As you go about your life, you will inevitably experience feelings of fear. You will perceive yourself to be at risk. Even if the danger is not real, the perception and response will be. How will you react in such situations? That’s not an easy question to answer. Firstly, everyone is different and every scenario contains unique factors. One such potential factor is the presence of complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD).
For most folks, the concept of trauma involves a single, horrific experience. It can have long-term impacts. But what if the traumatic events are prolonged and repetitive? That’s where you can enter the realm of complex trauma and the long-term effect is C-PTSD. Therefore, your stress response will likely relate to the 4 F’s mentioned in this post’s title.
What Are the 4 F’s of C-PTSD?
In times of danger and fear, our bodies are designed to activate an automatic response that will help us survive the threat and find safety. People with C-PTSD typically have trauma imposed upon them in a way that makes relief or escape hard to find — or even impossible. This reality can alter one’s healthy stress response and shift them into dysfunctional coping mechanisms like the 4 F’s.
1. Fight
As the word implies, this can be an aggressive but healthy reaction in the name of self-protection. It can make all the difference in the world. However, when a person has had a long cycle of abuse imposed upon them, fighting can end up causing them more harm. Thus, when C-PTSD is present, the fight response may manifest in behaviors like:
- Sudden outbursts of anger and/or crying
- Chronic muscle tension and tightness
- Teeth grinding
- Clenched fists
- Hateful staring
- Digestive disturbances
- A desire to take out one’s rage on anything or anyone weaker than you
2. Flight
Quite often, when under threat, fleeing the situation can be the safest and most logical option. For complex trauma survivors, however, the flight response can end up manifesting in ways like:
- Inability to make eye contact
- Restless, shaking legs
- Anxiety
- Fidgeting
- Shallow breathing
- A tendency to avoid conflict and ignore one’s problems
3. Freeze
C-PTSD or not, there are times when anyone can shut down when triggered into a fear reaction. This is called a dissociative response and it can impact a person both mentally and physically, e.g.
- Brain fog
- Numbness
- Feeling cold
- Memory loss
- Breathing problems
- Changes in heart rate
- Stiffness
- Full dissociation
4. Fawn
Of the four responses, this is the one that gets the least attention — partly because it’s trickier to identify. Basically, when episodes of complex trauma occur, the victim shifts their behavior in the hope they can reduce the abuse. They might, for example:
- Engage in people-pleasing
- Conflict avoidance
- Be unable to say “no”
- Constantly apologize
- Not set boundaries
- Flatter others and pretend to agree with them
- Neglect their own needs
How to Deal with and Manage the 4 F’s
As stated above, our natural stress responses can be healthy and necessary. However, if repetitive trauma has effectively rewired these automatic reactions in a negative way, survivors of complex trauma must take steps to remedy this issue.
People with C-PTSD are very much encouraged to try practices like self-compassion, relaxation techniques, building a social support system, and identifying their triggers. Such self-care can help to counter-balance the symptoms of C-PTSD.
That said, healing from complex trauma is typically the way to get the 4 F’s under control in a productive manner. This process involves connecting with a trauma-informed therapist. With proper guidance, trauma of all kinds can be processed and resolved. I’d love to tell you more about this kind of recovery.