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Many mass assume that during a sexual assault , the victim will fight back . But a new study from Sweden finds that , during an approach , it ’s coarse for victims to experience an innate , defensive chemical reaction that renders them paralyse .
This physiologic response , called " tonic fixedness , " is normal in the brass ofextreme fearand come about involuntarily during an approach , agree to the study . In other animals , this response is sometimes refer to as " wager dead . "
In other beast , tonic immobility is a endurance tactics : If an animal wait dead , a predator may not lash out , said lead study author Dr. Anna Möller , an OB - GYN at Stockholm South General Hospital in Sweden . But during a sexual rape , this response does not often make the attacker contain the assault . [ 5 Misconceptions About Sexual Assault ]
Although footling is known about how the response work in humans , it ’s been described as a " catatonic - like state " in which a someone can not move , may be ineffectual to speak and is unresponsive , the researchers save in the written report .
ab initio , when a person is attacked , the good-hearted nervous organisation , which is creditworthy for the fight - or - flight reaction , is activated , Möller told Live Science . But tonic immobility is the result of the body ’s subsequent response : It come about when the parasympathetic nervous scheme gets activated , which act as a counterbalance to the sympathetic spooky system , and prevents muscle movement .
tonal immobility duringsexual assaultis quite usual : In the unexampled study , researcher interview distaff sexual assault survivors and find that 7 out of 10 report " significant " immobility during an assault , and virtually half experient " extreme " immobility . The findings are published today ( June 7 ) in the journalActa Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica .
The discipline " shows that tonic stationariness is more common than before trace , " Möller aver in a assertion . " This selective information is useful in both effectual spot and in the psychoeducation of rapine victims . "
In sound situations , court may throw out a sexual ravishment case if the dupe or the aggressor does n’t have any sign of the zodiac of forcible conflict signal that the dupe press back , the authors write in the study . For example , they pointed to a 2002 subject area from Florida that was published in the journalAnnals of Emergency Medicine , which establish that assaulter were more potential to be prosecuted if the victim showed signs of harm .
But a victim ’s passivity should not be considered consent , Möller said . Many survivor of sexual rape blame themselves for not having fight back back more , so it may serve them to interpret that becoming immobilized is in fact normal , she said . Indeed , refreshing fixedness can even pass off in people who have been trained to fight off an assault , Möller added .
In the cogitation , the research worker gave questionnaires to nearly 300 women who visited the Emergency Clinic for Raped Women in Sweden between February 2009 and December 2011 . The questions assessed whether the women had experienced tonic immobility during their ravishment , as well as whether they had post - traumatic emphasis disorder ( PTSD ) , penetrating stress and depressive disorder . Six months later , the researchers trace up with the women and got response from 63 pct of them , again evaluating them for PTSD , penetrating stress and depression . [ 6 Ways Sexual Harassment Damages Women ’s Health ]
Seventy percent of the women reported that they had get restorative immobility during their violation , let in 48 pct who said that the immobility was " extreme . " In accession , 81 pct of the women report having had significant concern during their assault .
The study also get that the impression of the fixedness reaction extended far beyond the ravishment itself : Women who feel restorative stationariness were more than double as likely to have PTSD six month after the assault , and 3.4 clip more potential to prepare serious depression , compare with the women who did not have tonic water fixedness during their assault .
Women who had been sexually assaultedpreviously were twice as likely to be immobilized during their recent assault , the study find . And more spartan Assault , such as those involving restrained or grave forcible vehemence , were twice as common among the women who reported tonic immobility . Women who drank alcohol sometime during the 12 hours before the assault were less potential to experience this form of paralysis .
The researchers also determine that adult female who experienced tonic immobility were doubly as likely to have PTSD from a previous experience , three times more likely to have acute stress disorder and 7 per centum more likely to have severe slump two weeks after the most recent assault , equate with the sexual assault survivors who did not go through tonic immobility during their assault .
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