Monthly Archives: December 2010

When Animal Defenses Encounter a Human Predator: Part IV

Victims of rape and childhood sexual abuse frequently describe dissociation-like experiences which occurred during the assault. Typically, we assume that these are dissociative experiences. But are they? I don’t think we really know. To be blunt about it, we have … Continue reading

Posted in animal defenses, dissociation, evolution, first-person accounts, flashbacks, human predators, peritraumatic dissociation, PTSD, rape, Tonic immobility, trauma, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 43 Comments

When Animal Defenses Encounter a Human Predator: Part III

Spontaneous tonic immobility is common during rape, but it doesn’t discourage many rapists. The problem is that tonic immobility was designed by Nature to deal with animal predators (e.g., big cats and bears), not human ones. Human predators usually don’t … Continue reading

Posted in animal defenses, dissociation, evolution, human predators, rape, Tonic immobility | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

When Animal Defenses Encounter a Human Predator: Part II

Let’s take a closer look at tonic immobility. When does it happen? How does it affect the animal? How does it affect the predator? And, perhaps most importantly for our purposes, “Does tonic immobility have after-effects?” As we will see, … Continue reading

Posted in animal defenses, evolution, human predators, parasympathetic nervous system, safety, Tonic immobility | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments