Recognizing the Fawn Response — What You Need to Know
Trauma isn’t a straightforward experience simply defined by a tragedy or life-changing event. It can be caused by any kind of emotional disturbance that causes a person to struggle with coping. Emotional and Narcissistic Abuse can be that emotional disturbance — and we may not even know it. It can impact us physically, emotionally, and mentally.
Many people experience trauma emotionally and physically throughout defined periods in their lives, and everyone experiences and manages their trauma differently through the four trauma responses: fight, flight, freeze, and fawn.
The fawn response is often a coping mechanism that can be developed early in life, growing up in an unpredictable home or with an abusive parent. But it doesn’t just start in early childhood — you can develop a fawn response anytime in life if you’ve ever been with an emotionally abusive partner and dealt with narcissistic abuse from anyone in your inner circle.
People who have experienced psychological or physical abuse or dealt with a non-nurturing individual can develop the fawn trauma response to survive and cope. With fawning, you become more appealing to the threat when the situation becomes more threatening, and you do everything in your power to avoid the conflict and create a safe space.