Symptoms of depression can be understood as the body going into freeze mode to protect itself from a threat. We feel helpless in the face of the different challenges in our life. Often, this is accompanied by a sense of frustration or shame at ourselves.
Depression might directly cause fatigue, but it also has indirect effects on our sleep, diet, and exercise that can drain us of energy. Depression can cause you to feel low-energy in many ways: It may make it more difficult to sleep.
Freeze is one of several defense responses to trauma. While the survival strategies fight and flight are more well-known, the freeze response has become increasingly identified and worked with over the past several years.
Immobilizing freezing responses are associated with anxiety and may be etiologically related to several anxiety disorders.
What happens during 'freeze'? The freeze response involves a different physiological process than fight or flight. Research from 2015 describes it as “attentive immobility.” While the person who is “frozen” is extremely alert, they are also unable to move or take action against the danger.
In other words, a child that suffered from constant anxiety and fear due to trauma may develop a tendency to freeze as a response to triggers as an adult. Those who froze as a response often as children may develop a tendency towards disassociation, anxiety or panic disorders, and even post-traumatic stress disorder.
It has been shown that parts of the brain are involved in freezing behavior and that neurotransmitters and similar chemicals influence freezing behavior, as well. In a related manner, hormones, progestogens and estrogen, also play a role in freezing behavior.
It is currently a behavior that's become hardwired due to past trauma. And right now, it is out of your mind's control. Freezing up is a primal response that becomes activated within your nervous system whenever your body is subtly reminded of past trauma.
ADHD paralysis happens when a person with ADHD is overwhelmed by their environment or the amount of information given. As a result, they freeze and aren't able to think or function effectively. This makes it challenging for the individual to focus and complete their tasks—including urgent ones.
Additionally, chronic stress and anxiety can cause changes in the body's hormone levels, leading to constricted blood vessels and poor circulation. This can make the fingers and toes feel cold, even in warm environments and in some cases, the toes may even appear white due to the lack of blood flow.
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that comes and goes in a seasonal pattern. SAD is sometimes known as "winter depression" because the symptoms are usually more apparent and more severe during the winter. Some people with SAD may have symptoms during the summer and feel better during the winter.
For some people, stress or mental health factors can cause shivering and other involuntary movements. This usually occurs due to a psychogenic movement disorder, which can affect any part of the body.
As it turns out, in depressed people, something seems to go awry in the thermoregulation process, Raison said. For example, research has shown that depressed individuals often have elevated core body temperatures but don't sweat as they should to cool the body down.
The “freeze” response occurs when our brains decide we cannot take on the threat nor are we able to escape. Often when this happens our bodies might remain still, unable to move, numb or “freeze”. We may feel as if we are not actually a part of our bodies.
People with social anxiety disorder get so anxious and distressed in social situations that they often try to avoid those situations altogether. Usually, this means worrying about being judged negatively by other people, or worrying about behaving in an embarrassing way.
A major feature of the experience of dissociation is the freeze response. Freezing is a state of immobility, i.e., the body stops moving.
Symptoms of depression can be understood as the body going into freeze mode to protect itself from a threat. We feel helpless in the face of the different challenges in our life. Often, this is accompanied by a sense of frustration or shame at ourselves.
This is called the Chronic Freeze state, the last state of the nervous system, where our body is operating at minimal capacity in order to conserve energy. This state is often accompanied by depression. Chronic freeze looks like emotional numbness accompanied by chronic exhaustion.
Why People Emotionally Shut Down. Trauma, prolonged stress, anxiety, depression and grief all contribute to feeling emotionally shut down. Nemmers says medication, while lifesaving for many, can also trigger a side effect of emotional numbness.
There are actually 5 of these common responses, including 'freeze', 'flop' and 'friend', as well as 'fight' or 'flight'. The freeze, flop, friend, fight or flight reactions are immediate, automatic and instinctive responses to fear. Understanding them a little might help you make sense of your experiences and feelings.