When you’re faced with a dangerous, distressing, or traumatic situation, your body can go into fight or flight. However, some people can withdraw and dissociate.
In this blog, we’ll discuss what dissociation and other trauma responses are and how you can overcome them.
What Are Different Responses to Trauma?
What is trauma and what causes it? Trauma may result from a single distressing experience or from recurring events of being overwhelmed, neglected, or abused—whether in childhood or adulthood. Trauma doesn’t just usually affect you in the moment; if it isn’t dealt with and worked through, it can last for weeks, years, or even decades as you struggle to cope with the immediate circumstances, ultimately leading to serious, long-term negative consequences.
- Dissociation
One of the most common responses to trauma can be dissociation. During dissociation, you may feel mentally disconnected and removed from the situation or not remember it at all. It may cause you to feel numb, detached, and as if you’re completely detached from your body and environment. This can happen when dissociating from reality, which can make the traumatic event(s) feel less real and help you survive and get through it/them.
- Verbal Cues
Verbal cues can be a response to trauma, whether in the moment or later on when triggered. This may include verbal cues such as “I can’t move”, “I feel paralyzed”, or “I am stuck”.
In contrast to this, when some people are triggered, they may go completely silent or mute.
- Hyper-alertness
Hyper-alertness involves achieving a heightened state of alertness or energy as a defense mechanism against trauma and includes symptoms such as sweating, fast heart rate, restlessness, and tense muscles. Essentially, this is the “flight or fight” response.
- Change in Heart Rate
During a fear response, you may experience a decreased heart rate. However, some people may experience the opposite; their heart rate may increase, and they may feel a loud, pounding heart (1). In addition, some people may experience shallow and rapid breathing during this response.
- Feeling Stiff, Heavy, Cold, and Numb
As the name suggests, a fear response makes a person feel stiff, cold, and numb. In addition, they may feel stuck and have physical heaviness in their limbs, in addition to having pale skin. This often accompanies a sense of dread and foreboding.
Read more: 8 Childhood Traumas: Recognizing the Signs and Finding Healing
What Is the Trauma Response to Emotional Abuse?
Whether it’s one instance of abuse or multiple, both physical and emotional abuse can have a lasting effect on a person. Emotional abuse can cause deep pain and trauma to your physical and mental health (2). This emotional distress can last indefinitely if it’s not dealt with and whether the trauma happened as a child or later, it can cause long-lasting effects in adults.
For those who have experienced emotional abuse, factors such as the specific pattern of neglect and abuse, personality traits, and genetics all play into how we respond to trauma (3).
You may experience dissociation as a response to emotional abuse, which involves shutting down to block out fear, disappointment, and intimidation. A common response to trauma is feeling completely numb, feeling paralyzed and unable to move, and not being able to verbally call out or speak.
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How Do You Calm the Dissociative Response?
If you’ve experienced the dissociation tactic in the past or continually, there are healthy, safe ways to overcome and calm this response. While it can be a beneficial technique in the moment, it’s not beneficial if you’re constantly in a state of dissociation due to trauma that hasn’t been dealt with.
Fortunately, there are some techniques and strategies you can use to bring both your mind and body back to the present and a place of calm and safety.
Let’s look at a few techniques on how to overcome this response.
Deep Breathing Exercises
Slowing yourself down is a great way to bring yourself back to the present, and one of the ways you can do this is with deep breathing exercises. Through these breathing exercises, the nervous system is regulated. We previously discussed that shallow or rapid breathing is a symptom of a fear response, and deep breathing can soothe this by increasing your oxygen levels and restoring balance to your body (5).
Certain techniques, such as the 4-7-8 breathing exercise, are beneficial breathing exercises to help calm your freeze response by bringing you into a state of relaxation and calm. Another exercise is simply taking slow, deep breaths. This effort consciously slows down and deepens your breath, which signals to your body that the threat has passed and you can now relax.
Grounding Practices
Grounding is a valuable practice that brings your focus and attention to the earth and where you are in the moment, which helps you connect to the present moment and come out of feelings of being trapped or overwhelmed. Essentially, this engages your senses to focus on what’s going on around you, such as your breathing, the ground beneath your feet, or nearby sensory objects.
This technique helps you regain control over the situation and helps take your mind off negative feelings or thoughts. By focusing on the present, you can refocus your mental thoughts and physical feelings on what’s around you.
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Self-Compassion
Another tactic you can employ is to use self-compassion on yourself. Self-compassion is a simple, yet effective practice that provides a gentle understanding and perspective of what you have or are going through and allows you to be comforted to feel calm and safe.
You can also use mindfulness. Practicing mindfulness can be as easy as simply observing your thoughts and feelings without judgment, and even speaking positive affirmations over yourself that promote love, patience, and compassion toward yourself can help.
Seeking Support
Seeking support may just sound like a simple thing, but this practice can actually be effective. The fact is, connecting with and sharing your experiences with your friends, family, loved ones, or a therapist can help you overcome and calm the dissociative response.
Read more: BetterMe Somatic Overview (2025): Embracing WellnessThrough Movement and Awareness
The Bottom Line
Essentially, the dissociative trauma response is one of the reactions a person can have when they’re faced with a difficult situation. It involves the inability to move, act, or sometimes even speak. Other responses to trauma may manifest in various symptoms, such as physical stiffness, numbness, and either increased heart rate or decreased heart rate variability. It can be triggered by past traumatic experiences, which results in an involuntary state of high alertness or withdrawal when encountering reminders of those distressing or traumatic experiences.
To manage and overcome these trauma responses, you can employ several techniques, including deep breathing exercises, grounding practices, self-compassion, mindfulness, and seeking support from friends or family. It’s important to keep in mind that with any trauma, you can seek help from a therapist to help you address and overcome trauma.
For additional resources, visit BetterMe’s blog to read our articles on trauma-informed yoga, overcoming childhood trauma, 28-day somatic exercise for trauma relief, and so much more!
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This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not serve to address individual circumstances. It is not a substitute for professional advice or help and should not be relied on for making any kind of decision-making. Any action taken as a direct or indirect result of the information in this article is entirely at your own risk and is your sole responsibility.
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SOURCES:
- Heart rate and heart rate variability in panic, social anxiety, obsessive–compulsive, and generalized anxiety disorders at baseline and in response to relaxation and hyperventilation (2013, sciencedirect.com)
- The impact and long-term effects of childhood trauma (2018, tandfonline.com)
- Psychological mechanisms in acute response to trauma (2003, sciencedirect.com)
- Effectiveness of Progressive Muscle Relaxation, Deep Breathing, and Guided Imagery in Promoting Psychological and Physiological States of Relaxation (2021, onlinelibrary.wiley.com)
