Mind / Body Changes in Life Threatening Encounters

[Excaliber]

Warning - This post is long!

There has been much discussion on the forum about how to prepare oneself mentally and physically for a life threatening encounter. Some have advocated extensive practice of various types, while others have concluded that they'll find out how they perform when and if they find themselves in a really bad situation.

From many of these threads, it is apparent that many folks are not aware of the physical and mental changes that happen to the body and mind when the balloon goes up. In this topic I'll try to provide some basic information so our members can better understand what to expect and take these things into account in their self preparation.

When a person is exposed to a life threatening situation, the body automatically and instantly dumps chemicals into the bloodstream to help meet the emergency. Adrenaline is the best known of these. This "spontaneous injection" causes major changes in the body, the senses, and thinking ability.

Not all of the changes will occur to everyone at lower heart rates, but as the heart rate approaches and passes 175 beats per minute the number and severity of these phenomena increase sharply. Critical points here are:

1. Everyone's heart rate escalates under life threatening stress.
2. The optimal performance heart rate for response to emergencies is 115 - 145 beats per minute (bpm) for complex motor skills,
visual reaction time, and cognitive reaction time
3. The average person's performance degrades sharply when the heart rate hits about 145 beats (bpm). In this range, people
experience:

- Deterioration of cognitive processing - markedly slowed ability to think
- Deterioration of complex motor skills (the ability to perform tasks like malfunction clearance or reloading) - clumsiness
- Vasoconstriction (loss of circulation to surface tissue to reduce bleeding if injured.
- Loss of peripheral vision (tunnel vision - the sensation of looking at the world through a cardboard tube)
- Auditory exclusion - not hearing sounds, including shouts and gunshots, or hearing them as muffled
- Loss of depth perception
- Loss of near vision (loss of the ability to see handgun sights)

4. Just about everyone's performance abilities crash catastrophically at a heart rate of about 175 bpm. Effects at this point
include:

- Irrational fight or flight responses
- Freezing with a sensation of paralysis (I can't move!) - also called hypervigilance
- Submissive behavior
- Loss of bladder and / or bowel control

5. The area between 145 and 175 bpm is now spoken of as "Condition Grey" in the Cooper color code.
6. Pre exposure to stress and repeated practice of the proper responses can help people perform much better in this zone than
people who have not been conditioned to that stress and with that practice.
7. You can reduce your heart rate and improve your ability to perform under stress with a deliberate breathing pattern - In for 4
seconds, hold for 4 seconds, out for 4 seconds - repeat.
8. Whatever you do in practice is what you will do in combat - whether that's good or bad depends on what you practice.

How often do these things happen to people?

In one study of 141 police officers who had been involved in combat, here's what they experienced:

- Auditory exclusion (diminished sound) - 85%
- Intensified sound - 16%
- Tunnel vision - 80%
- "Automatic pilot" (scared speechless) 74%
- Heightened visual clarity (example: seeing ejecting shells as big as beer cans with the headstamp
clearly readable in large letters) - 72%
- Slow motion time (like watching a movie with the projector running too slow) - 65%
- Temporary paralysis -7%
- Memory loss for parts of the event - 51%
- Memory loss for some of your own actions - 47%
- Dissociation (feeling like you're not you, but an outside observer) - 40%
- Intrusive and distracting thoughts (random thoughts, like "I'll have to remember to put the garbage cans out
in the morning") - 26%
- Memory distortions - 22%
- Fast motion time (like watching a movie with the projector running too fast) - 16%

When the danger is past and you begin to relax, it is common to experience "parasympathetic backlash" including significant drops in energy levels, heart rate, and blood pressure. These often show up as classic shock symptoms (dizziness, nausea, vomiting, headache, clammy skin) and profound exhaustion

Looking at these phenomena and numbers, it's pretty easy to see that dealing with a life threatening situation involves a lot more than paper punching target practice will prepare you for. It's also pretty easy to see why you won't want to give a formal statement about the events immediately afterwards, because what you honestly experienced is unlikely to match up with what other witnesses saw.

This brief outline is just scratching the surface of a fascinating and vital area of knowledge. Folks who are interested in learning more would do very well to read two of the best books I've found on the topic:

"On Combat" by Col. Dave Grossman
"Sharpening the Warrior's Edge" by Bruce Siddle

Both can be ordered on Amazon.com

[flintknapper]

- Auditory exclusion (diminished sound)

Been there!

- Tunnel vision

Been there, but it was followed by a brief (maybe 2 second) "black out" (inability to see anything).

