"Have you ever frozen up in the face of what should otherwise be a nonthreatening situation?"
That is one way to define the trauma response of freeze.
In the first section of this podcast episode, Dr. Aimie Apigian, MD comments "when we bring in the right kinds of support, the right kinds of energy, I have seen the time needed for the freeze response to become less.
"And yet every person, every body, every nervous system, seems to have its own rough time schedule for the freeze response..."
This is an excerpt from her video What To Do When You Are In The Freeze.
Dr. Aimie Apigian, MD, MS, MPH, is an author, speaker and founder of Trauma Healing Accelerated. Learn about Dr Apigian's program the Foundational Journey “for addressing stored trauma in the body.”
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In the second section, Dr. Jeffrey Rutstein, PsyD, a clinical psychologist and expert in the treatment of trauma, talks about freeze as one of five defensive states in response to trauma.
This is an excerpt from his video 3 on freeze from a Sounds True free series. The description on the registration page asks:
"Have you ever frozen up in the face of what should otherwise be a nonthreatening situation? It can be confusing to say the least.
“Video #3 addresses what we can do to begin the path to self-regulation."
Register free for "Take Back Your Nervous System with Dr. Jeffrey Rutstein" - A 5-Video Series with "Practical ways to calm yourself and others throughout each of our five defensive states."
Also on that page you can learn more about his new Healing Trauma Program, with 12 other trauma experts.
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Video version of these interviews:
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Shutdown
At the end of his comments, Dr. Rutstein refers to shutdown, and "in those moments the body is much more quiet and the mind is almost basically off - that's an even more extreme State than freeze."
That reminded me of quotes by actor Idris Elba noted how his father’s death affected his acting: “I got to a place where I wasn’t even living anymore. I was becoming a robot with my work.
“I have no fear of jumping out of burning cars or out of buildings on set, but in reality, I couldn’t run one hundred meters. I just felt out of touch with reality.” (ABC News Jul 6, 2017)
More explanation by Dr. Rutstein:
"When we’re in a defensive state, we’re being ruled by our older sections of brain, the mammalian brain or the reptilian brain. And those brains are before our thinking neocortex, the white cauliflower of the top level of our brain...
"Now, anyone who’s had themselves stuck in a state with or without trauma knows it’s really unpleasant, whether you’re angry for three days over a fight, or you’re anxious for two or three days over a confrontation, or you’re shut down for one or two days because you got so blown out of the water by something."
From this podcast episode "Trauma Healing and Not Being a Prisoner to Our Nervous System."
How to understand and heal from trauma - What is the freeze response?