Do you ever feel like you’ve been put on pause? A therapist’s explanation of stress resonated with TikTok users after a patient shared their wise words in a recent post on the app. “My therapist told me,” the user wrote in a recent text-based video with 2.7 million views.
“The reason you are in bed rotting each day, won’t text people back and won’t leave the house is because you are stuck in ‘functional freeze’ after living with such extreme stress that your brain feels disassociated from your body, so even the simplest of tasks now feel overwhelming.” While not a bona fide clinical diagnosis, “functional freeze” is a phenomenon many young people are saying they relate to. “I have been stuck in the functional freeze for so long and I don’t know how to get out,” one person commented.
“Literally just thinking about going to the store feels overwhelming,” another shared. “Literally every little thing I do now feels so overwhelming 😓,” a third echoed. Similar terms such as “freeze response,” “autopilot mode” or “stress paralysis” have come up in mental health discourse on social media — all referring to anxious emotions which trigger unhealthy coping responses, such as inaction.
While people might experience a temporary freeze from time to time, experts are encouraging people to be mindful and look out for warnings of something more serious — though it may be hard to recognize initially. “People are able to engage in kind.