-

Slow motion time (like watching a movie with the projector running too slow)

Yup, just prior to actual impact (this was an auto accident)

Memory loss for parts of the event

Yup, I was unable to remember any part of it (except some tactile sensations) from the time of impact until after the vehicles had come to a stop for a few seconds.

- Memory loss for some of your own actions

I have no idea what I did or didn't do after covering my head with my arms just prior to impact.

When the danger is past and you begin to relax, it is common to experience "parasympathetic backlash" including significant drops in energy levels, heart rate, and blood pressure. These often show up as classic shock symptoms (dizziness, nausea, vomiting, headache, clammy skin) and profound exhaustion

Very much so!

Looking at these phenomena and numbers, it's pretty easy to see that dealing with a life threatening situation involves a lot more than paper punching target practice will prepare you for. It's also pretty easy to see why you won't want to give a formal statement about the events immediately afterwards, because what you honestly experienced is unlikely to match up with what other witnesses saw.

Excellent advise! I agree completely.


My experience did not involve firearms....but was learned at the tender age of 17...as passenger in a vehicle on a rain-slick road. My older brother took a long sweeping down hill corner "too fast" and although he caught the skid in a counter steer, we were basically sideways (my side) doing about 40 mph and we had gone into the other lane.

Naturally... there WAS "oncoming" traffic. In this case, it was a 1968 Dodge Charger....heading right for my passenger door. I remember clearly how everything slowed down, there was a terrible feeling of helplessness...and I wanted so badly to have some kind of control over the event. I could even see the drivers face just before impact, in fact it was all I could see.

At impact, I expected a violent event. Instead, I completely lost vision (everything went blank), sounds were muffled...and except for the sensation of being moved around...there was no pain or panic or at all.

I know this differs slightly from what Excaliber intended us to take from his post, but I can assure you...when things get to the point of being truly life threating (right here and now) you are very likely to be affected in one way or another.

Good post Sir!

[Chemist45]

Good post.
A number of years ago I performed an experiment to test the effect that elevated heart rate and adrenaline had on an experienced shooter.

First some background - I learned to shoot at my father's hand with an old .22 Colt that did not have a magazine hold open feature. You loaded 10 rounds and counted as you shot. If you miscounted and let the firing pin fall on an empty chamber you were done shooting for the day and had to sit and watch as your brothers and sister continued to shoot.
Consequently, I got real good at counting rounds. It became second nature. I was the guy in the movie theater who noticed that the cowboy had fired 9 rounds without reloading.

Now the experiment - I had a bullet trap in my basement and could shoot .22 anytime I wanted. I carefully loaded a magazine with 10 rounds of .22 and had it sitting next to the gun. I proceeded to work out doing both weights and aerobics until my heart rate was substantially elevated. (About a half hour.)
Once I was ready I ran to the basement, loaded the magazine into the gun and fired 10 rounds as fast as I could.
Only I would swear to anyone that I only counted seven shots before I heard a click.
It was eerie. Almost like someone had been in the house and removed 3 rounds from the magazine but there were 10 holes in the target to prove I'd fired 10 shots.
I had miscounted and this wasn't even a dangerous situation.

So anytime you hear a shooter say they swear they only fired twice, but there are 5 holes in the bad guy. Believe them.

FWIW, in a follow up experiment a few weeks later I counted all 10.
So yes, practice and experience make a huge difference.

[Excaliber]

I know this differs slightly from what Excaliber intended us to take from his post, but I can assure you...when things get to the point of being truly life threating (right here and now) you are very likely to be affected in one way or another.

From the standpoint of the effects you experience, it doesn't much matter whether the threatening event is an armed bandit, a car wreck, an earthquake or an avalanche. Many more people will have experience with this from situations other than gunfights, just because the other stuff happens a lot more than gunfights do.

Unlike being a passenger in a car wreck or a skier in an avalanche, in combat situations, we tend to have more options for action that can be taken to change the eventual outcome. Minimizing the effects of stress is important because it enables us to maximize our performance to get ourselves out of the situation in one piece.

[Excaliber]

Good post.
A number of years ago I performed an experiment to test the effect that elevated heart rate and adrenaline had on an experienced shooter.

First some background - I learned to shoot at my father's hand with an old .22 Colt that did not have a magazine hold open feature. You loaded 10 rounds and counted as you shot. If you miscounted and let the firing pin fall on an empty chamber you were done shooting for the day and had to sit and watch as your brothers and sister continued to shoot.
Consequently, I got real good at counting rounds. It became second nature. I was the guy in the movie theater who noticed that the cowboy had fired 9 rounds without reloading.

