How our brains respond to trauma (or when we re-live its memories) varies from person to person. By understanding these different responses, you have a better chance of overcoming post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

A person may suffer from PTSD when:

• Experiences a traumatic event
• Witnesses a traumatic event
• Hears about a traumatic event (rare)

Whatever this event may be, it has rewired the brain to feel higher levels of paranoia in ordinary circumstances. Especially when there’s something around that is a reminder of the event. For example, someone who ends up in a disastrous car crash may associate the color red with a paranoid response if the car they crashed into – or were in themselves – was the color red.

Throughout this article, we’re going to look into five specific ways the brain reacts to trauma. These are known as the “five F’s.”

Our Natural Response to Threat

Before we dive into the “five F’s,” it’s important we understand why we respond to trauma the way we do.

Simply put, our brains are wired to threats for the sake of survival. If our survival is ever threatened, our brains naturally want us to feel we need to do something about it. ¹

A threat (whether it’s real or perceived) is first recognized in the hypothalamus. It releases stress hormones as a means of getting the body ready to defend itself. From there, other areas of the brain and body are alerted and we have a reaction.

This reaction almost takes full control of the brain. When our hypothalamus is initially triggered, all other thoughts (such as long-term goals or even what was happening five minutes prior) are washed away to allow the brain and body to focus on defense mechanisms.

The Five F’s

Due to our brain and body’s natural response, we react on the surface in a certain type of way. These ways are known as the “Five F’s.”

1.) Fight

When a traumatic experience occurs – or when you relive a traumatic moment – do you find yourself becoming aggressive?

If so, you may naturally have a fighting response when you feel the need to defend yourself. Though the term speaks for itself, people who have a fight response usually undergo complex thinking when they feel in danger. ²

It’s more than just aggression. You seek out to battle anything that can prevent you from survival. Under this kind of thought process, there appear to be a lot more threats than actually present.

Furthermore, you may make a mistake that can result in a consequence. For example, someone with PTSD who’s reliving their trauma may accidentally hurt someone nearby through their aggression.

2.) Flight

On the other hand, you might react by running away from the threat. This is common not only in humans but in the animal kingdom as well.

Sometimes, when a conscious animal feels threatened, their immediate response is to run to a safer place. A place that ensures their survival. For many, this is wherever they call home.

However, since humans can’t always “run away,” it’s more common for people to slowly back away from a threat. Or, as is the case found in children, to hide from the threat.

3.) Friend

Considerably, our need for friends is one of the first defensive mechanisms we develop. From birth, we need someone to take care of us. We don’t know how to feed ourselves or clean ourselves up after a bathroom incident. Therefore, we cry until someone takes care of these necessities for us.

The idea is mirrored in adults. If something terrible happens, an adult may scream out as a means of defense. This scream is directly correlated to our cries as infants – they are the hope that we will be saved.

When people feel threatened, it’s only natural for them to turn towards someone who will get rid of the threat (if that someone is available). This can be anyone from a friend to a family member to a stranger who looks trustworthy enough. Social engagement protects in a variety of ways, from comfort to the other person taking charge of the fight. ³

People who feel as though they don’t have someone to turn to in times of defense are at a greater risk. No matter whether they fight or flight, they’ll always feel alone in their defense. As though the entire world is against them.

4.) Freeze

In certain situations of defense, the brain may not recognize fight, flight, or friend as options. Instead, it will recognize two other options.

One of these is freeze. Have you ever felt so shocked by something, you remain motionless? This is a natural reaction of the brain found throughout the animal kingdom.

There are some advantages certain animals have in becoming motionless. For example, if the prey is being hunted, the predator is less likely to know where they are if they remain immobile.

Obviously, the majority of the human population is not in a state where it feels as though it’s being hunted. Yet, we hold onto our freeze instinct as though it’s a necessity. ⁴

We’re more likely to do so in interpersonal threats. For example, if a person is being raped, they may feel as though they have no control over what is happening. Fighting is out of the question if they’re physically weaker, fleeing isn’t an option if they’re trapped, and there’s likely not going to be a friend around. Therefore, the body freezes in fear.

5.) Flop/Fawn

The other defense mechanism your body may take up is known as the flop. Usually, the body will not react in this way unless the freeze mechanism is insufficient. ⁵

A flop is when all your muscle tension ceases and you are left in a “floppy” state. If we take the rape example from above, the victim may find themselves having no control of their own body. Their muscles go limb and they lose complete control over any movement.

This defense mechanism is rarer than the other four mentioned on this list. However, it also leaves people the most vulnerable to a threat. If someone were to experience a flop state during a PTSD flashback, it could make them come across as chronically ill.

References

¹ Mobbs D, Hagan CC, Dalgleish T, Silston B, Prévost C. The ecology of human fear: survival optimization and the nervous system. Front Neurosci. 2015 Mar 18;9:55. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2015.00055. PMID: 25852451; PMCID: PMC4364301.

² Goldstein DS. Adrenal responses to stress. Cell Mol Neurobiol. 2010 Nov;30(8):1433-40. doi: 10.1007/s10571-010-9606-9. PMID: 21061156; PMCID: PMC3056281.

³ Porges, S. (1995). Orienting in a defensive world: mammalian modifications of our evolutionary heritage. A polyvagal theory. Psychophysiology.

⁴ Schmidt NB, Richey JA, Zvolensky MJ, Maner JK. Exploring human freeze responses to a threat stressor. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2008 Sep;39(3):292-304. doi: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2007.08.002. Epub 2007 Aug 12. PMID: 17880916; PMCID: PMC2489204.

⁵ Rothschild, B. (2000). The body remembers: the psychophysiology of trauma and trauma treatment. New York: Norton.