Find Resources and Support for Trauma Recovery at South Shores
If you’re looking for a trauma response quiz, you likely want to know what type of trauma response you’re most prone to. Alternatively, you could have an idea as to what your most prevalent trauma response is, but you might want to confirm that idea or learn more about the topic at large.
Going over a trauma response quiz cannot replace working with a mental health professional in any capacity. It does not replace a formal assessment or individualized medical advice.
However, that doesn’t mean a trauma response quiz can’t be a helpful form of self-exploration in some instances.
Below, you’ll find an informal trauma response quiz that’ll help you explore the different types of trauma responses and whether you might experience a specific type of trauma response. Then, we’ll go over information regarding types of traumatic events, other ways trauma can manifest, and treatment options.
Our Trauma Response Quiz Resource
It’s possible to experience more than one trauma response. Look over the signs of each of the following trauma responses to identify which one(s) you experience personally.
Indicators of a Fight Response
The fight response is often misunderstood, and it can be tough to navigate. If you have a fight response, your immediate reaction to a real or perceived threat is to fight back and protect yourself from that threat. You may notice that:
- You get angry or irritable more easily than other people.
- It is hard to control your temper when triggered, even if you regret it later. You may not even have time to think before you act in anger.
- You have physical symptoms, such as increased blood pressure, muscle tension, or rapid breathing, when met with real or perceived threats.
The fight response may affect interpersonal relationships and lead to challenges, such as feelings of guilt or depression. Through treatment, it is possible to change the way you react.
Indicators of a Flight Response
Someone with a flight response vs. a fight response might respond to stressors very differently, but it stems from the same intrinsic need to keep yourself safe.
Possible signs of a flight trauma response include:
- Your limbs feel numb, or you experience physical restlessness when met with trauma triggers or stressful situations.
- When met with conflict, your initial reaction is to leave or never speak to the person again rather than talk it out.
- You feel “out of body” when met with a trauma trigger or a stressful situation and may have dissociative symptoms.
- You experience anxiety symptoms, like racing thoughts.
People develop the flight response because, in some traumatic situations, the safest and most effective thing you can do is to leave. That said, when met with a perceived threat as opposed to a real threat, this can mean that you leave situations when you don’t actually want to. For example, you might end a healthy relationship or quit a job when you feel overwhelmed.
Indicators of a Freeze Response
Like the fight response, people with a freeze trauma response can experience both mental and physical signs. However, they will manifest in a very different way. If you have a freeze response, you may notice that:
- You struggle to act when experiencing a trauma trigger. For example, you may shut down during a heated conversation, or you might feel “paralyzed” temporarily and fail to move your physical body when you are in a dangerous situation.
- Your head feels numb, full, or like it is “buzzing” when you’re met with a trigger.
- You struggle to make decisions.
- You experience dissociation.
Sometimes, the freeze trauma response is also called the “flee” response. The freeze response may seem counterintuitive, but like other trauma response types, it is an adaptive and common reaction.
Indicators of a Fawn Response
People develop the fawn response when they learn that pleasing others and being “good” is how you stay safe. You may be someone who experiences the fawn response if:
- You want people who treat you poorly to like you–it might feel like a need or an automatic reaction.
- You fail to establish healthy boundaries or struggle to uphold boundaries after you set them.
- You try to keep the peace, even if it means allowing yourself to be mistreated.
- You have trouble saying “no,” are a people pleaser, or are overly agreeable.
- You experience perfectionism.
- You are hypervigilant to other people’s emotions.
- You avoid conflict.
The fawn response can be common in survivors of childhood abuse. Kids usually have little to no control over the situations they’re in, but they may know that behaving the way others want is the best way to “get by.” In childhood trauma survivors, this often continues into adulthood.
Examples of Traumatic Events
Some people go through a traumatic event without realizing it or regarding it as “real” trauma. Because of this, it can be helpful to talk about what a traumatic event might look like.
Examples of adult or childhood experiences that can be considered traumatic or stressful events include but aren’t limited to the following.
- Serious injury or illness affecting yourself or someone you love
- Sexual assault or abuse
- Physical abuse or neglect
- Emotional abuse or neglect
- Sudden death of a loved one
- Natural disasters
- Domestic violence
- Bullying
- Racism
- Homelessness
- Poverty
- War
Any type of stressful or traumatic event can create or further intensify trauma responses. Similarly, any traumatic experience can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder, though not every trauma survivor develops the condition.
