When Anxiety Speaks Through the Body: Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn
Anxiety isn’t just in your head—it’s in your shoulders, breath, and gut. It’s the way your body braces for impact, even when there’s no clear danger. Stress tightens your jaw, sends your heart racing, or leaves you frozen in place. These aren’t weaknesses; they’re survival instincts—fight, flight, freeze, or fawn—shaped by your past and triggered by your present. But when anxiety takes over, your body’s alarm system gets stuck, leaving you exhausted and disconnected.
The good news? Recognizing these symptoms is the first step toward healing. Let’s explore how anxiety speaks through the body—and how you can respond with compassion and regulation. We’ll begin with the four primary pathways to anxiety using a Polyvagal Theory lens:
Sympathetic Fight Symptoms of Anxiety: The Tension of a Coiled Spring
The fight response isn’t always a raised fist or a heated argument. More often, it’s the rigid shoulders that never quite relax, the clenched jaw that aches by evening, or the simmering irritability that feels impossible to shake.
It’s feeling “on edge,” as if bracing for an unseen threat. The body, flooded with adrenaline, remains in a constant state of readiness—muscles taut, breath shallow, and fists unconsciously curled. Over time, this chronic tension can manifest as headaches, jaw pain from grinding teeth, and an ever-present sense of frustration.
Even when there’s no visible enemy, the body is still shouting, “I have to defend myself!”
Sympathetic Flight Symptoms of Anxiety: The Restlessness of an Untamed Wind
For those caught in the flight response, stillness feels unbearable. The legs bounce under the table, fingers fidget, and an invisible force seems to whisper, “Move! Go! Escape!”
The nervous system is revved up, propelling the body into motion—sometimes productive, sometimes frantic. The heart races, thoughts spiral, and sleep becomes elusive as the body remains stuck in a loop of hypervigilance.
The mind, much like the body, refuses to settle. It leaps from one worry to the next, convinced that safety lies just beyond the next task, the next escape, the next distraction.
Sympathetic Freeze Symptoms of Anxiety: Trapped in the Fog of Stillness
While fight and flight push for action, freeze is the body’s emergency brake. Everything slows. Movement feels impossible, thoughts become sluggish, and the world seems distant, like watching life through a fogged-up window.
This is the body’s way of conserving energy in the face of perceived danger—playing dead in hopes of being left alone. Breathing shallows, muscles remain rigid yet powerless, and decisions feel overwhelming.
When the freeze response lingers, life takes on a surreal quality, as if you’re disconnected from your own experiences. Dissociation becomes the nervous system’s refuge, a place where feeling nothing feels safer than feeling too much.
Parasympathetic Fawn Symptoms of Anxiety: The Soft Armor of People-Pleasing
The fawn response is a survival strategy rooted in appeasement. It’s the automatic “yes” when the heart wants to say “no.” The reflexive apologies. The constant effort to smooth things over, even at great personal cost.
For those whose nervous systems default to fawning, safety isn’t found in escape or aggression—it’s in earning approval. The body holds this tension subtly: a tightness in the chest, a breath held in hesitation, a stomach knotted with unspoken needs.
Over time, boundaries blur, self-worth becomes tangled in external validation, and exhaustion sets in from the relentless effort to keep the peace.
The Body’s Alarm System: Physical Symptoms of Anxiety
When the nervous system remains stuck in survival mode, The Body Keeps The Score.
The heart races unpredictably.
Breath becomes shallow and strained.
Digestion turns chaotic—nausea, bloating, and IBS flare up as the vagus nerve struggles to regulate.
Sweat beads on the skin without warning – a sign of the body’s overactive stress response.
Dizziness creeps in as the brain struggles to maintain balance.
Even the extremities feel the effects—tingling hands and feet as blood rushes toward vital organs, prioritizing survival over comfort.
And then there’s the exhaustion.
The deep, soul-weary fatigue that comes from a body caught in an endless loop of hypervigilance. Muscles ache from tension never released, headaches build from oxygen-starved blood vessels, and sleep refuses to come easily, as if the body doesn’t trust it’s safe to rest. The nervous system, overworked and overstimulated, keeps the body locked in defense, unable to fully return to a state of ease.
When the Mind Fog Rolls In: Cognitive Overstimulation & Sensory Overload
An anxious brain is like a radio stuck between stations—static-filled, disoriented, and unable to focus.
Brain fog makes even simple tasks feel insurmountable. The prefrontal cortex, responsible for logic and decision-making, struggles to keep up, frequently taking a backseat to the overactive fear center, the amygdala.
