Know Anything About "Tonic Immobility"?

Ygrec23 · Dec 29, 2010, 12:59 PM

I'm not quite sure about where to post this. But we'll start with here. According to what I read, the "freezing" response (i.e., reacting by becoming immobile) in reaction to a threat is common among not only mammals but almost all vertebrates. The technical term for "freezing" in that sense is, I've learned, "tonic immobility."

When the "fight or flight" dichotomy was first proposed back in the 1920's, for various reasons the researchers involved did not include "freezing." A more accurate phrase would have been "fight, flight or freeze." The "freeze" reaction is, essentially, to play dead, to try to fool a predator by not reacting at all.

Among humans, it appears that "freezing" (tonic immobility) is as frequent a response as it is among other animals. But it hasn't received the attention it deserves until very recently. I haven't been all that successful in web searching for relevant articles. I'd most appreciate hearing from any of you folk who may have for whatever reason either studied or heard about or experienced anything in connection with this "tonic immobility" reaction. Take care!

pachyderm · Dec 29, 2010, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ygrec23

The "freeze" reaction is, essentially, to play dead, to try to fool a predator by not reacting at all.

A different possibility for freezing is being so overwhelmed or overloaded that the system simply quits trying to do anything.

Michah · Dec 29, 2010, 05:06 PM

I have Aspergers Syndrome and I have experienced all 3 of those states in varying degrees of severity, but as for the "tonic immobility" you speak of, the only thing I can relate it to is there have been a couple of times where I have gone in to an "atypical or semi catatonic" state where I am able to listen but not respond. In those times, I can sit up and use amenities if need be, but I simply "freeze" in a lying position or sitting position for a few minutes or hours.

I cannot eat or talk and I forget to swallow. It has something to do with sympathetic nervous system shut down in the face of extreme fear or distress. Usually, my fiance will give me pressure hugs in these instances and try and get me to sleep. Sleep usually reboots the nerve response and I come back from it. I cannot remember what happened usually. I can remember the fear, but I cannot remember after it in any clarity.

Hope that helps to some degree.....

Michah

Perna · Dec 30, 2010, 01:39 PM

It makes sense; not everyone has long legs for running or is big or strong enough to fight. I think the tonic immobility is more a "I'm dead, maybe you won't notice me" reaction or the nice dreams/lack of fear when we're freezing, drowning, have the hungry predator breathing down our neck already and the other two don't make sense. It's a deer in the headlights response and I know I've reacted that way; can't think or "do" anything useful. I was watching a TV Discovery science show about the human body the other day and it was talking about how the human mind has a last trick during emergencies where it literally slows time so your brain can "decide" on THE best option to keep you alive, takes over so there's no conscious control.

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/human-body/human-body.html

(Episode 4, "Brain Power").

amandalouise · Dec 30, 2010, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ygrec23

I'm not quite sure about where to post this. But we'll start with here. According to what I read, the "freezing" response (i.e., reacting by becoming immobile) in reaction to a threat is common among not only mammals but almost all vertebrates. The technical term for "freezing" in that sense is, I've learned, "tonic immobility."

When the "fight or flight" dichotomy was first proposed back in the 1920's, for various reasons the researchers involved did not include "freezing." A more accurate phrase would have been "fight, flight or freeze." The "freeze" reaction is, essentially, to play dead, to try to fool a predator by not reacting at all.

Among humans, it appears that "freezing" (tonic immobility) is as frequent a response as it is among other animals. But it hasn't received the attention it deserves until very recently. I haven't been all that successful in web searching for relevant articles. I'd most appreciate hearing from any of you folk who may have for whatever reason either studied or heard about or experienced anything in connection with this "tonic immobility" reaction. Take care!

Around here where I am this reaction is called "catatonic" and "Catatonia" where people due to stress, trauma and the flight or flight response go into a state of mind of "freezing" or "responding as if on autopilot of showing no emotions, just going through the physical steps needed to get one from one physical place to another", degrees of catatonic and catatonia states varies from person to person. you might find more information using these two terms on google.

madisgram · Dec 31, 2010, 12:20 PM

brain shutdown...when too much information is overwhelming...to put it simply.

Perna · Dec 31, 2010, 12:32 PM

I am reminded of the dead snake my cat brought to my front door 10+ years ago. I got him to drop it and got him inside and then watched; in about 5 minutes it came back to life and slithered away

shezbut · Dec 31, 2010, 01:21 PM

From my perspective, tonic is referring to the body stiffening ~ head to toe. Every muscle clenched throughout.

For instance: tonic-clonic seizures (aka "grand mal") begins w/complete stiffening throughout the body. When the clonic phase begins, that is the entire body jerking at different speed and intensity.

spiritual_emergency · Jan 01, 2011, 05:42 AM

From Peter Levine's website...

Quote:

Trauma is Treated in the Body, Not the Mind

Nature can teach the human race a thing or two about healing trauma and stress disorders. True, recent scientific research has been instrumental in helping to remove some of the stigma attached to trauma, while new studies and treatments have inspired hope for the alleviation of the suffering trauma patients endure. But psychiatry has not captured the essential nature of trauma, nor has it uncovered if and how it can be healed.

To answer the question of healing trauma, Dr. Peter Levine turns our attention to the jungle, to the wild animals, who seemingly rebound unscathed from a virtual onslaught of traumatic events every single day in their struggle to survive. Making it to the end of each day alive requires instinctual skills that animals execute with implicit precision.

All animals, including humans, possess this “procedural” memory, which is implicit rather than explicit. Procedural or “body memories” are learned sequences of coordinated “motor acts” chained together into meaningful actions. Try to remember how you learned to ride a bike. You might not remember when you learned or how you learned, but your body remembers it and acts it out implicitly every time you get on a bike.

Animals, though threatened routinely, are rarely traumatized because trauma is about the procedures the organism executes when exposed to overwhelming stress, threat and injury. In response to threat and injury, animals, including humans, execute biologically based, non-conscious action patterns that prepare them to meet the threat and defend themselves. Some animals freeze on the spot (opossum), while others flee (antelope), and still others will fight (bear). After the threat is over, the animal then releases this “survival” energy. We see this manifest in visible shaking and trembling. Once the animal has recovered its balance, it can resume its normal functioning. As one wildlife biologist noted, if an animal does not complete the process, it will not survive. It will die.

Trauma is a highly activated incomplete biological response to threat, frozen in time. Trauma is physiological.

How to Survive Trauma and Relieve Stress

Of course, humans rarely die from trauma itself, but the failure to neutralize these implicit procedures and restore balance to the body explains the debilitating symptoms of trauma in human beings. In fact, the bodies of traumatized people portray snapshots of their unsuccessful attempts to defend themselves in the face of threat and injury. But it is possible to heal even deeply entrenched post traumatic symptoms by completing the incomplete responses to threat, discharging the energy that was released for survival.

Current Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) research takes a disturbingly mechanical view of trauma. The “disease-oriented” view of trauma is negative and misleading. It ignores the innate resiliency of the human organism to rebound and heal in the aftermath of overwhelming life events. It fails to recognize our capacity as human beings to support and empower each other in the process of transforming trauma.

Source: http://traumahealing.com/somatic-exp...in-nature.html

See also: http://www.traumahealing.com/somatic...-articles.html

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