The Internal Alarm System and Survival Responses

Neurobiology of Fight, Flight and Freeze Responses

In the face of an imminent threat to physical or sexual integrity, the human organism activates primitive biological mechanisms that operate outside of conscious volition. This "internal alarm system" evaluates the threat in milliseconds.

If confrontation (fight) or evasion (flight) is feasible, the sympathetic nervous system floods the body with energy.

However, in contexts of sexual abuse or captivity situations where resistance is futile or dangerous, the brain opts for the tonic freeze or immobilization response.

This reaction is analogous to the strategy of thanatosis observed in nature, where a prey feigns death to inhibit the predatory instinct of the aggressor.

Clinically, this implies that, although the victim may appear passive or complacent externally, internally his or her system is saturated with stress hormones (cortisol, adrenaline) that could not be discharged through motor action.

Understanding that this paralysis is not a cowardly "choice" but a biological imperative for survival is critical to dismantling survivor guilt.

Hypervigilance and Autonomic Nervous System Hyperexcitability

When the energy mobilized for defense is not dissipated, it becomes trapped in the individual's physiology, resulting in a chronic state of autonomic dysregulation.

The survivor remains in a neurological "war zone" long after the event has concluded.

This manifests as hypervigilance: a constant and exhaustive environmental scanning for potential threats, similar to a military radar system that never shuts down. This hyperarousal state disrupts basic homeostasis.

The reaction threshold is drastically reduced, causing exaggerated startle responses to neutral stimuli (a loud noise, a sudden movement).

Physiologically, the body acts as if the abuse is occurring in the present tense, maintaining toxic levels of cardiovascular and endocrine activation that eventually lead to systemic exhaustion and cellular dysfunction.

Management of Mnemonic Intrusions and Panic Attacks.

Traumatic memory is not encoded as a linear narrative (story with beginning and end), but as scattered sensory fragments.

This gives rise to flashbacks or re-experiencing, where the individual not only "remembers" the event, but somatically relives it with the same original emotional and physical intensity.

These intrusions can trigger severe panic attacks, characterized by an imminent sense of death or loss of control.

Panic is the acute manifestation of the alarm system erroneously triggering in a safe environment.

It is crucial to differentiate between a standard autobiographical memory and an intrusive traumatic memory; the latter is a failure in the temporal integration of the brain.

The individual is trapped in an "eternal present" of terror, unable to access current safety cues, requiring specific interventions to reorient consciousness to the "here and now."

Summary

In the face of inescapable threats such as sexual abuse, the brain activates automatic freezing or tonic immobilization responses. This paralysis is not cowardice, but a biological imperative of survival where the system is saturated with stress hormones without being able to discharge them physically.

The trapped energy generates chronic autonomic dysregulation, keeping the survivor in a neurological "war zone". This hypervigilance reduces the reaction threshold, causing exaggerated startles to neutral stimuli and systemic exhaustion due to permanent cardiovascular activation.

The traumatic memory is stored fragmented, causing flashbacks where the event is somatically relived with original intensity. The resulting panic traps the individual in an eternal present of terror, disconnecting him/her from present safety by a failure of temporal integration.