Singular Traumatic Events vs Complex Trauma
There are two main types of traumatic events–singular or one-time traumatic events and repeated or ongoing traumatic events. Complex trauma is another name for repeated or ongoing trauma.
Domestic violence is a common example of complex trauma. Having gone through complex trauma can mean that you experience more exaggerated trauma responses and intensified or additional PTSD symptoms.
Understanding the Impacts of a Traumatic Event
The trauma responses you experience during high-stress times are just one possible effect of past trauma. Other symptoms and challenges common in trauma survivors include but aren’t limited to the following.
- Higher rates of some physical health conditions (e.g., chronic pain, TMJ disorder, some gastrointestinal conditions)
- Disproportionate negative thoughts about yourself, others, or the world
- Intense emotions, emotional numbness, or difficulty feeling positive emotions
- Intrusive thoughts, images, or involuntary traumatic memories
- Feelings of anxiety or overwhelm
- Nightmares
- Sleep disturbance
- Difficulty concentrating
- Chronic stress
For most people, it is helpful to realize that trauma responses are your body and mind’s way of attempting to keep you safe. The chronic stress that results from trauma is often due to the consequences of staying in a heightened state for too long when you do not actually need to fight, flee, fawn, or freeze to protect yourself.
How Trauma and Substance Abuse Intersect
If you have been through a traumatic experience, you are at an increased risk of drug and alcohol abuse. Misusing substances is another way someone may attempt to cope with trauma, but like PTSD, it is treatable.
Getting dual-diagnosis treatment is recommended for people who experience substance abuse and one or more co-occurring disorders, including trauma disorders.
Dual diagnosis treatment for trauma and addiction at South Shores Detox, for example, will include evidence-based therapies for both trauma and addiction.
Why Working With a Mental Health Professional Matters
While a trauma quiz can help you learn more about yourself and reflect on your experiences, it is not a diagnostic tool.
Seeking professional help for trauma in the form of therapy means that you can build coping skills, establish or enforce healthy boundaries (among other interpersonal skills), reframe thoughts, and work through traumatic events from a whole-person perspective.
If left unaddressed, trauma symptoms can worsen; they can impact your well-being significantly and in ways you do not want to overlook. While it can be tough to seek professional help, doing so can help you through the specific symptoms and involuntary reactions you experience.
Trauma Treatment Options (Therapies and Medication)
Your past experiences don’t have to paint the theme of your life forever. Research supports a variety of therapy options and other forms of treatment for people who have been through traumatic events.
Trauma survivors typically respond to trauma-focused therapies such as:
- Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT)
- Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)
- Cognitive processing therapy (CPT)
- Prolonged exposure therapy (PE)
- Narrative exposure therapy
However, these aren’t the only types of therapy and treatment that can be helpful. Modalities like dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) may be used to help clients develop coping skills.
Some medications–usually antidepressants–can be used in conjunction with therapy as needed.
We Offer Evaluations and Treatment for Trauma Survivors
The providers at South Shores Detox can identify the signs of and diagnose conditions like trauma disorders and substance use disorders.
We can help you get the right diagnosis and will work with you to establish the right treatment plan for you, with your own needs, goals, and symptoms in mind.
Every South Shores Detox client gets their own personalized treatment plan. We offer the most up-to-date trauma treatments as well as behavioral, motivational, creative, and experiential therapies and other types of treatment.
Call South Shores Detox and Recovery for Trauma Treatment
Everyone reacts to a traumatic event, or events, differently. We help trauma survivors, people facing substance addiction, and people with many mental health conditions thrive and build a life that makes them feel proud and content.
To start your trauma healing journey at South Shores Detox and Recovery, call our admissions line today.
FAQs Regarding Trauma Response Quiz Resources
What is the “flop” trauma response?
The flop trauma response is very similar to the freeze trauma response. However, the flop trauma response comes with an additional sense of hopelessness. With the flop trauma response, you may notice that you feel hopeless or surrender to threats rather than “freeze up” alone.
How many trauma responses are there?
Fight, flight, fawn, and freeze are the four most commonly talked about trauma responses.
However, some people talk about the “flop” trauma response and other possible reactions to reminders of past trauma. At the end of the day, it is difficult to count an exact number of trauma responses since everyone is so different.