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From Frozen to Free: Creating a Life Beyond the Survival Mode of Freeze
- Karen Law
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Many people who have experienced trauma find themselves stuck in survival mode. Instead of feeling fully alive, they often live in patterns shaped by the past... unable to relax, always waiting for something bad to happen, or feeling disconnected from themselves. One of the most common trauma responses is freeze.
The freeze trauma response can feel like being shut down, numb, or unable to act. It’s the body’s way of protecting itself when fight or flight aren’t possible. The nervous system slows everything down to keep us safe. But when freeze becomes the default response, it can limit how we live, work, and connect with others.
What Survival Mode Looks Like
Survival mode isn’t always obvious. It can show up in many different ways:
Finding it hard to make decisions or take action
Feeling cut off from emotions or body sensations
Struggling with procrastination or avoidance
Going blank in conversations, unable to find words
Living with a constant sense of dread or shutdown
These are not signs of weakness. They are signs of a nervous system doing its best to survive.
My Own Experience with Freeze
On my own healing journey, I’ve noticed how freeze still shows up at times. When I feel threatened or deeply stressed, I sometimes find myself unable to speak. The words just won’t come, no matter how much I want them to. At other times, I slip into procrastination, endlessly putting things off because my body feels too overwhelmed to act.
This is something I’ve had to work through layer by layer. And I’ve noticed that when people start to come out of freeze, the fight or flight response can reappear. The nervous system swings back into action, but it can feel too much, too fast, and so the freeze returns. This cycle often continues until enough healing has been done to gently re-train and regulate the autonomic nervous system.
Moving Beyond Survival
The good news is that survival mode doesn’t have to be permanent. With the right support, it’s possible to:
Reconnect with the body and begin to feel safe again
Learn how to regulate the nervous system
Release trauma patterns that keep you stuck in freeze
Develop new ways of responding to stress and triggers
Experience more freedom, choice, and aliveness
Healing doesn’t mean the old responses never appear, but it does mean they no longer control your life. You get to build a nervous system that can flex and recover, rather than stay trapped in shutdown.
Final Thoughts
If you recognise yourself in the freeze response, whether through silence, procrastination, or emotional shutdown, know that you’re not alone. These are understandable responses to trauma, and they can change.
I’ve walked this path myself, and I support clients to do the same. Together we can work on healing your nervous system so that you can move beyond survival and begin to truly live.