Now the experiment - I had a bullet trap in my basement and could shoot .22 anytime I wanted. I carefully loaded a magazine with 10 rounds of .22 and had it sitting next to the gun. I proceeded to work out doing both weights and aerobics until my heart rate was substantially elevated. (About a half hour.)
Once I was ready I ran to the basement, loaded the magazine into the gun and fired 10 rounds as fast as I could.
Only I would swear to anyone that I only counted seven shots before I heard a click.
It was eerie. Almost like someone had been in the house and removed 3 rounds from the magazine but there were 10 holes in the target to prove I'd fired 10 shots.
I had miscounted and this wasn't even a dangerous situation.

So anytime you hear a shooter say they swear they only fired twice, but there are 5 holes in the bad guy. Believe them.

FWIW, in a follow up experiment a few weeks later I counted all 10.
So yes, practice and experience make a huge difference.

Another good study showed that as the number of shots fired in a gunfight goes up, the shooter's ability to accurately relate how many times he shot goes down. This is another reason to avoid giving specific statements immediately after an incident.

Your experiment was interesting in that it showed that even a mild amount of stress can have an effect on the ability to count rounds.

However, heart rate alone has been shown not to produce the effects I outlined. If you run hard and get your heart rate way up, you're very unlikely to experience tunnel vision or auditory exclusion. These effects happen only when the heart rate is elevated by the body's response to a life threatening event.

[Excaliber]

Since my time in the military I've worked various armed security-related jobs, mostly in Africa - armed response team, executive protection, protective-security details in Iraq, etc. I've been involved in a number of armed encounters over the years, so below are my experiences. Most of my "yes" responses became less acute with repeat exposure:

- Auditory exclusion (diminished sound) - yes
- Intensified sound - no
- Tunnel vision - yes
- "Automatic pilot" (scared speechless) - no
- Heightened visual clarity (example: seeing ejecting shells as big as beer cans with the headstamp
clearly readable in large letters) - yes
- Slow motion time (like watching a movie with the projector running too slow) - yes
- Temporary paralysis - no
- Memory loss for parts of the event - yes
- Memory loss for some of your own actions - no
- Dissociation (feeling like you're not you, but an outside observer) - yes
- Intrusive and distracting thoughts (random thoughts, like "I'll have to remember to put the garbage cans out
in the morning") - no
- Memory distortions - yes
- Fast motion time (like watching a movie with the projector running too fast) - no

Thanks, AndyC - your experiences are very consistent with the best information available today.

Nobody experiences all of the possible effects, but most people experience at least a couple or more in a given incident. In a different incident, they may experience different effects.

Folks who have been involved in 2 or more violent encounters tend to see diminished effects in subsequent incidents, perhaps because they aren't as stressed as someone exposed to his first incident. They feel they've "been there before", know what to do, and are confident in their ability to manage the situation successfully. This keeps their heart rate down, and they are very successful at getting through alive.

[bryang]

Excellent post Excaliber, this is something that anyone who carries should know and understand. If and when you find yourself in such a situation it will help to reduce the effect because you will be aware of what is going on and what to expect, therefore, it will not be a surprised when it happens.

I have read several books on the subject including one of the books you recommended...however, I have a question that has bothered me since I got my CHL. I have not been able to find an answer and was hoping you, or someone on the forum, might be able to point me to a book or something on the subject. My problem is that I have had a heart-transplant and my heart rate is always around 110-120 even when I am sitting still. I was told if I were to jump up and start running I would probably collapse because my heart would not react to what was happening as in a normal situation.

A very simplistic analogy of a heart-transplant is like putting a motor in a car and not connecting all the wires (nerves). All of the nerves were severed when the old heart was removed and then they placed the new heart in and it started beating if it didn't they would shock it to get it started and then it just runs without the nerve hook up as a normal person.

So...what could I expect to happen in a critical situation, as shooting, etc.? Would I experience all the effects of a normal person in these conditions? I really don't have any idea. For me reading medical journals is like trying to read and understand the law...?? So if anyone has any insight on this I would be very grateful.

I have been wanting to ask this question for some time now and this thread looked like a good time to do so, if not, I apologize.

-geo

[Excaliber]

I agree - exposure means more confidence and less (as opposed to no) stress. Competing with firearms (especially during man vs man shoot-offs) has a lot of similar stresses and can be very valuable from an exposure perspective. People mention mindset/skillset/toolset as the self-defense triad, but your mindset can be corrupted by fear unless prepared.

