Freeze response

Type: Concept

As of November 2026, Freeze response has been mentioned in 3 episodes across 1 podcast, first heard Sep 2025 on What Your Therapist Thinks. The concept of freeze response is discussed in several episodes of "What Your Therapist Thinks." In the episode on performance anxiety, the host addresses how freeze response can manifest during high-pressure situations. Additionally, the episodes on trauma and emotional abuse explore how freeze response may relate to past experiences and coping mechanisms in response to trauma.

The fight-or-flight or the fight-flight-or-freeze response, also known as hyperarousal or acute stress response, is a physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival. It was first described by Walter Bradford Cannon in 1914 which he referred to as "the necessities of fighting or flight" in 1915. His theory states that animals react to threats with a general discharge of the sympathetic nervous system, preparing the animal for fighting or