Understanding Trauma Responses: How We Survive and How We Heal

Carrie
Jun 5
3 min read

Trauma leaves marks that are not always visible. It’s not just about what happened to us—but how our mind, body, and spirit responded in order to survive. While trauma can feel chaotic and overwhelming, it’s important to understand that

our reactions are not failures—they are sophisticated, often unconscious coping mechanisms.

Let’s explore the ways trauma shapes us—psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually—and how healing is not only possible but deeply transformative.

The 4 Core Trauma Responses: Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn

These instinctive responses are hardwired into our nervous system and are activated when we perceive threat, danger, or emotional overwhelm:

Freeze: When escape or defence doesn’t feel possible, we go still. We may feel paralyzed, disconnected, or emotionally numb. The world may slow down or stop completely.
Fight: This is the urge to confront danger—through anger, defiance, or physical aggression. It may show up as irritability, control issues, or intense emotional outbursts.
Flight: We try to escape—physically, mentally, or emotionally. It can manifest as anxiety, restlessness, overworking, perfectionism, or avoidance.
Fawn: This lesser-known response involves people-pleasing, appeasement, and self-abandonment. We seek safety by prioritizing others’ needs above our own, often at the cost of our authenticity.

These are not choices. They are automatic adaptations to environments that felt unsafe.

Dissociation: The Mind’s Emergency Exit

When trauma overwhelms us—especially early in life—our mind may distance itself from pain through dissociation, a psychological escape hatch.

Here are some common dissociative experiences:

Depersonalization: Feeling detached from your body or identity. You might feel like you're watching yourself in a movie, or that your body doesn’t feel like “yours.”
Derealization: The world around you feels distorted, dreamlike, or unreal. It's as if a glass wall separates you from reality.
Dissociative Amnesia: Memory gaps surrounding traumatic events or even long periods of life. It’s the brain's way of protecting you from unbearable pain.
Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID): Formerly known as multiple personality disorder, DID is the most extreme dissociative response. It involves distinct identity states that help a person manage and compartmentalize trauma.

Dissociation can be confusing and even frightening—but it’s important to remember: these are survival mechanisms, not signs of weakness or madness.

The Spiritual Perspective: Soul Fragmentation

Many indigenous and spiritual traditions speak of soul loss or soul fragmentation—where a piece of our essence detaches during trauma to shield itself from harm. This can lead to feelings of emptiness, disconnection, or the sense that a part of you is "missing."

From this perspective, healing isn’t just psychological. It’s also energetic and spiritual.

Practices like:

Inner child work
Somatic Healing
Meditation
Energy healing
Creative expression (art, dance, writing)

…can help invite these lost soul fragments back home, gently and lovingly.

There Is Hope: Trauma Responses Are Not Permanent

You are not broken—you are adapting.

Trauma responses were your mind and body’s way of saying: “I will protect you, no matter what.”

Healing means slowly learning that it is safe to come out of survival mode. It means reconnecting with your body, your truth, your community—and yes, even your spirit.

Therapy, support groups, mindfulness, and spiritual healing can all be part of the journey. There is no one-size-fits-all path. But healing is possible. You are already on the path the moment you begin to understand your story with compassion instead of shame.

Whether your trauma was sudden or ongoing, visible or invisible—your pain is real. But so is your resilience.

Let’s hold space for all the ways we survive. Let’s talk about dissociation, fawning, and soul loss—not as disorders, but as signs of the incredible creativity of the human spirit under pressure.

And let’s remember: healing isn’t about erasing what happened. It’s about reclaiming the parts of you that got lost along the way.

You are worthy of healing. You are worthy of wholeness.

#TraumaHealing #MentalHealthAwareness #FreezeFlightFightFawn #Dissociation #SoulHealing #TraumaInformed #InnerChildHealing #DIDAwareness #HopeAfterTrauma