Fight or Flight Response **Trigger warning**

The 'fight or flight' response is how people sometimes refer to our body's automatic reactions to fear.

There are actually 5 of these common responses, including 'freeze', 'flop' and 'friend', as well as 'fight' or 'flight'.

The freeze, flop, friend, fight or flight reactions are immediate, automatic and instinctive responses to fear. Understanding them a little might help you make sense of your experiences and feelings.

How our bodies respond to danger

We usually experience fear when we sense we are in danger. When our brains alert our bodies to the presence of danger, our bodies respond automatically.

For example, to prepare us to deal with immediate danger, our bodies often:

• Speed up our heart rate and breathing, to increase the oxygen and blood going to our muscles.

• Tighten our muscles, ready for use if needed.

• Deactivate bodily functions that aren't immediately important, like digestion.

• Sweat, so we don't get too hot.

• Release adrenaline, to give us energy.

• Release cortisol, to relieve pain. This can also have the effect of blocking rational thinking, which is why in times of extreme stress and fear, we sometimes feel our heads are cloudy or that we can't concentrate.
  
  

Fight, flight, freeze, flop, friend

Because we hear a lot about 'fight or flight', we can sometimes feel disappointed, frustrated or even angry with ourselves that when we were in a situation of extreme fear or danger, we didn't experience superhuman strength or speed to struggle or run off.

But the other three common reactions to fear and danger - freeze, flop and friend - are just as instinctive as fight or flight, and we don't get to choose which ones we experience in the moment.

All five responses are our bodies' automatic ways of protecting us from further harm and surviving a dangerous situation:

• Fight: physically fighting, pushing, struggling, and fighting verbally e.g. saying 'no'.

• Flight: putting distance between you and danger, including running, hiding or backing away.

• Freeze: going tense, still and silent. This is a common reaction to rape and sexual violence. Freezing is not giving consent, it is an instinctive survival response. Animals often freeze to avoid fights and potential further harm, or to 'play dead' and so avoid being seen and eaten by predators.

• Flop: similar to freezing, except your muscles become loose and your body goes floppy. This is an automatic reaction that can reduce the physical pain of what's happening to you. Your mind can also shut down to protect itself.

• Friend: calling for a 'friend' or bystander for help, for example by shouting or screaming, and/or 'befriending' the person who is dangerous, for example by placating, negotiating, bribing or pleading with them. Again, this is not you giving your attacker consent, it is an instinctive survival mechanism.

What’s going on in the body

During a fight-flight-freeze response, many physiological changes occur.

The reaction begins in your amygdala, the part of your brain responsible for perceived fear. The amygdala responds by sending signals to the hypothalamus, which stimulates the autonomic nervous system (ANS).

The ANS consists of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The sympathetic nervous system drives the fight-or-flight response, while the parasympathetic nervous system drives freezing. How you react depends on which system dominates the response at the time.