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What are trauma responses?
The nervous system's built-in strategies for handling threat.
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When your brain senses danger — real or perceived — a part of it called the amygdala can trigger a survival response before you've had a chance to think it through. This is sometimes called the body's alarm system, and it evolved to keep us alive, not to make sense of modern life such as awkward emails or difficult conversations.
Fight, flight, freeze and fawn are four broad strategies the nervous system can reach for. Most people don't experience just one — you may notice a blend, or find that different situations call up different responses.
A few things worth knowing
- These responses are automatic — they are not a choice you make in the moment
- They can be triggered by things that resemble past threat, even if the current situation is safe
- Having a strong trauma response doesn't mean something is 'wrong' with you
- Responses can change over time, and often soften with support and safety
This page describes patterns, not a diagnosis. Only a qualified professional can assess whether something meets the criteria for a clinical condition such as PTSD or C-PTSD.