Besides the well known responses of fight or flight, during trauma, there is also the “Submit” response. This is a dissociative response that shuts down the body’s defenses. Blood pressure and heart rate are lowered and, interestingly, the brain produces a natural substance similar to opium, that reduced our perception of pain. It also alters our sense of time, place, and reality. Even our perception of interpersonal or social pain and danger can be blunted, leaving us vulnerable to manipulation or exploitation by others.