Part of the Fight, Flight or Freeze Responses to Stress, Fear.
Feeling:
Don't know what to do
Not knowing what to do
stuck
shutting down
numb
restricted breathing
heart pounding
Scared stiff
Scared to Death
Frozen with fear
Like a deer that's "frozen in the headlights"
Shutting down as a block to empathy
References
The freeze response, Susan LaCombe, June 12, 2015.