Does slapping a hysterical person stop their hysteria?

Asked by Velvetinenut (1372

) April 4th, 2013

My colleagues and I were talking about how one of our friends would scream hysterically and freeze with fear if she thought a cat was around.

We starting wondering if a good hard slap in the face would stop her screaming.

So, would it?

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8 Answers

Once you assault someone, you’ll likely be free from having to hear that person’s screaming again.

tom_g (16638

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Mythbusters did a bit on this. A slap does help you focus and do what needs to get done; however, they did not look at hysteria as a “snap out of it” mode. They experimented with people in super calm states and people who were super cold. In both situations, a slap improves reaction time, cognitive ability, and memory. I would be interested to see how it would work with a person in hysterics.

RandomGirl (3362

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It is not the preferred method.

marinelife (62485

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According to the MI6 manual it helps.

whitenoise (14162

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It might for some people. Or maybe a loud authoritative command to CHILL! Or both. If they are not in any danger of hurting themselves, or others, at that time, it might be better to let them run themselves down.

woodcutter (16382

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