What exactly happens in survival mode?

Pekka · December 28, 2003, 02:06

Well I'm still watching the LOTR FOTR extras on DVD and amazed by the miniatures and their littlest details and perfection. So it got me thinking perfection and moments of clarity. Few times when it's been close, and life threatning situation that comes unsuspectedly, your brains start functioning in survival mode pumping all kinds of fluids that enables you to do your best and then some to survive. The last time was with a car and snow with ice and involved few trucks and too heavy gas foot and losing the control of the car in the worst possible moment meaning if control doesn't come back ASAP, it'll be me crashing with a truck at high speed, with a small car, certain death. Almost impossible situation, but somehow I didn't panic, though there was little feeling of Oh ****, this is it. I didn't see the film, nicely edited movie of my life, nothing like that.. only Oh ****. Which makes me thinking, maybe I lived ok, no regrets.

Anyway! The feeling is quite awesome itself. I know it involves adrenaline, but what else? What exactly happens then, physically and mentally? You kind of feel this moment of absolute clarity, you know what you must do or at least try to do to survive, and you'll do it the best way you can without thinking twice about it. Concentration is 3000% and you only see and think the problem ahead, and it all comes clear in fractions of a second. If it's really threatning and by surprise, you don't even feel scared, or think about it if it comes by surprise. Afterwards you might feel a bit strange though, maybe because of the adrenaline flow and mix of feelings. If the odds were against you, you're most likely very happy to be alive, if without scratches.. it almost feels religious and a miracle.

I'd like that I could have that concentration and ability to perform like that when ever I need to, even if it's not matter of life and death. What happens?

Oh and the most interesting part is that you don't freeze, or go into panic.. because of the high level of super concentration and performing, you are actually calm and feel calm, though your heart is about to depart your body pumping like a teenager in speed at techno club. Then after the situation is over and you beat the odds, you are kind of numb and ears ringing and almost fever like feeling, that suggests adrenaline flow. Then comes another moment of clarity, the realization you are alive and for that you're grateful for few seconds like you've never felt before.

chequita guevara · December 28, 2003, 02:15

That's abuot what I experienced when a riptide grabbed me and started pulling me out to sea.

Pekka · December 28, 2003, 02:18

What is a riptide? Is that a type of tide, that pulls you to the sea instead of pushing you back to the beach?

Inverse Icarus · December 28, 2003, 02:21

when a big wave hits, the water is pulled back into the ocean, creating a strong current towards the deep sea, which will often knock you off your feet if you're not ready.

Inverse Icarus · December 28, 2003, 02:28

anyway, i don't know much more than basic biology for you, but i do know that adrenaline and other hormones are secreted by various glands directly into the blood stream, and the most notable change is the fact that the blood vessels stretch, and your heart pumps more, so your body is getting more blood to the muscles faster.

the blood is actually redistributed based on stress to the body. ie, during "fight or flight" times, your stomach/digestive track will get far less blood, to make more availible for the muscles.

eventually, you deplete all stored oxygen and simply cannot breathe enough in to support the body, so the muscle cells preform anerobic respiration to create quick energy inefficiently, with the byproduct of lactic acid, which actually ends up eating away at the muscle. this is why your legs hurt after a major run, etc.

i'm not sure why you can decide everything in a split second, but i'm willing to debate that there are innate biases and heuristics in the human cognition that take over.

in one of my theories that i wrote a paper on, i stated that i believe humans are like any other animal, and have a "genetic memory" of a few things, which we "forget" because our consious mind takes over. for example, all babies know how to suck, straight out of the womb. if you throw a week old baby into water, it will know to hold it's breath. try that with a 2 year old who's never been in deep water, and he WON'T.

Pekka · December 28, 2003, 02:29

Ah yes I get it. That's bad, especially if you're not some kind of Olympic swimmer or Tarzan.
It's funny, you think about the how much it would suck to die right now later, than in the moment of heat. Then you feel weird because you're happy that you made it, but then again realized it was close and you were lucky to make it so it's kind of mixed up. But the good thing is, you'll appreciate little things for a few days after that... and feel very much alive!

I guess that's the point in the most extreme sports as well.

chequita guevara · December 28, 2003, 02:30

When you ae at the beach there are two types of currents you have to watch out for: riptides and undertows. They are both caused by the same thing, waves pushing water towards the beach and the water neding a way to get out, but one goes under the waves and the other is just a strong current away from the beach. Undertows suck you down and under, riptides pull you out to sea.

I was standing in chest deep water when a big wave came along, and all of a sudden, I couldn't touch bottom, and with al the waves, it was really a bad situation. Luckily, there were lifeguards who came and pulled me out of the water.

About two people a day got resuced that week at our resort in Cancun, but I was the only one who was legitmately swimming. After they pulled me out, the red flagged the whole beach, but Americans seem to think that a resort means that nature is tamed, and went out into the waves anyway.