If I had to pick the most irritating phenomenon (in that it seems to be the hardest to solve), I'd have to say tunnel-vision is my greatest enemy - exposure hasn't improved it as quickly as it has with the other phenomena I've experienced.

I very much agree that competition can be an effective inoculation against stress, even though it is very different from a life threatening encounter. It is particularly useful if it also involves use of movement, cover, scanning for threats from multiple angles, and challenging shooting positions.

I used man on man competition in our department's firearms training program, and it was a major eye opener to officers who hadn't been exposed to it before. It resulted in sharply upgraded skill sets in fairly short periods of time. I like to think that it also contributed to saving officers' lives on the street.

Tunnel vision is both very common (because it seems to happen often at lower heart rates than some other effects) and a major hindrance to effective performance. Some people experience it with such intensity, they describe it as looking through a straw instead of a cardboard tube like a paper towel core.

A technique I taught my folks was to consciously move the head to scan 360 degrees, because you can't count on peripheral vision being available to detect changing circumstances and additional threats. I train myself to do this routinely, even when doing from the holster work on a square range. Scanning works to help you see and deal with whatever is happening, even with tunnel vision. It's not a perfect solution, but it's the best I've been able to come up with so far.

[Excaliber]

Excellent post Excaliber, this is something that anyone who carries should know and understand. If and when you find yourself in such a situation it will help to reduce the effect because you will be aware of what is going on and what to expect, therefore, it will not be a surprised when it happens.

I have read several books on the subject including one of the books you recommended...however, I have a question that has bothered me since I got my CHL. I have not been able to find an answer and was hoping you, or someone on the forum, might be able to point me to a book or something on the subject. My problem is that I have had a heart-transplant and my heart rate is always around 110-120 even when I am sitting still. I was told if I were to jump up and start running I would probably collapse because my heart would not react to what was happening as in a normal situation.

A very simplistic analogy of a heart-transplant is like putting a motor in a car and not connecting all the wires (nerves). All of the nerves were severed when the old heart was removed and then they placed the new heart in and it started beating if it didn't they would shock it to get it started and then it just runs without the nerve hook up as a normal person.

So...what could I expect to happen in a critical situation, as shooting, etc.? Would I experience all the effects of a normal person in these conditions? I really don't have any idea. For me reading medical journals is like trying to read and understand the law...?? So if anyone has any insight on this I would be very grateful.

I have been wanting to ask this question for some time now and this thread looked like a good time to do so, if not, I apologize.

-geo

Bryang,

That's a great question and one that is completely outside my ability to answer from knowledge.

My best suggestion would to be to bring the description of the heart rate effects in a life threatening encounter to your cardiologist and discuss it with him. I'd very much like to hear whatever he has to say.

[atxgun]

bryang, That is a very interesting question. However it seems it would be in your best interests to posit this scenario with your doctor that is familiar with you specifics.

[bryang]

Thanks, ya'll. I was going to discuss this with them the last time I was at the hospital for a clinic visit, however, I ended up in the hospital and completely forgot all about it. On my next visit to the transplant clinic I will make myself a note to ask.

Thanks,
-geo

[Target1911]

WOW.....great thread.

I was rear ended (years ago) while sitting at a stop light......on my motorcycle.

The 2 things I remember the most are.......
everything went into slow motion,
and I was able to make several conscious decisions in less than a second. But some of the other things did occur.

Other than being sore I come out unhurt.


Then a few months ago, I was making 90deg turn and hit some water. The rear tire slid out on me. Staying absolutely calm (as if I had slid intentionally) I was able maneuver out of the slid. All the while my girlfriend was on the back.


Anytime I meet someone that carries, including LEO, I strongly suggest getting into IDPA/USPSA for the conditioning it provides.

[stroo]

Great post! I had an accident similar to Flintknapper several years ago. I was going 70-75 down a highway and suddenly the car ahead slowed to about 30 without putting their brakes on. I hit the brakes, tried to steer around and then started skidding. I steered into the skid and my backend went back and forth a couple of times and then I found my self going sideways. The only affect I seemed to have was that at that point everything seemed to go into slow motion. I remember heading for a guard rail and thinking that I was going to be speared to death. Then it seemed like a big hand seemed to grab the rear end of my car and pulled me into a ditch. I like to think it was the hand of God but there probably was a natural explanation for it as well.

Maybe I didn't have any other affects because I had "practiced" skidding many times as a kid on ice and snow in Michigan. However that was at much lower speeds.