Reverse panic syndrome?

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One thing I have never seen in a book or heard in any context is my inability to panic.
I have been in life-threatening situations and I just don’t have it. They say that your life is supposed to flash before your eyes, you're supposed to get super-human strength, run faster, jump higher... (Those who say “there are no atheists in foxholes” are full of crap.)

My son and I were stuck in a riptide together a few years ago and his reaction was the same as mine: very concerned, but rational. After it was over, he sat quietly on the beach for a long time.

I do not consider this a defect or a problem or a sign of depression. This is normal for us. We normally run a low-temperature.

The only trouble is, it freaks out other people. They want to see a proper show. Sometimes an agressive person will come at me, trying to pick a fight. Even when I say nothing at all and just walk away, they'll imagine that a fight occurred anyway. Very often, in the "heat" of the moment, all I feel is puzzled and/or disgusted. I suppose I can understand how they might interpret my facial expression as mild anger. Beyond that, any reaction they think they see pure hallucination.

If it's really a big deal, I'll react later, after it's over. I'll get the heart-racing stuff, trouble sleeping and all that.

Maybe if I invent a name for it, they'll notice that I'm not doing anything. Then I can leave THEM to sit and puzzle for a change.

Anyway, has anyone heard of anything like this? Does it have a cause or a name?

Last edited by Tahitiii on 01 Mar 2009, 11:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I haven't had that many life threatening events, but I was driving a car when the brakes failed and I was very calm and knew what to do (change down gears, put hand brake on). Didn't really fluster me.

It's the people stuff I panic about.

I too never panic. I have came close to dying a few times, and my pulse never changes. I was walking along a brick wall with a cliff behind me, and a brick came loose. I nearly fell to my death(or at least serious injury) and I didn't get the slightest physiological response.

I suppose it's a trade off. While I don't get the fight or flight adrenaline burst that can save lives, I keep the ability to think rationally.

I'm not sure if there is a name, but I prefer things this way.

I've never been in a life-threatening situation myself so I'm not sure how exactly I'd react, but I'm definitely familiar with cases where I'm the only (outwardly) calm one in situations that have others running around like headless chickens. I'm not a confident person by a long shot - I'm pretty much in a perpetual state of worry when I'm out and about - but I can't remember the last time I came close to panicking or otherwise losing control. It just seems like a part of being very withdrawn or detached in general.

Works for me. The Military & Police LOVE people with that trait.

I only panic in "non threatening" social situations.

Send a raving lunatic into the same social situation and I'm calmer than Spock and happier than a pig in a wallow.

Yeah... I recently realized that this is probably why nobody has ever picked a fight with me or followed through when trying. Because I just stand there with a grin and don't take up any kind of defense posture. Usually just my hands in my pockets. As it turns out, I apparently look very intimidating, especially in those situations. All I'm really doing though is analyzing the entire situation. Mostly I just feel a hate over people like that. Them threatening me because of their damaged ego or ridiculous stupidity drives me nuts with anger. Peoples irrational hate/anger and how they direct it is the most disgusting thing in the world... nothing even comes close in my opinion. Hence why I tend to withdraw from the news. It feels no different than watching monkeys getting ready for a brawl.

Bleh... " I look at people and I see nothing worth liking. I want to make enough money that I can get away from everyone. "

In the rare instances where I've actually been in danger, I haven't felt any fear until afterward; during the times, I was focused on getting out of danger.
(On the other hand, something completely harmless like not being able to find my pen when I need to can make me freak out completely. That's frustration more than fear, though.)

I also do not panic, but I easily get beyond angry. Being in a painful or dangerous situation doesn't cause me to feel fear or to worry. It just doesn't, I can't explain why because I have no idea how it would be like if I were to panic. I also don't get into any panic-like state nor do I experience symptoms of fear and panic later.

However, being picked on - even if that means I'll be danger of being beaten up or seriously hurt - would instantly rouse my anger and raise it to infinite levels. I do not feel fear in this situation either, but maddening anger.

So, no, I do not feel panic when in a threatening situation, but I feel anger easily if a person is threatening me.

