The BBC explains that things like dolls, mannequins, and clowns are things that many people find to be extremely creepy. These are things that are meant to be innocent, however, our brains interpret them as potentially dangerous. They’re meant to be humanlike, but they fall short.
In short, we’re bombarded with mixed messages about what’s actually safe or not. For instance, a clown is meant to symbolize happiness and humor, but in popular media, they’re often portrayed as malevolent beings.
People react to scary, stressful, and threatening situations very differently. The two most widely known responses are fight or flight, i.e. squaring up to fight off a threat or running away from it (like Shaggy and Scooby-Doo often do). However, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Research shows that there are two other main responses to these sorts of situations. Namely, the freeze and fawn responses.
WebMD points out that some of the signs that someone’s fight response has kicked in, in response to stress, include feelings of intense anger, a tight jaw, grinding teeth, and a huge urge to punch or kick someone or something.
Some other signs can even include crying in anger or having a burning or knotted sensation in your stomach.
Meanwhile, a person whose flight response kicks in gets a sudden surge of adrenaline which helps them sprint to safety.
Some signs indicating this response is being activated include feeling restless, fidgeting, moving your arms or legs, and having dilated eyes that dart everywhere.
Not everyone responds this way to threats, though. Some individuals instinctively choose not to fight or run away. Instead, they might completely freeze up or start fawning.
Someone whose freeze response is kicking in tends to have pale skin, feels stiff, heavy, cold, or numb, feels their heart pounding rapidly, and has an overwhelming sense of dread.
In short, all the stress and fear completely paralyzes the person. You might have felt something similar to a freeze response if you were ever spooked in a dark place or felt completely overwhelmed by a school or work presentation you had to give in front of a crowd of people.
In some situations, running away is impossible and there’s nothing concrete to fight off.
