In this post,, bump mentions an incident wherein a relative of a friend “hit the deck” and crawled around on the floor in response to an unexpected combat scene in a movie. (The uncle was a Vietnam vet).
My initial reaction on hearing these stories is to think how unimagineable it must be to have had experiences so terrifying they cause, apparently, a kind of hallucination when triggered.
But then I thought, “is it really a hallucination of some kind, do they really think it’s happening, or is it just some kind of sustained reflex?”
Then I thought, “But if they know it’s not real, why wouldn’t they contain the reflex?”
Then I thought, “Easier said than done. You know how much of a crybaby you can be at some movies–but you know full well none of it’s real.”
So we come to my question. These guys who have reflexes triggered like this–are they typically sort-of hallucinating, thinking it’s all really happening again? Or is this more like “crying at the movies”–having a sustained emotional reaction with inescapeable physical expression, even though you know it’s not real?
The above study found that the startle reflex in veterans with PTSD was elevated even in response to non-combat related stimuli. Even if post-traumatic stress doesn’t rise to the level of PTSD, it would be reasonable to expect that a combat veteran might display some elevated level of startle response as a conditioned effect to stimuli similar to those representing danger in combat.
My Dad wouldn’t watch a war movie in a theater. He tried it. He’d been through WWII, and would hit the deck if surprised by a siren from the screen. After a few seconds he’d recover and get back in his seat, and apologize to whoever he’d need to. It didn’t happen often, and after about 10 years out of the service it didn’t happen at all.
FWIW, it’s the unexpected part that got him, not the mere presence of a realistic combat scene.
I mean, I saw “Full Metal Jacket” with him, and he was fine. A few years later, and he had a full-on PTSD attack watching “Forrest Gump”. I wonder if there were advancements in movie sound in the interim that may have triggered it?
There were some realistic sound effects in Gump, particularly the incoming rocket/mortar noise. It startled the hell out of me. Loud noises still make me jump, even after 44 years, but not as badly as when I first came back. Gotta say that the fireworks on the 4th a couple of years ago really bothered me. These were mainly home-approved crackers, but some people were firing off some heavier duty stuff. The explosions, the smell of gunpowder in the air, people shouting, and the smokey haze brought on what I can only describe as a minor panic attack, even though I knew that this was just people having a good time. I haven’t been back over there since.
I did not stand stupidly still saying WTF when a projectile went through some leaves near my head in a residential setting many many many years after it was expected.
Kind of like bicycle riding, you never really forget.
I saw my dad, a Vietnam vet, get an “exaggerated startle” response from an odd bit of AM radio static, I guess maybe it sounded like an incoming mortar or something? That’s the only time I ever saw him have such a reaction to something, but he’s also not one to go to war movies either.
My Dad was a WWII vet from North Africa and Sicily. The way he explained it, it’s as concious/voluntary as pulling your hand away when touching a burning surface. You actually do it before you’re fully concious of doing it. Kind of like an acquired spinal reflex.
One time it happenned to Dad when hen was playing golf. The were standing on the tee waiting for the foursome ahead of them to get out of range so they could hit their own drives. A fairly big branch broke off suddenly with a loud crack. After turning to see the branch fall, everybody notices that Johnny’s disappeared. Dad sheepishly picked himself off the ground near the tee and apologised.