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?

  • ReanuKeeves@lemm.eeOP
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    20 days ago

    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?

    • Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world
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      20 days ago

      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.

    • Suck_on_my_Presence@lemmy.world
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      20 days ago

      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.