Quote Originally Posted by Medusa View Post
In regards to the "bystander effect", when I was a teenager, my girlfriend and I were walking in a different neighborhood at night, intending to visit my sister. Out of nowhere, two girls came up to us and I think they asked us a question but I honestly can't remember clearly. What I do remember is that they started beating on my girlfriend. Why they didn't pick on me, I have no idea. What did I do? I froze. Like a deer in headlights, I froze. It lasted only a few seconds and the girls ran off. My girlfriend said "Why didn't you help me???" and I had no answer for her. Somehow it was as though it was a movie or something that I was viewing but wasn't a part of. Of course, this is all hindsight now. The good that came out of it was that it made me more aware of my surroundings and I vowed that I would never stand by and watch something like that happen again. I can only hope that I don't freeze up again should another scene like that unfold.
Fight...Flight...Freeze Response
The response or reaction of an animal to a situation perceived as a threat to its survival, which involves physiological changes in the animal body through the action of the sympathetic nervous system, priming the animal to deal with danger by staying, fighting or running away.

This concept was first described by Walter Cannon in his theory called Cannon's theory in 1929. Based on his theory, in the presence of a threatening stimulus, a part of the brain regulates the metabolic and autonomic functions to prepare the muscles for any subsequent violent action, i.e. to either run away or fight. Example of an autonomic reaction is the increased release of adrenaline in the body and some of the physical manifestations include increased blood pressure and heart rate (as a result of higher concentrations of adrenaline in the body).