Here the same - I am famous for being cold blooded.

i think i may panic if i thought there was a chance that i would lose my life by falling off a high place.
i may panic if it was discovered that a 60 km wide asteroid was going to smash into us at 72 km/s tomorrow.
i have much control over things i can control, but for savage circumstances i can not control i have fear.

i would have been sick very many times if i was on the twa 800 jumbo that exploded over martha's vineyard at long island.

there was a central eruption of an almost empty tank (heated by the air conditioning thermal exchange units that were operating for hours while the plane was on the ground in high temps) that was sparked by a bared wire whose insulation was melted off, and the explosion obviously compromised the structural integrity of the plane.

the cockpit peeled off and everyone on board suffered about 1 min and 50 seconds of certain knowledge that they were going to die. the plane undulated in ever decreasing dives and uncontrolled recoveries. the wings were on fire and were peeling off as well.
the passengers on that flight would have experienced terror that is maximal.
i could not remain calm if i was in that circumstance.
but i would probably just shut down and wait for my end in a dazed way that was not relaxed. i would die in a melt down of panic.
a relief maybe when it was over.

I just want to get away from those damn hallucinations. The projections. People make stuff up about me and then believe their own inventions. Some of it is simple lies, drama queens consciously looking to make trouble. But most of it is not. They are genuinely confused and work themselves into a tizzy over stuff that is simply not happening.

I want to give it a name and blame some hormone, so I can say, "Don't try to read me," or "Take my words at face value -- if I don't put it in words, I'm not saying anything at all." There's no way they're going to sit through a lecture. It has to fit into a sound bite. Giving something an official sounding name seems to make people happy. It's like saying, "Someone smart and important and trustworthy already thought about this, and it's Ok. You can go back to sleep."

I want to tie these old threads together, like we're talking about different ends of a panic spectrum. I want to connect it all to one hormone or explanation. Like some neuron fires softer or harder for different people, resulting in different amounts of panic reaction. Something that sounds credibly scientific.

Do you often get falsely accused of being depressed?
http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt84005.html

Do you experience anger differently then people around you?
http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt78361.html

Do You Feel Invisible? http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt78064.html

When I am in a dangerous or threatening situation (ie. a group of crack heads trying to start a fight with me, burglar in my home threatening me with a pistol, etc), I actually get hyper-focused and rational. I do get an adrenalin (sp) rush of sorts, but it only works to the extent that my brain gets the extra boost it needs to keep from locking up... In a sense, I become the alpha aspie. I think that, by remaining flat-affected and logical when the other party expects you to show some sign of panic conveys the mesage that you are clearly the dominant member of the social heirarchy and know that you would win handily in any sort of confrontation. In short, this is one instance that the miscomunication via novererbal cues can be advantageous to the aspie.

I have found that this trait allows me to be fairly good at talking people down, getting out of tickets, etc.

I can tell you that this one isn't credibly scientific. Neurons either fire or don't fire. There are no half-hearted or extra-energetic nerve impulses.

Killjoy.
Ok, so work with me and come up with something credible.
What do we know about panic and chemicals and how can it miss the mark?

??? I got a ticket once because I didn't jump around and cry and kiss the cop's butt. I just accepted his scolding without a word. I still haven't figured out what he wanted.

Speaking of which, why do people think you should say "thank you" for a ticket?

Last edited by Tahitiii on 01 Mar 2009, 5:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Credible Alternatives

1. The neuron fires more/less often than normal.
2. More/fewer neurons are firing.
3 - Whatever. Various processes that increase/decrease the amount of adrenaline being released/reabsorbed.

Do you like any of those?

It would explain also an other side of the same coin I experience: On the one side I am highly self-controlled and do not panic at all, on the other side I am also not excited in happy situations. My reaction is always the same, more like an observer of myself: I do not experience "great emotion" - when I got a new job or the house is burning my reaction is always of a person how analyses the facts, tries to do what is reasonable to do, but it does not touch me on a "deeper" level. I ones coined that I do behave like my own lawyer: A person how seeks a reasonable solution to benefit, but is not emotional involved; neither positive nor negative.

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It would fit more into "Adult Section", but in this respect the pattern also goes into my sex live, in which I go into extremes to have a considerable effect at all. "Normal" sex is for me like washing up. Only a very high stimulus really works.