Sounds feel too loud, lights too harsh, smells too overwhelming—everything feels amplified, as if the body is constantly scanning for danger.
Thoughts loop in endless cycles, playing worst-case scenarios on repeat, while vision narrows, quite literally, as pupils dilate in anticipation of threat.
The amygdala, the brain’s fear center, hijacks the body’s ability to process emotions changes—tears arrive unbidden, irritability flares without warning, and sudden waves of sorrow or rage crash over without clear cause.
The nervous system swings between hyperarousal and shutdown, leaving the mind and body in a constant tug-of-war.
Listening to the Body’s Messages
Anxiety is not just a mental experience—it’s a full-body symphony of signals, each symptom a message from the nervous system asking for attention. The body isn’t broken; it’s doing its best to keep you safe with the tools it has. But survival mode is not meant to be a permanent state. Healing begins with learning to listen—to recognize the patterns, to acknowledge the body’s wisdom, and to respond with compassion rather than frustration.
Regulation isn’t about forcing calm; it’s about creating safety within. It starts with small moments—conscious breathing to soothe the racing heart, grounding techniques to remind the body it is here, now, and gentle movement to release the tension held in muscles. It’s about building a relationship with the nervous system, teaching it that not every moment requires fight, flight, freeze, or fawn.
Because at the end of the day, anxiety is not the enemy—it’s a signal. And when we learn to understand it, we open the door to healing.
The Physical Toll: When Anxiety Feels Like Something Else
Anxiety can mimic serious health conditions—heart palpitations, dizziness, shortness of breath—leading many to wonder if something more is wrong. Nervous system dysregulation can trigger digestive issues, temperature fluctuations, and even strange sensations like tingling or numbness. Many people report feeling as if their body is betraying them, when in reality, it is trying to protect them. Unresolved trauma, subconscious stressors, and nervous system dysregulation often lie beneath these symptoms. Therapy offers a space to explore these root causes and build resilience before symptoms escalate.
Anxiety’s effects go beyond immediate sensations. Over time, chronic stress can deplete energy, create muscle pain, disrupt sleep, and even lead to emotional exhaustion. If anxiety seems to come “out of nowhere,” unresolved trauma, subconscious stressors, or a dysregulated nervous system may be at play. Therapy offers a space to explore these underlying factors and build resilience before symptoms escalate.
When Anxiety Becomes a Disorder
Everyone experiences anxiety, but for some, it becomes overwhelming and persistent. Anxiety Disorders—such as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder, social anxiety, OCD, and PTSD—go beyond everyday worries.
At its most severe, anxiety can feel crippling—shrinking your world through avoidance, exhaustion, and fear. Panic attacks mimic heart attacks where frequent, uncontrollable attacks of terror and physical distress make it difficult to function – like a prison you can’t escape! But no matter how intense anxiety becomes, relief is possible. Seeking help before reaching this stage makes recovery smoother and more sustainable.
Healing Anxiety: The Path to Regulation
So what is the best way to treat it? The outdated idea that anxiety is simply a “chemical imbalance” ignores its complexity. While neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine play a role, anxiety is deeply connected to nervous system function, past experiences, and environmental factors.
The idea that anxiety is simply a “chemical imbalance” is outdated. This means treatment is not one-size-fits-all. While medication can be helpful for some, experiential and neurobiological approaches like EMDR, somatic therapy, internal family systems therapy, mindfulness, and neurofeedback work on a deeper level to regulate the nervous system, while movement, breathwork, and nutrition support the body’s healing process.
Therapy is not just for crisis moments. It’s a lifestyle choice—an investment in your well-being, just like nourishing food and movement support physical health. Seeking help when anxiety is mild or moderate can prevent it from spiraling into something more severe, allowing for a gentler and more effective healing process.
Does Anxiety Ever Go Away?
The goal isn’t to necessarily eliminate anxiety. It’s to change your relationship with it and use it as a signal that tells you to re-evaluate your inner experience or change your surroundings.
When we work with our nervous system instead of against it, anxiety loses its grip. Instead of fear, we cultivate resilience. It no longer rules our days or dictates our choices. Instead of fear, we cultivate resilience.
Anxiety doesn’t define you. It’s a message from your body, a call for regulation and care. When we listen with compassion, we create space for healing—not just in the mind, but in the deepest fibers of our being. And seeking support before anxiety becomes overwhelming allows for a smoother path to healing—one that strengthens rather than depletes.
