Another note on numbness from an article by Henry Krystal, The Trauma of Confronting One's Vulnerability and Death, in Omnipotent Fantasies and the Vulnerable Self. Edited by Carolyn Ellman & Joseph Reppen. LOC#: BF 175.5 F36 1997

p. 155-6: "The traumatic process is progressive, has an evolutionary determination, and in its basic course is universal to the animal kingdom. It represents a self-destruct apparatus that guarantees each animal a painless death, that is, death in a state of numbness."

Ha!? I'll let this marinate for a bit.