V1P Lanarkshire Blog: Survival Responses
Understanding the Fight, Flight, Freeze and Appease Response in Veterans
Many veterans are familiar with the body’s survival system, even if they do not always realise it or notice how it changes the mind and body.
During threatening or high-pressure situations, the brain and body automatically move into survival mode. This is not weakness, overreacting, or “losing control.” It is the nervous system doing what it was designed to do (keep us alive!)
Most people have heard of the fight or flight response, but there are actually four common survival responses. All human beings have these responses.
Fight
The body prepares to confront danger. This can look like anger, irritability, aggression, being easily frustrated, or feeling constantly “on guard.”
For veterans, the fight response may have been highly useful during service, where quick reactions, alertness, and assertiveness could keep people safe. However, outside of military settings, the same response can sometimes appear during arguments, crowded places, driving, or stressful situations that are not actually dangerous, but were we do feel a "sense of threat."
Flight
The body prepares to escape threat. This may involve avoiding situations, staying busy, overworking, leaving places quickly, or feeling restless and unable to switch off.
Some veterans notice they avoid crowds, social situations, certain conversations, or places that remind them of difficult experiences. Others may constantly keep moving because slowing down feels uncomfortable. The more we "flight" from a situation, the more out brain and body thinks of it as "dangerous."
Freeze
Sometimes the nervous system decides that fighting or escaping is not possible. The body can “shut down” or become stuck in these circumstances.
This may feel like:
- Going blank, unable to move
- Feeling numb or detached
- Struggling to speak
- Feeling emotionally disconnected
- Finding it difficult to make decisions
Freeze responses are common in trauma and can often lead people to unfairly criticise themselves afterwards (“Why didn’t I do something?”). In reality, freeze is an automatic survival response, not something we consciously think of doing.
Appease (Sometimes Called “Fawn”)
Appeasing involves trying to stay safe by keeping others happy, avoiding conflict, or putting other people’s needs first.
Veterans may notice this through:
- Difficulty saying no
- Over-responsibility
- Trying to keep the peace at all costs
- Hiding distress from others
- Feeling responsible for everyone around them
This response often develops when staying connected to others felt important for safety or survival.
Early Life Experiences and Military Life
Our survival responses do not suddenly begin in adulthood or during military service. Early life experiences can shape how sensitive or reactive the nervous system becomes from a young age.
For example, growing up around unpredictability, criticism, conflict, neglect, emotional invalidation, abuse, or environments where someone had to stay alert can teach the brain that the world is unsafe. Over time, the nervous system may become more prepared for threat, even before military service begins.
Military training and operational experiences can then reinforce or consolidate these patterns. In many military environments, being hyper-alert, emotionally controlled, quick to react, and constantly scanning for danger are helpful and necessary skills. The nervous system learns that staying prepared improves survival.
For some veterans, this can mean that older survival patterns become strengthened over time. The brain and body can become highly efficient at detecting danger, but may then struggle to switch out of survival mode when back in civvy street.
Why These Responses Continue After Service
The brain learns from experience; military environments often require high alertness, quick reactions, emotional suppression, and constant awareness of danger. The nervous system can become trained to stay prepared, even long after leaving service.
Sometimes the brain begins to mistake stress, uncertainty, crowds, conflict, or reminders of the past as signs of danger. The survival system then activates automatically, even when there is no immediate threat.
The Important Thing to Remember
These responses are not signs that someone is “broken.” They are signs that the nervous system adapted to survive difficult experiences.
With understanding and support, people can learn to recognise these responses, understand what triggers them, and gradually help the nervous system feel safer again.
If you feel you require further support, please contact your GP or V1P.