PTSD Symptoms: What does it mean to freeze in a traumatic sense?

[@MattFoleysGhost]

My mother died young and I used to say I went inside myself and never came back out but decades later thanks to social media I’ve learned this is my Trauma Response. I’ve got some more work to do but hopefully a more creatively productive life is on the other side of work. I thought I was “done” but I’m not.

[@midnightdaisy01]

I remember mom screaming at me everyday, and if i started to cry she would ask me why do i hate her so much. Thats when i found a safe place, out of time and out of the physical world. I was sitting on the chair, staring at the ground, face red of shame, and i suddenly started speaking in my head. From that point, it became easier and easier to escape to my mind, as if the whole reality and me were separated.

[@Bazgatow87]

All the best for you, Diana, on your journey.

[@memeswereablessingfromthel3942]

Ya, lol it's so stupid. I was beaten for God knows what, then I started crying, which promted a rougher beating because "wHy YoU cRyInG" Headass ヽ(ಠ_ಠ)ノ Moms are weird.

[@anonymous_0227]

Same here diana, you are not alone.

[@rejects101]

Did this a great deal when I was a kid, has had a huge effect on me now as an adult. Many times when I was a child, I thought/knew I was going to be killed.

[@Hellmo1337]

A better example of the freeze reaction is if a zebra is attacked by a lion and dragged to the ground it shuts its body off not only for a wish to escape but also to handle the trauma it is experiencing. Often a freeze reaction is a result of not feeling that you are able to fight or flight - an obvious example for this is experiencing torture or experiencing abuse in any form from an individual who holds a physical or mental advantage over you and abuses this advantage

[@sunshineslowking5025]

I think the speech shutting down makes sense adaptively as a lot of the time when I was going through severe trauma speaking or asserted myself let to me being screamed at or mocked or even assaulted, so hearing you say that I understand now why my brain is doing this to protect me, but it's become maladaptive for me because I can no longer speak to people outside my immediate family (with whom I have a strained relationship) and cannot make connections with people. But yeah my point is I think it definitely makes sense as a protective thing, in the moment.

[@dudleybarker2273]

man, that is such a profound insight!

[@sallysorrentino4013]

Yes it does make sense even on a primal instinct level as when there's a predator threat to an animal the inability to make any noise during the state of fear protects them from being heard

[@isabellashirahmadi5704]

My permanent state of mind body and soul is frozen..starring..depersonalized..hold my breath..can't speak..shocked..lithargic..my body wants to collapse..my soul wants to die but my brain says run away..I cant run away..Theres no where to go.. so I sit in my hell and go about life dead but someone still here..the worst part is the blurred vision..its been 8 years of hell..this will be the end of me someday

[@anonymous_0227]

Same here I am 18 don't know what my tomorrow will be, the thought of future often scares me ,thinking will this be same for all my life, I don't wanna live like this. Don't know what to do.

[@sabinaloco1674]

…I remember watching me while things were happening to me… like I was in another part of the room.

[@ingejustavanderhelm5208]

Hi Sabina, I am so sorry you had to go through this. How are you dong now, if I may ask? I hope you are doing better. You described it so well. I also felt like that. I remember so vividly that after I unsuccessfully tried to stop it and could not flee from it, I fully aware realized only one option was left and that was to leave my body through my head up in the air, away from me. I remember it as if it was yesterday. May God bless you Sabina, all the best!

[@shahilagh]

I used to think what I experience is a spiritual thing …: I didn’t know this is a brain related thing

[@Radianty_Ella]

@@shahilagh it’s most definitely both. 🙏🏽🤍

[@anonymous_0227]

The same is happening with me. It makes me afraid of myself .

[@wilhelmeniaferren9704]

I thank you for explaining so much of my PTSD and conversion disorder your so on point.

[@jdmarr2259]

Thank you, Dr. Ochberg.

[@anonymous_0227]

This happens with me every time whenever I am in traumatic situation. Times when I was sexually assaulted, I was unable to move, its kinda like I zoned out , my mind stops working...I know something is happening with me but I am unable figure out what actually it is, even I am unable to speak a word, its like I am freeze. Watching myself from far away. All this is creating trauma inside my mind that it was all my fault that I didn't shouted or protected myself at the moment. I could have saved myself but I can't.

