I know the medical term shock isn’t accurate, but like the scene at end of captain phillips where he finally goes into “shock” or panic attack, what is happening exactly and why. It’s poor circulation but where is the blood? Is it all at vital organs only or something, or is heart just not pumping strong enough? If so, why? Isn’t it more detrimental to go into shock right now?
In: Biology
Isn’t “shock” basically the body trying to reroute all systems not 100% necessary for immediate survival to support the systems that *are* 100% necessary? Someone feel free to correct that if it’s inaccurate…
Mental shock is essentially a freeze response.
When threatened, your body wants to fight, flee, or freeze. Your pupils dilate to let in more light so you get a little nearsighted and harder to focus your vision. Your heart beats faster, digestion stops (sometimes with explosive results) you make less urine. Blood gets shunted to your large muscle groups and away from the stuff you don’t need right now, like your digestion. You breathe faster and deeper to blow off co2 in preparation for higher production, which can make you feel numb or tingly in the fingers and toes. Higher order thought, like reason and judgement, become much more difficult.
The thing is- you can’t always run away and you can’t always fight/it’s very clear you will lose. So there’s a third option- the freeze response. Your body is still doing all the things to prep for fighting but you’re just… not going anywhere.
For some folks freeze is the first impulse and for some the last but we all have the capacity to freeze. Training for crisis situations is all about how to avoid, or break, the freeze and there are several techniques taught to folks who are regularly exposed to crisis situations to help prevent this phenomenon (how people learn to be good in a pinch)
Hope that helps
The mental trauma shock you’re describing is a different response from going into shock as a result of physical injury.
The mental one is an extreme form of the fight or flight response that is essentially an unlisted 3rd choice: don’t do anything and wait it out. It happens in response to the same hormones, and everyone is different. Some people are more prone to freezing than others.
The injury one is a lack of perfusion, meaning organs aren’t getting enough oxygen due to reduced blood flow.
When the body is undergoing an extreme stress response, its flooded with adrenaline that allows you to temporarily achieve and accomplish tasks you wouldn’t be able to do, and keeps you focused on survival – aka the fight or flight response.
At the end of Captain Phillips, the stressful situation is over, his body has stopped pumping itself full of adrenaline and other hormones, and he’s essentially “crashing.” His body no longer has the ability to power through and focus on just survival and so the trauma, physical exertion, and mental strain come flooding back all at once, which can be extremely overwhelming.
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