IF YOUR NORMAL PERFORMANCE HAS SLIPPED, COULD YOU BE IN A FUNCTIONAL FREEZE?

How are you feeling?

Do you feel disconnected from the world?  Do you lack motivation and suffer from subconscious anxiety combined with a continuous sense of nervousness or agitation that you find hard to pinpoint?  Other symptoms might include a sensation of apathy and no energy to pursue the activities you once enjoyed.  At times you may just feel like withdrawing from the world.  If you recognise this as a description of yourself, you might not be suffering from anxiety or depression, but suffering from something called ‘functional freeze’.

Mental v Emotional Disorders

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over half the world’s population are currently in work and 15% of working-age adults are living with a mental disorder[1].  As a trained psychotherapist I personally dislike the label “mental disorder” as it makes the condition sound like something physical caused by a fault in the brain that only a medical professional can fix.  (This is not to trivialise conditions such as schizophrenia that certainly merit a medical intervention).

But a softer, kinder way of describing what often pass as mental disorders would be to refer to them as emotional disorders.  We all have emotions and quite often they get the better of us – especially for example when we get very angry.  Let’s face it ­– we humans are an emotional bunch.

Unconscious v Subconscious

You might have noticed my use of the words “subconscious anxiety” at the start of this blog – but what is the subconscious?  These days the expressions subconscious and unconscious tend to be used interchangeably, but they’re different.  The subconscious lies just below the surface of consciousness and is easily accessible with awareness.  The unconscious is defined as the deep recesses of our past and our memories, and often contains information that we never consciously knew. 

Much more brain activity occurs unconsciously than consciously, approximately in the order of 20 to 1[2].   A person suffering from subconscious or unconscious anxiety may present with physical and emotional symptoms that they don’t even notice.  But the job of a person’s anxiety is to signal there’s an actual threat.  Many times, with anxiety, the worry is out of proportion to the actual threat.  This may be because the imagined threat doesn’t even exist but is simply perceived or imagined to be real.  This is certainly true of functional freeze.

What can you do if you’re suffering from functional freeze?

The functional freeze mechanism is triggered by the parasympathetic nervous system when an individual perceives an overwhelming or inescapable threat.  The good news is the parasympathetic nervous system is also responsible for the body's ability to relax and is often referred to as the "rest and digest" state. It helps regulate essential functions such as resting heart rate, metabolism, and bronchial constriction to maintain a relaxed state.

If you’re suffering from anxiety or functional freeze the most helpful thing you can do for yourself is to work on your stress management[3].  Depending upon the severity, you could also try CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) see a psychotherapist or explore what’s going on with a coach who’s been trained to have insight into emotional issues and can help you to resolve them. 

10 years ago, when I was working as a coach with the Forton Group[4] (now part of the Inspirational Group) I was advised to coach the person not the problem and to be mindful when encroaching on emotional problems so I would know when it might be more appropriate to refer the individual.  These days it’s interesting to note that in the world of coaching, there’s a growing awareness of the importance of mental health and wellness. In November this year I will be attending the Association for Coaching’s online 2-day Mental Health and Wellbeing Conference (Global)[5].

Fight or Flight

You will have doubtless heard of the human body’s fight or flight mechanism where the hormones epinephrine and adrenaline are released to help a person to defend against a real or perceived life-threatening situation.  If you’ve ever been in a genuinely life-threatening situation, you will know exactly how this feels as your body prepares itself to fight the threat or run to the nearest safe location.  However, it’s more likely you’ve been in seeming life-threatening situations such as an important exam or job interview that your unconscious mistakenly interprets as being life-threatening, rather than just stressful and challenging.  Even a visit to the cinema can suspend your sense of reality and temporarily put you into fight or flight mode. 

Freeze or Fawn

When fighting or fleeing fails, you are left with freezing or fawning. Your skin pales, your heart races, and you feel cold, numb, and dread-filled. This response is common in those from abusive families with narcissistic parents, who exhibit grandiosity, lack empathy, and need constant admiration.  People with NPD (narcissistic personality disorder) are incapable of nurturing their offspring in a loving environment.

People who grow up with narcissists often survive by being extremely helpful and submissive. They tend to prioritize the happiness of those who mistreat them over their own well-being.

Performance Anxiety and Functional Freeze

The above responses have been with us since the dawn of time and often serve us usefully since they prepare us to be more alert and ready to respond.  For a professional performer these feelings will normally subside once the performance starts or soon after.

However, the freeze response is a shut down in preparation for an attack.  The victim is in effect playing dead and can lose the ability to communicate or act ­– which is what happens with functional freeze.  CBT, psychotherapy, and counselling can help individuals understand the root cause of their anxiety and fear and provide long-term relief. Talking things through with a coach who understands the psychodynamics can also be very helpful.

[1] World Health Organization, Mental health at work, 28th September 2022

[2] Psychiatry Online, The Rational Unconscious: Implications for Mental Illness and Psychotherapy

[3] https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/stress/what-is-stress/

[4] https://www.thefortongroup.com/coach-education

[5] https://www.associationforcoaching.com/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1860782&group=