6 Comments
User's avatar
Emily | Hippiness Is's avatar

Love this piece! I have CPTSD and the freeze response is so real, inside your head you’re thinking of all the things you could be doing to “fight back”, but your body and your voice are genuinely stuck.

A suggestion for others, I’ve begun noticing the physical symptoms and intrusive thoughts that accompany my freeze response and started talking myself through them internally. I also love tapping as a practice.

Expand full comment
Pria Alpern, PhD's avatar

As an EMDR person I love butterfly tapping! Thanks for sharing 🖤

Expand full comment
Cathy Cameron-Muscente's avatar

Thanks for this really thorough explanation. It describes exactly what happens to me in certain situations. My question is, are there techniques/tools to move out of this state once you realize you are in freeze response? I find it difficult to deal with the exiting the freeze response.

Expand full comment
Pria Alpern, PhD's avatar

Thanks for the question - you’ve given me some writing inspiration- stay tuned!

Expand full comment
S.A.Walker's avatar

This has happened to me many times.

I have been diagnosed with PTSD. I didn't need the diagnosis to know that I had been traumatized and seriously affected by it. The people around me wanted a 'label' for what I was going through.

Expand full comment
Pria Alpern, PhD's avatar

Thanks for sharing - you’re not alone

Expand full comment