Quote Originally Posted by miss duece View Post
Excuse me but I'm a bit puzzled. Why is freeze a last ditch human response to stay alive? I mean I can understand fight or flight, but why freeze? Why would it be the last either?
It is believed that the freeze response is the human body's last way of attempting to stay alive... this stems from humanity's primitive beginnings. It is a common response among the wild when being attacked... when a pray animal can no longer escape a predator, it enters the 'freeze' response and 'plays dead'.... literally. Non-movement in prey appears to be a potent inhibitor of aggression in predators, and often results in an abort of the predators attack-kill instinctual responses.

If the 'freeze' response is activated in full, from a biological point of view, the body becomes unresponsive, breathing and pulse rate diminuish, and blood flow is reduced in the extremities and restricted to the vital organs. The mind and brain remain in highly activated states, even though outward movement and signs of life are almost nonexistent. As a result of the physiological responses, what would normally be lifethreatening injuries are diminuished in severity. The lowering of blood pressure would reduce the amount of blood loss from a wound, especially for wounds on extremities where blood flow is also reduced.

Odd sidenote: Could this be how the whole vampire concept began?

Quote Originally Posted by miss duece View Post
On a more darker side, does anyone think maybe it prepares us to die? I just don't get it. Enlighten me please.
This response is usually triggered by the conscious and/or unconscious realisation that an individual is going to die and there are no more possible routes of escape (like running away or fighting). I do believe that this may be the bodies last response before death... and the mental dissociation that usually occurs along with this response may be designed such that we painlessly pass on to the hereafter if our bodies efforts to stay alive are not sufficient.

There are likely others here who are far more knowledgeable in this area, and with this response, than I... I know there are Vets and at least one US air force medic in the forum (usafmedic), they may have a better understanding of this phenomena.

Hope this helps resolve some of your confusion,

Avely