What is the Fawn Trauma Response?
How to stop people-pleasing
There are four different types of safety mechanisms that emerge from our responses to trauma. Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn. In this article, I will be going over the Fawn Response — the one I personally have experience with.
Fawn Trauma Response Explained
The fawn response is a mechanism where an individual constantly “people-pleases” to avoid any sort of conflict or abuse. It usually stems from childhood trauma where a parent who has narcissistic traits is the culprit.
In my personal experience, I would quiet my opinions/emotions and never use the word “no” because I wanted to avoid possible contention with my parents. This caused me to repress my authenticity, fail to set boundaries, and develop a codependent lifestyle.
Fawning individuals are also viewed as weak, therefore attracting those who are manipulative and controlling, because of their vulnerability. People pleasers are also very easy to gaslight since they suppress their own beliefs, emotions, and instincts.
As time goes on, fawning becomes a habit — a karmic cycle that needs to be recognized, processed, and healed.
