Have you ever been in a situation with others when you suddenly feel the desire to flee the room immediately? You may not consciously feel you’re in danger but the discomfort you sense and your need to be anywhere else can feel overwhelming. That’s your flight response, an instinctive reaction designed to keep you safe.
In this post, I’ll explain what the flight response is, how it gets activated and what can be helpful to reduce its impact, especially for people who suffer from trauma. This post is the latest in my series on trauma and the common trauma responses.
What is the flight response?
Alongside, fight, freeze and fawn, the flight response is an element of your body’s protective response. These responses to keep you safe from danger.are natural and hard wired into the body. They helped our ancestors to survive when they were living in the wild and dealing with daily threats from predators.
The flight response is often mentioned alongside the fight response. This is because from a biological perspective, they are both physiological responses which are automatically activated by the sympathetic nervous system. The physical symptoms of the flight response, such as increased heart rate, muscle tension and sweating, are actually similar to those of the fight response.
But the two responses are opposites in terms of their emotional symptoms. Whilst the fight response drives someone to engage with the situation and attack, the flight response shows up as a need to disengage and avoid the perceived threat. While both involve the same surge of adrenaline and physical readiness, they differ in direction. The fight response pushes toward confrontation, whereas the flight response urges withdrawal and escape.
The need to flee in daily life
It’s helpful to have in mind the word ‘avoidance’ when thinking about the flight response. To bring to life how this response can show up, here are a few examples of scenarios:
– Avoiding social situations on a regular basis.
– Avoiding tackling your to-do list or doing everything else rather than working on a pressing project.
– Not engaging with others if they are being challenging or actively avoiding any conversation which could be tricky or controversial.
Whilst procrastination, rain checking a social engagement, or ducking a tricky discussion are all common human reactions, if these patterns become constant, it might be that your flight response is activated too often.
For those who have experienced trauma, this heightened sensitivity can make everyday stressors feel unsafe, leading to frequent avoidance or withdrawal. For example, if you are continually removing yourself from social situations, turning down repeated opportunities to meet friends and ignoring messages from loved ones, it may be helpful to consider what is behind this behaviour.
How science makes you want to flee
Here’s some science about what causes the flight response.
When your brain senses danger, the amygdala takes charge of proceedings by setting off an alarm. Research into the stress response shows that when the amygdala detects danger, it sends an alarm to the hypothalamus, which activates the sympathetic nervous system1, . Your nervous system responds by triggering the release of hormones e.g. adrenaline and cortisol that prepare the body for movement.
Blood flow shifts its focus from your digestion towards your muscles and your heart rate and breathing start to quicken. The body literally prepares itself to run. Additionally, the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for reasoning and reflection, starts shutting itself down. This causes your logical thinking to go offline so your natural instincts kick in.
It may be helpful to think of the process as similar to a fire alarm system. When the alarm is raised, certain systems shut off whilst others are activated. This is to show you how to get away from danger. For people who have experienced trauma, this alarm system can remain highly sensitive, meaning even minor stressors can trigger the same physiological cascade.
Updating the flight response triggers
In my counselling practice, I have witnessed signs of the flight response being activated in clients when we discuss issues they find stressful. This might show up via their body language in sessions or through their decision to suddenly end our work together when we get to a stage where deeper exploration is needed to move forward.
I often explore with clients how the body’s protective systems can stay switched on long after danger has passed. When someone has experienced trauma, the nervous system can become highly sensitive and interpret everyday stress as potential threat.
There can often be a positive shift for clients when they start to recognise when their flight response is activated. It can be helpful to know old survival patterns can linger in the mind and body long after the trauma. Recognising these patterns is the first step. Once clients understand their reactions are protective not faulty, they can begin to build a sense of safety and choice.
Over time, with reflection and practice, it’s possible to build an understanding of what your nervous system is responding to. By becoming aware of how sensations in your body are triggered by certain situations, you can start joining the dots about why they are stressful. Once you know your triggers, you can begin to recognise which are current and which relate to historic trauma. By teaching your mind and body to understand it is safe to no longer be on alert to historic events, it’s possible to reduce the nervous system’s sensitivity.
Reflection prompts
What do you feel the need to avoid on a regular basis?
What situations or emotions make you want to escape or keep busy?
When you feel the urge to avoid something, what might your body be trying to protect you from? Do you feel any specific sensations in your body when this happens?
If you notice your flight response being triggered, try pausing to take a few slow breaths or feel your feet on the ground. Small acts of grounding can help remind your body that you are safe in the present moment.
In my next post in this series, I’ll explore the freeze response. If you’d like to read my posts about trauma and the fight response, you can find them via the links below:
The Fight Response – When Protection Looks Like Anger
1 LeDoux, J. E. (2000). Emotion Circuits in the Brain. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 23(1), 155–184. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.neuro.23.1.155