[@angeliquetorres8468]

WHAT I REALLY NEED TO TO KNOW IS HOW DO YOU HEAL FROM IT IF YOU ARE FROZEN AND REMOVED I REALLY NEED HEALING BUT I CAN'T EXACTLY REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED TO ME SOMETIMES IT SEEMS LIKE A DREAM AND IDK IF ITS REAL I'LL REMEMBER SOMETHING TO A CERTAIN POINT BUT IT WILL CUT OUT AND THAT'S IT I ALSO HAVE REALLY HIGH ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION SINCE I WAS A KID KID BUT NOW IT SEEMS WORSE THAN EVER I CLENTCH MY JAW WAY MORE OFTEN ALMOST EVERYDAY BEING ANXIOUS AND THE DEPRESSION JUST WORSENS AND I WON'T WANT TO TAKE MEDICATION ITS ALL MENTAL HEALING

[@TURQUOISEEYES]

Not blaming yourself helps a lot! Knowing it is a automatic response you cant control how you will react at any traumatic situations.

[@anonymous_0227]

Same happens with I never realize what just happens with me then I later remember it and gt confused with my own memory.

[@wingsly]

Dr. Ochberg, this topic of the BIG silence and freezing emotionally and etc. amazing! And thank you for kindly sharing your experience and wisdom. i used to be extroverted and fairly at ease with conversation, able to flow into dialogue with way more frequency then I do or can presently, And i am stressed and etc. so well hence a LOUD Me becomes a very QUIET me. Your insight and experience about these forms of processing traumas is truly valuable! I Thanks so much.

[@Marma9095]

Thank You very much for this interesting & very helpful video!

[@bustacapinlutha]

excellent video. Learned something.

[@mmm-ko9my]

Thank you Dr. Ochberg.

[@alexandriaqueen7315]

Is the freeze like blink stare in to space without being aware of your surrounding

[@throughrose-colouredeyes6284]

i was wondering this earlier. i think that's more dissociation (which can coincide with the freeze state i think?).

[@gonebytrain]

It’s more like your brain stops noticing the surrounding and either you might stare out at nothing, or for example you can end up looking at the tv for many hours not really noticing what you see, and not moving. Not to watch tv for hours because you want to, but because your body literary stops working. So it is complex, but just think that you space out and suddenly realize 12 hours can have passed.

[@FreeJulianAssange23]

I have Catatonic Depression and DDD I am scared to leave my house incase I get stuck and sometimes I get embarrassed to talk to people because I sometimes mildly faint, only for a second or two but when I come to the other person rushes away and I lose my thoughts of what I was saying. Is that Dissociating?

[@emotophobiccdd8006]

What I describe as dissociation is almost like a ghost astral projecting out of my body. It's kinda like I'm mostly still in my head though, sort of (God it seems weird to write this). I'm unaware of where stress is inside my body at the best of times, because I'm usually dissociated to some degree. But when it gets really bad, I significantly lose control of my body. By that l mean I become physically and mentally uncoordinated. I can't judge distances. And I can't exactly feel my body. I mean...I can but I can't.... It's all pretty hard to explain. However, it made perfect sense when I watched a video about the primitive function of freezing. Imagine that you dropped to the ground hoping that a lion might pass, or might eat you, or might drag you away and put you under a tree with the intention of eating you later when he feels hungry. Seems like a great time to be dissociated from the body. I couldn't learn much in school because I was dissociating (although I never had language for it until relatively recently) which I still do way too much of. Nobody ever had a clue what was up with me. But as I got older I came to recognize a correlation between my feelings and my intellectual state. That 1% of time where I'm fully present in my body, I am perfectly capable of learning absolutely anything. With a whole heap of exploring and self-diagnosis, I recently labeled this as Concentration Deficit Disorder. But I don't buy into the research that's been done on this, because it all seems to be funded by drug companies. I am 100% certain that, for me at least, this is purely an emotional issue. I've also diagnosed myself as having Dismissive Avoidant Attachment style, and Emotophobia (not to be confused with Emetophobia). Can't believe that with all the research that I've done, I seem to have overlooked my trauma response. Absolutely every symptom on Penelope Ryder's video is strong for me. I have looked into it. I guess that I just never looked at a decent video. I normally watch/read EVERYTHING before I draw a conclusion about anything. Not sure if I've heard of Catatonic Depression, but i always say that i feel like my inner child is Catatonic. Think I have heard of it actually. Might have some more research to do!

