why do people get offered water after a traumatic event? Or when in distress?
In: Other
Oh, or blankets! You always see people after traumatic events with blankets around them. Maybe that’s just a movie thing but you can bet that if there’s a house fire in a film, the survivors are outside wrapped in a blanket even in the dead of summer.
It’s a grounding technique. It helps someone focus right on the present moment (drinking water) instead of on the past. It won’t outright prevent it, but it will help.
All of these comments are pretty accurate imo, I will also say that when something really bad is happening/just happened, people typically aren’t sure exactly what to say/do so offering water is an easy way to show support without causing any more harm or putting pressure on the person to respond.
In short, it activates the parasympathetic nervous system, calming you without thinking about it.
Even just holding a cold plastic water bottle does the trick.
Ever seen speakers confidentiality give a speech? They often hold a cold water bottle in their hand.
Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
Swallowing tells the body it’s okay to relax. Imagine running from a person with a knife. Do you stop and take a drink of water? Nope, that’s for later when you are out of danger. So when you take a drink it’s signalling to your body that you are okay.
(Science-y version is Swallowing stimulates the vagus nerve and helps your system go out of the sympathetic response (fight or flight) and into the parasympathetic response.)
An offer and feeling of aid and comfort…like the British offering a cuppa tea after a disaster
For me it’s basic human reaction. Someone in distress needs simplicity. Focusing on taking a sip, putting the bottle/glass to and from is second nature but enough to distract. Like many others have said. Sick?-Soup. Crying/emotional distress/ water-snack-walk
Anger-walk- snack-water
All of the above-physical touch
Be kind.
IIRC it’s a psychological trick that someone giving you a warm cup of something (tea, coffee, hot chocolate) makes you calm down and trust the other person. I’m not sure if cold water does the same, but it does serve as a brain interrupt/reset to have to open a bottle.
Have you ever cried so much your throat kind of seizes up and hurts and you can’t breathe ?
Drinking water “tricks” you into doing something normal and makes your throat “remember” how to swallow normally.
It’s kind of a reset to bring the physical symptoms back under control.
A few days ago I had to tell an eight year old that his aunt is dying. He cried so hard and just couldn’t stop saying show it’s too sad when people die. I wanted him to not be so hyper focused on his pain without telling him so. I offered him a tissue, a Starry, and a truffle. It took his mind away from it enough that we could talk about what he was feeling. So basically distraction and/or calming tactic?
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