why do people get offered water after a traumatic event? Or when in distress?
In: Other
Every time I’ve ever been in a serious adrenaline producing situation, my mouth dried out like the Sahara immediately after.
Anecdotal, of course, but when I’ve had traumatic stuff happen by throat dries out like I’m in the desert. It also offers a distraction.
The human brain has systems that work together. Most people know about the fight-or-flight system (also known as the sympathetic system), but not as many know about the opposite system, rest-and-digest (known as the parasympathetic system). The sympathetic system increases breathing and heart rate, dilates blood vessels, and can create nausea or vomiting so an organism can be unencumbered by extra weight in the stomach. By swallowing food or liquid in a stressful situation you are signaling to your brain that it is safe and activating the parasympathetic system, much like taking controlled breaths. So in summary, it’s a physical way to hack psychological systems and turn the freak out part of your brain off.
In the show Lost they over did this. Even if someone got shot in the head they’d be like oh get him some water.
Sometimes, dehydration [and resultant poor decision making] is the cause of said traumatic event.
Ask me how I know!
Drinking water forces you to slow your breathing and calm down. When my kids crying I make him drink water. You need to hold a breath to take drink. I’m sure all the other reasons are true too.
Basically it’s more than anything else about showing support in a tangible way. When we see someone in distress we want to help, but theres often no immediate way we can help fix things. But we can almost always get someone some water. It helps fufull our own need to do something when someone we care about is upset, and it also shows that person that we care. It feels better to get someone a glass of water than to stand there doing nothing.
Fortunately it actually can help. It’s grounding, in that it gives them something to focus on in that moment aside from their own distress, and that can actually help stop them from spiralling into more and more negative thoughts. Additionally dehydration can make anxiety and distress worse, and if someone has just been through something awful it often means they haven’t been drinking water regularly, so getting them hydrated can remove dehydration as a compounding factor.
No-one sensible expects water to magically end a panic attack or fix someone’s grief or trauma. But it’s just something we all know how to do that can help, and that definitely isn’t going to make things worse – so it’s often a standard first step. Most people don’t even really think about why they are doing it, it’s sort of just a default response.
Panic induces rapid breathing, and some open their mouth to hyperventilate, that is why a lot of people say they get a dry throat or mouth. It is an automated response when you struggle to breathe. I have had some semblance of panic like attacks, several times, and have asthma. It is treated.
Mouth breathing is contrary to what some people believe, not a sign of stupidity, it is more a sign that you struggle to breathe.
I’m glad you’ve never been so stressed that you’ve noticed this, but the mouth dries up in high stress situations. A *lot*. Throat almost feels contracted, and stomach can get queasy as well.
Everything everyone else sad, but also if you’ve been crying or breathing hard, you’ll be thirsty.
Latest Answers