It might have happened to you many times that some scary thing might have suddenly appeared in front of you and you might have completely frozen in fear. For example, consider it as if you are roaming in a forest and suddenly a lion appears in front of you.
In such a situation, you freeze completely out of fear. Your body does not make any movements nor does any sound come from your mouth. Now the question arises why this happens. Let us know about it in detail in this article today. Along with this, let us also understand the science behind it.
What is the science behind it? "Freeze" Being is a mental process, which is linked to our body’s stress response. We know the reaction of suddenly freezing when we feel scared. "fight-or-flight" That is, we see it as a part of the fight or flight response. Actually, when we face any danger, many sudden changes occur in our body and freezing is also one of these reactions.
What happens in our body when we get scared?
When we feel afraid, signals are sent to the hypothalamus part of our brain, which releases stress hormones such as adrenaline and norepinephrine. These hormones prepare the body to face danger.
For this reason, sometimes we freeze completely. During freezing, the body’s muscles become stiff, heart rate increases and breathing slows down. This gives the body a chance to remain stable in a situation and assess the danger.
Understand on the basis of psychology
The freeze reaction is only physical. No, but it is also mental. When a person feels very scared, he may take a few moments to assess the situation. When a person freezes, the person gets an opportunity to think about what to do next. That means whether to fight the fear in front, run away or wait to observe the situation. Actually, when a person freezes, his mental state becomes more alert and it helps him to take care of the environment around him.