Do you know what this medical condition is called?
Asked by
Jack79 (
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December 25th, 2008
There was this woman on the Titanic that stayed really calm when everyone else around her panicked. She spent the last moments tidying her clothes, neatly packing her things, putting make-up and so on. She gave her name (I think it was Ruth Something, but may be wrong) to this medical condition. It is when you get so overwelmed by reality that your body can’t cope with it so you go beyond depression, anger, fear etc to the other side, and feel nothing. I first read about it with regards to the people of Santorini, which is claimed to be the site of Atlantis. They apparently left in a very orderly and organised fashion, even though the volcano was erupting.
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11 Answers
This doesn’t answer your medical question but those people who sincerely believe “this” is God’s will and it’s for a reason, accept it and accept it peacefully. It’s not a medical condition in this case.
I’ve been accused of having a monoamine oxidase (MAO) deficiency, which is sort of similar. MAOs are neurotransmitters which, for lack of better words, control excitability. People who are continually jumpy, nervous, excitable, etc sometimes take MAO inhibitors, I think. It was explained to me this way: A normal person experiences a certain level of excitedness when a plate is dropped on the floor; for me to reach the same level, a hundred plates would need to be dropped simultaneously. I’m not jumpy around loud noises, even after spending a year hunting IEDs in Iraq. I don’t look at it as a problem though, I see it as a gift that I am calm under stressful situations.
If you meditate regularly and simultaneously practice being in the moment, you have a better chance of staying calm and not panicking. “Today is a good day to die” is a useful sentiment, I find.
No, it’s called something like the “Rose Whatsherename Syndrome”. It is not about staying calm. It is about going beyond panic to the other side and freezing, something like a computer system shutdown.
@gail today is never a good day to die.
why not? we’re all going to, wouldn’t it be better to accept it?
She was obviously blocking out the horror of the moment by concentrating on the things that were familiar and normal in her life – the things she could control rather than the things that were out of control. I am sure some psychiatrist came up with a label for it, but it seems like a perfectly normal response to me in the situation. What about the two gentlemen who put on their tuxedos and decided to go down dressed in their best, sipping brandy and smoking cigars. Same thing.
yes, it is the type of behaviour I am talking about, beyond shock. But I was looking for the name. It is mentioned in C.Pelegrino’s book “Unearthing Atlantis”. But I don’t have the book here.
Have a look at Disassociation on WikiPedia. It is basically defined as “Dissociation is a mental process that severs a connection to a person’s thoughts, memories, feelings, actions, or sense of identity. Dissociation is a normal response to trauma, and allows the mind to distance itself from experiences that are too much for the psyche to process at that time.”.
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