Why Do People Freeze During Stressful Situations and Faint at the Sight of Blood?
Picture yourself hiking on a lovely summer day when you hear the unmistakable sound of a rattlesnake. You don’t know where the snake is. You simply know, at the most visceral level, that you are in danger. If your stress response is in good working order, you will automatically stop moving and assess the situation. A successful freeze response in action. Hachi knew that deer were close by but had difficulty locating them in the absence of movement. (Don’t worry, she is not allowed to chase wildlife. Lucky for her. These guys look tough.) If you correctly ascertain the location of the snake and the best escape route, you win! You get to make whoopee and pass your winning disposition – including your successful stress response – to the next generation. Evolutionary psychologists believe that freezing in response to certain threats works well enough that critters who possess the tendency procreate more often than those who do not. One benefit to freezing lies in the fact that most predato
