A good example of the proposed mechanism at work can probably be seen in the variety of psychosomatic symptoms experienced and reported by soldiers who fought in the first world war (Often diagnosed as “shell shock”, “male hysteria”, or “war neurosis”). Symptoms included hysterical blindness, deafness, becoming mute, even paralyzed limbs without any apparent cause were a thing.
Also, the “thousand yard stare” seems to be explainable by a similar mechanism: The module producing conscious experience seemingly “detaches” itself from the body it inhabits in an attempt to distance itself from horrors, which seems to be very similar to depersonalization disorder, which can also be triggered by highly distressing experiences.
PTSD and its way more sinister cousin, C-PTSD are great examples how we are all subconsciousness. What you are describing are all different kinds of dissociation, a subconscious and often unhealthy ways brain copes with trauma, defined as the level of stress that overwhelms its natural ability to cope.
A good example of the proposed mechanism at work can probably be seen in the variety of psychosomatic symptoms experienced and reported by soldiers who fought in the first world war (Often diagnosed as “shell shock”, “male hysteria”, or “war neurosis”). Symptoms included hysterical blindness, deafness, becoming mute, even paralyzed limbs without any apparent cause were a thing.
Also, the “thousand yard stare” seems to be explainable by a similar mechanism: The module producing conscious experience seemingly “detaches” itself from the body it inhabits in an attempt to distance itself from horrors, which seems to be very similar to depersonalization disorder, which can also be triggered by highly distressing experiences.
PTSD and its way more sinister cousin, C-PTSD are great examples how we are all subconsciousness. What you are describing are all different kinds of dissociation, a subconscious and often unhealthy ways brain copes with trauma, defined as the level of stress that overwhelms its natural ability to cope.