Understanding the Freeze Response and Dorsal Vagal Shutdown
Understanding the Freeze Response and Dorsal Vagal Shutdown Have you ever felt frozen in the face of stress—unable to act or make a decision? This experience, often described as “freezing,” is a common yet misunderstood survival response. While many people refer to all forms of immobility as “freeze,” there are important distinctions within...Learn More
Worry, Stress and Anxiety: What’s the Difference?
As a Therapist at the Counseling and Wellness Center of Pittsburgh, I frequently encounter a prevalent concern among clients – the pervasive presence of stress and anxiety in their daily experiences. Without a doubt, stress and anxiety can be unsettling, and they can feel particularly intense when they appear to pose a threat to one’s well-being. However, in instances where...Learn More
The Fight Response on the Road AKA Road Rage
Welcome back to our stress responses series; what they are and how they manifest in different contexts. So far, we’ve explored the different stages of the freeze response: Freeze in a survival scenario and Freeze during social threats, and in our last blog, you survived the ultimate cage fight with Michael Myers (you’ll have to go back and read that one if you are wondering how you...Learn More
Fight or Flight? An Exploration of the Fight Response in a Horror Film
Welcome back to this series on the stress responses. Our hope is to untangle the web of confusion that has been spun surrounding these responses, and to demystify this innate human ability that we all possess and experience regularly. Our last two articles explored the freeze response—you learned how to recognize the differing stages of the freeze response in both Big T (catastrophic...Learn More
Understanding the Freeze Response During Social “Threats”
In our last blog, Stress Responses: What Are They, How Do They Work, and Why I am so Confused!?, you survived a vicious bear attack and learned how the parasympathetic nervous system kicks in when other responses fail. We explored different stages of the freeze response, and how to recognize them. You also learned some pretty cool new words, like neuroception and ventral vagal,...Learn More