In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness

by Peter A. Levine

It should be no surprise, given the nature of fear-induced immobility, that a majority of rape victims predictably describe feeling paralyzed (sometimes also suffocated) and unable to move. Being held down and terrorized by someone much larger, stronger and heavier is virtually guaranteed to induce long-lasting immobility and, thus, trauma. Rape not only forces one to keep still, it induces an inner immobility because of the terror (fear-potentiated immobility). In one study, 88% of the victims of childhood sexual assault and 75% of the victims of adult sexual assault reported moderate to high levels of paralysis during the assault.35 In addition, because of the high levels of dissociation, it is likely that many victims do not remember feeling paralyzed or deny the paralysis because they feel so guilty for not having “fought back.”