Dr. Tracey Marks

Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn—Which One Is Your Pattern?

Fight, flight, freeze, or fawn? Learn how your nervous system picks a protective default under stress—and how to spot your pattern early enough to regain choice. Take my FREE 2-min Brain Quiz to master focus & build resilience: https://drmarks.co/BrainQuiz-yt 0:00 - Acting unlike yourself after stress 0:13 - Not willpower—nervous system response 0:22 - Protection mode activates first 0:59 - Threat → automatic action 1:09 - Four defaults: fight, flight, freeze, fawn 1:21 - Triggered by social/emotional stress 1:46 - Fight = push back, defend 2:28 - Flight = avoid, leave, distract 3:16 - Freeze = stuck, blank, shut down 3:52 - Fawn = please, appease, agree 4:41 - Same situation, different responses 5:47 - None are “better”—all protective 6:02 - Regret comes after system calms 6:20 - Defaults come from past learning 6:55 - Old patterns applied to present 7:10 - You can’t change what you don’t notice 7:20 - Identify your default pattern 7:35 - Learn early body signals 8:01 - Early awareness = more choice 8:19 - Patterns once helped you 8:29 - Now they may cost you 9:01 - Change comes from awareness, not force 9:28 - Recognize pattern → create new response Disclaimer: All of the information on this channel is for educational purposes and not intended to be specific/personal medical advice from me to you. Watching the videos or getting answers to comments/question, does not establish a doctor-patient relationship. If you have your own doctor, perhaps these videos can help prepare you for your discussion with your doctor.