this nervous system response typically experience depression, numbness, and apathy.

Fawn

Fawn is a lesser known nervous system response. People who experience the fawn nervous system response usually have people pleasing tendencies. Similiar to the flight response, these people want to avoid conflict. However, rather than run away from the situation, they attempt to soothe the other party. People with this response often face codependency and have difficulty setting boundaries with others.