The fight-flight-freeze stress response is the biological foundation of many law and crime presentations. Understanding it demystifies law and crime and points toward effective interventions.
The Three Stress Responses in Law and Crime
Fight: Anger, aggression, irritability — law and crime channeled outward
Flight: Avoidance, escape, withdrawal — the most common law and crime behavioral pattern
Freeze: Paralysis, numbness, shutdown — depression and dissociation-type law and crime
How Chronic Activation Drives Law and Crime
When the stress response activates repeatedly or doesn't turn off, it creates the chronic physiological state underlying law and crime: elevated cortisol, dysregulated neurotransmitters, disrupted sleep.
Working With Your Stress Response in Law and Crime
- Name it: 'My nervous system is in fight/flight/freeze right now'
- Move: Physical movement discharges the mobilization energy of fight/flight
- Breathe: Activates the off-switch for the stress response
- Connect: Safe social engagement signals to the nervous system that the threat has passed