A proper understanding of shock is critical to understanding how addiction works. Since shock is generally so poorly understood, this FAQ provides an explanation of shock at several levels of complexity. As you work your way through the site, you'll probably find that many of the concepts discussed here don't make sense without something more than a superficial understanding of shock.

This page covers only the basics. A far more detailed explana.

A proper understanding of shock involves both an understanding of what shock is, and how shock works, which is why the short answer may seem a little less than brief.

What shock is

Shock is the spontaneous defensive response
to an overwhelming personal threat.

Since that's probably the first time you've heard shock described in anywhere close to those terms, let's go over this bit by bit.

Shock is the last defense we have against a threat which is greater than any defense or protection we can muster to neutralize it. Shock is there to handle threats which seem more likely to cause real harm than not, and to make sure that any eventual injury from that threat does as little harm to us as possible.

Shock is our reactive response to threat. Fever is the counterpart to shock: the proactive response. Shock begins to make a lot more sense when it's seen as fever's counterpart as part of our battery of internal defenses.

Shock is a reaction to threat, not injury. Shock only appears to be a reaction to injury when an injury occurs as a result of shock, or when an injury poses a threat beyond the obvious injury itself.

Shock is a response to overwhelming threats. It occurs in reaction to threats which appear to some important part of our minds as though they will definitely injure us. Shock doesn't occur when it looks like we can handle ourselves, or minimize the harm of an approaching injury.

And finally, shock is spontaneous. Shock is a cellular reaction. It is triggered by the most primitive animal levels of the brain, the same levels of the brain responsible for fear and hunger.

Shock occurs only when we are threatened personally. When we respond with shock to something we see happen to someone else, it's because we either identify personally with that person, or because some part of our brain seems to believe it's actually we who are threatened. Without the presence of some perceptible personal threat, it's not possible to evoke a shock reaction.

What shock does

Shocks produce the same general response whether the shock is due to hearing bad news, watching the approach of a car destined for your midsection, or actually suffering an injury of some kind.

The shock reaction occurs when we sense an oncoming threat, and no part of our brain is able to see a way to respond to the threat and trigger that response. It's like an electrical signal that doesn't get routed through the normal circuits, but instead is sent down into a primitive emergency system called the amygdala, a pea-sized structure in the center of the hypothalamus. The amygdala is located near the brain stem at the top of our spine, and is the seat of our most primitive responses.

The reactions provoked by the amygdala are gross and potentially very wasteful, so our brains only allow the amygdala to handle responses to situations that no other part of the brain knows how to deal with.

In this case, the response has to take into account the hopelessness of the situation. If it looks like we might be able to defend ourselves, the hypothalamus could trigger an anger or fight response, and the amygdala is left alone. When we judge a situation to be shocking, there's no hope of defending ourselves. The goal is damage control, because protection doesn't seem possible.

Mentally, we may notice our minds go blank, or even behave normally; we might even have the sensation of watching ourselves fall into shock, helpless to do anything to prevent the reaction. Most of what we see happening in shock occurs at a physical level.

When we go into shock, our entire nervous system is triggered into action at the cellular level. Arteries expand. But blood flow drops, and blood pressure can become dangerously low. This prevents excessive blood loss, and slows the absorption of toxic substances in the bloodstream at the same time.

Steroids and stimulants are released by our glandular systems...adrenaline, cortisol...but there's no sense of increased energy...unless it's nervous energy. (Keep in mind that this is a reactive response, not a proactive one.) Among other things, these substances help us maintain reasonably normal function while making sure surges of nervous energy are needed to start the repair of tissue or the removal of toxins.

The aftereffects of shock

Shock can injure or even kill, which is why it's only reserved for the most serious and unavoidable threats. When the threat has passed, we actually need to recover from the shock response. The extra energy needs to be flushed from the system, expended, or used in some constructive fashion, because the hormones released by shock can cause harm if they're left around for too long.

There are three options post-shock for "clearing away the leftovers"

1. Emotional Catharsis: If we believe that this was a one-time-only episode, then the energy can be harmlessly released through the emotions...through shaking, crying, running, screaming, or even laughing.
2. Physical or "Kinetic" Catharsis: If we sense a way to face the same danger without risk of injury in the future, then the energy can be focused on creating suitable protection.
3. Neurological Adaptation: If we feel that this danger could occur again, then at least some of that energy is spent on altering the nervous system to make us highly sensitive to similar situations. New responses to sensations related to that danger quickly begin to develop in the brain. These responses make us so uncomfortable around these sensations that we'll avoid them, and hopefully avoid another encounter with danger. It is in this third type of response where we see the long-term aftereffects of shock which eventually result in addiction.

If this looks familiar, it was copied whole from the introductory section, and the remainder of the "brief answer" to this FAQ can be found by continuing from this point on the linked page.

Jump to introductory page covering shock

To complete your basic training in shock, jump to the FAQ page discussing the differences between shock and trauma.

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