I tell you, that jetski was one of the best things I've ever seen in my life. Took me an half an hour to move from my spot on the beach, and another hour to move off it. I was exhausted the rest of the week. I've had a much healthier respect for water since.

Pekka · December 28, 2003, 02:42

Yeah human bodies are weird.. no matter what happens it tries to survive. The natural reaction of brain is 'NO!' and it goes to survival mode. I bet, that even with suicidal people, they'll try to survive if it comes by surprise and they don't expect it. At first they will try to survive, I believe.

If you anticipate a threat, that's when you could get scared and freeze up I think.. but the surviving part in the seconds would rise up I think in most cases.

The sudden level of concentration is what wonders me. Maybe heart pumps blood faster, and it goes to your brain as well, enabling those little things to interract faster eventually making you think clear and fast for a moment, I don't know..

Then another thing wonders me, the state of shock. I've been once in that too. I think it comes mostly when you lose blood fast... then you feel numb, no pain, thirsty, and naturally deny that you're in shock. Anyway, it amazes me that the brain is able to shut down the pain that is likely pretty bad. It makes me wonder if the human is devided between the body and the spirit or soul or what ever, because you are able to get out of there for a while.. Or is it just brains fooling you, I don't know.

Pekka · December 28, 2003, 02:44

che, That's a wild one! Yeah, you get tired too.. I guess you consume so much energy so fast, that you're out of it for a while. Also you are very determined to NEVER DO IT AGAIN!

edit: also one addition to the shocks.. do people react to it differently? I mean, I tried to crack jokes when I was hurried to hospital. Everyone around me was pale and everyone knew it was nasty one, and so serious. But I wasn't in pain at that moment so I tried to make jokes and nervous laughed myself. Is it because I knew it was bad, but tried to kind of not realize it just yet and have the hopes little bit higher or what? I mean, why in earth would you start joking when you're seriously injured and in shock? Or is that also another way of denying you're in shock like 'if I'm joking, I can't be in shock. People in shock, they don't joke around'. I don't know. But everyone told me afterwards the jokes sucked and I was the only one laughing, and they tgought I was a psycho because of it and didn't know if I've gone mad or not and was kind of serious because of that too

So what happened to me right there?

JimmyCracksCorn · December 28, 2003, 03:53

Yeah, in anthropological terms its pretty self explanatory. Your body gets ready to either bolt or beat the **** out of someone/thing.

Some even say its very related to anger, in that when you get angry, andenaline starts pumping to get you ready to fight. Thats why when you get mad you want to throw stuff and punch things... I guess because historically (like millions of years ago), if something pissed you off, he or it was likely threatening your survival.

Enigma_Nova · December 28, 2003, 10:35

Quote:

Originally posted by Pekka
Anyway! The feeling is quite awesome itself. I know it involves adrenaline, but what else? What exactly happens then, physically and mentally? You kind of feel this moment of absolute clarity, you know what you must do or at least try to do to survive, and you'll do it the best way you can without thinking twice about it. Concentration is 3000% and you only see and think the problem ahead, and it all comes clear in fractions of a second. If it's really threatning and by surprise, you don't even feel scared, or think about it if it comes by surprise. Afterwards you might feel a bit strange though, maybe because of the adrenaline flow and mix of feelings. If the odds were against you, you're most likely very happy to be alive, if without scratches.. it almost feels religious and a miracle.

Sounds like me pretty much every week.
I have a gut reaction to analyse possible incoming threats, present threats, future threats and what I must do to both evade and remove these threats.

The nagging voice of fear is ignored, and pain becomes a thing of the past. I've caught myself rushing into situations, or perhaps sneaking around if so desired.
This mode of thinking cannot override my ability to think critically or intuitively sense (in fact both of those things are super-amped).
Mind you, I'm always fighting something. If not the culture of ignorance then one of its henchmen.
I'm not so sure what releif after the fact feels like, but I remember feeling quite nauseous and having both a headache and a stomachache.

Whatever this is it seems to trigger much more often in me than it does in others (which is probably because it triggered nonstop in early childhood :/ )

Though I've known myself to go berzerk with fear many times, the resulting world view (Defeat all enemies, but enemies are everywhere) is now central to my belief system, noting my tendency to pursue my own beliefs despite the omnipresent opposition to it.

I wonder what messed me up so bad...

Enigma_Nova · December 28, 2003, 10:41

I don't have the shock thing though - I tend to fight till I fall or presuming all threats neutralised find a safe spot to rest.

Embarassingly enough, I've had shock before, mainly due to my own idiocy.
Don't you hate it when something minor happens and some foo' calls an ambulance and then the paras get pissed at you?

Then again even if I needed medical help I'd still probably refuse it. :/