Are you an ex-gasper? When and why did you stop gasping? You know when you say a word so many times in a short window and you forget what it means?
Are you an ex-gasper? When and why did you stop gasping? You know when you say a word so many times in a short window and you forget what it means?
This is just me pulling an answer out of my ass, but since it happens when we’re surprised, it’s probably the body reflexively taking in air so it’s prepared to deal with the surprise. Which could involve fighting, running, yelling, or holding your breath for a while.
I feel like people trained for emergencies/high stress situations like police, military, mma fighters, even medics are less likely to gasp whereas a defenseless 95 year old woman would be more likely to gasp.
So is gasping a bad defense mechanism or why would we want to have less of a reflexive response in tense situations?
I think those people are just less surprised when something happens. I don’t think they are unlearning how to gasp, but it takes a bit more to trigger it in someone who’s already seen worse than the rest of us want to imagine.
So would it be more beneficial to not gasp? Or gasp less at least?
Similar to above commenter, I’m just flinging poo, but
Those who are trained in the tougher situations are, I imagine, more desensitized and therefore don’t do the egads! sort of gasp. I imagine they probably don’t necessarily need to rely on that burst of air because they’ll take a purposeful deep breath before heading into the fray.
That being said, I think professionals do still gasp. It’s probably just not something one’s brain really catches onto. But it is a startle reflex - so if a surgeon is squirted in the face with blood, if there’s a close call with a firefighter, if a cop walks up to a car and has a gun out under their chin… I imagine each of these will get a little gasp at the very least.
Do babies gasp? I feel like I’ve seen them make surprised faces but not gasp, or maybe baby gasps are quieter?
They do.