Jade Thiraswas

In Herman's writings about terror in traumatic disorders I found the section about constriction to be particularly interesting.  It discusses a reaction during a traumatic or scary experience in which the person altars their state of consciousness to somehow escape the situation. A comparison is made to captured animal prey, like a rabbit frozen in headlights. There are many variations to the capabilities the human mind is able to perform under these circumstances. The person may also think that the event isn't actually happening, that they are imagining or dreaming it, and they may observe the experience from outside of their bodies. These changes "...combine a feeling of indifference, emotional detachment, and profound passivity in which the person relinquishes all initiative and struggle" (Herman 43). Psychiatrist David Spiegal says that it would be a surprise if a person did not automatically make use this ability during a traumatic experience of which they cannot escape. If a traumatized person is not able to psychologically escape, the common answer they find post-experience is alcohol or narcotics, which produces a similar numbing. This partially explains why so many war veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder resort to escapism from alcohol, "…to obliterate their growing sense of helplessness and terror" (Herman 44).