Trauma results when a person has control over her body taken from her, she freezes, and then she can’t unlock. Whether the cause is a car accident or sexual violence, the survival mechanism kicks in: freeze, the petrified shutdown characterized by numbness and sometimes tonic immobility (paralysis) or a sense of disembodiment. Some people describe it as “going into shock.” This is the life-threat stress response, activated when your brain decides you can’t escape a stressor, nor can you fight it. It’s reserved for the most dangerous and violent contexts.