[@britishbluetess]

The lion annology is brilliant 👍🏻

[@dudleybarker2273]

thank you for this insight - as a person who stutters, this hits me right in the feels - i am so sick of people who use the word stutter as a noun in everyday conversation - it is as much of a disability as any other.

[@GingerAutie]

Wow, you just mainly explaint my trauma? But how is it to explained when someone stays in the traumatic envirenment even AFTER the trauma occoured?

[@РенатаЕсенчева]

You will get sick if u stay in toxic environment. GET OUT!!!

[@ashleyperone2038]

This happened to me a lot in my life

[@stmeezy]

My freeze mode made people criticize me. Abandon and neglect me. How can you tell a sick person to catch up? Ketchup

[@jaytee5701]

it's really sucks I'm almost certain to the end of this drawn. out misery

[@dariness7176]

Hey I am in this mindset. I always had awareness when something is wrong and I always wanted to fight it or tell someone but in order to survive I was told shut up pretend it's not happening and it has gone against me over the years when my previous girlfriend was attacked I wanted to do something but I froze trying to figure out should I do something because my mom was repeatedly attacked by her bad bf and was told it's normal not to call the cops or fight the bf. Was it my fault or was I a coward.

[@meaculpa22]

You were scared hun forgive yourself because you are not at fault... wish you the best

[@TURQUOISEEYES]

You were being manipulated, and hurt, you knew you or your mom could die if you told. I was a nanny for three boys and the neighbor kidnapped me with them. He hurt me so bad I couldn't walk without pain, but I kept the boys from being hurt. He threatened them and took one with him whenever he left so I wouldn't tell. If you have seen the violence or felt it you know they arent bluffing ...so you obey. There was more then just you involved! And as far your girlfriend goes, you were remembering the past trauma and it triggered your current. You are NOT a coward! You were triggered.

[@ginahales-owen2687]

youre attacked like that you may go unconscious I did too, especially if you get battered, you may have no memory, even the attacks do that without penetration. it can last for mins or hours you may wake with various injuries from the attack(s) just thru battery etc, that can inc ptsd. that effect of passing out is real girls do get that its like pulling g forces under strain in an aircraft and you black out like a pilot, possibly while fighting them off or trying to, yes and you cant move or whatever with that weak feeling. then they try to blame you and get nastyy and do it while youre in trauma.pain etc. she wasn't lying when that model said that it does do that its not excuses you black out. don't worry theyre doing their little dance again to get out of whatever it was then they go nothing happened youre an apostate youre having delusions etc. when people do that theyre F**** you about, they all do that......

[@debbieseabrook6197]

So many mental health problems have the root

[@janinelusink9296]

How can i stop this response? I keep falling down in a freeze attack..

[@SM-ol1ek]

What do I do if your stuck in this state of freeze

[@halalmeatz5644]

Prey behavior. Fight, flight, or freeze. Autonomic nervous system. .

[@uzoo9505]

....or fawn...

[@bufficliff8978]

I have all of those things

[@debbieseabrook6197]

Have their origin in PTSD should be ruled out before other diagnostic terms are used

[@EugeneKulinek]

Nothing said that would help cure though

[@Tadesan]

What about baby boys who have had their genitals mutilated?

[@45jackiegreekcalmingmysoul79]

OMG....FINALLY.... YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

[@ZenithAstrology]

This is my Astrology - freezing (Aquarius) emotionally (Scorpio).

[@halalmeatz5644]

Your astrology is what is traumatizing you. Lol. Your listening to a scientist speak while pontificating about some nonsense. So weird.

[@ZenithAstrology]

@@halalmeatz5644 Why are you talking to me : now that's weird!

[@halalmeatz5644]

@@ZenithAstrology Only thing weird is your paradoxical belief system which I pointed out with your attention seeking comment. You wanted the attention, you got it. you don’t like the paradox maybe purge it from your belief system🤷

[@ZenithAstrology]

@@halalmeatz5644 Attention seeking comment Mercury and Pisces is not seek ur attention stupid! I'm not gonna sit up here and argue with you for free by shut the hell up!

[@ZenithAstrology]

@@halalmeatz5644 Go make a friend go talk to them and argue astrology there by girl!

[@clanmacbeth7057]

I'm wild I freeze instead of fighting oh I'm wild...

[@MG-fr3tn]

Sound like the creep doing it