being mentally prepared when facing a certain and possibly painful death

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glubse

Joined
Aug 21, 2011
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Hey guys,

let me give you some background information, so you know what made me ask this question.

I've just finished a 6 hour marathon of watching the most disturbing movies possible with 2 friends (stupid bet, long story).

Some Saw-movies, "August Underground", the very disturbing "120 days of Sodom", "Inside" and "Men behind the Sun".

These movies (even though they are fiction) made us think: is it even possible for people like us, living a normal day to day life to mentally prepare ourselves for situations where we find ourselves facing a certain and possibly very painful death (torture and so on).

I'm thinkung about the people that were held captive in these facilities shown in "Men behind the Sun" which is based on a real story, the Jews that were on the trains to the KZ's knowing they would most certainly die. I just have no way of imagining what went on in their heads.

Have you ever given the matter some thought? How do you think one can mentally prepare him/herself for times like these?
 
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People face this all the time. Torture? No. Cancer. Same thing.

Months of chemotherapy, terrible drugs, poisons truly, the goal being to take enough to kill the tumor but yet just not quite enough to kill you. Radiation therapy. Surgery. And then to be told that it all didn't work, the tumor is spreading, nothing can be done, just go home and die. It is a terrible thing. And yet every day men and women face it with courage and faith.
 
Gollnick said:
People face this all the time. Torture? No. Cancer. Same thing.

Months of chemotherapy, terrible drugs, poisons truly, the goal being to take enough to kill the tumor but yet just not quite enough to kill you. Radiation therapy. Surgery. And then to be told that it all didn't work, the tumor is spreading, nothing can be done, just go home and die. It is a terrible thing. And yet every day men and women face it with courage and faith.
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There are many degrees of cancer but the situation you describe is probably closer to the op's scenario. Certain death, pain and fear are a given. In a way it is freeing. You know you don't have to worry about life's little details anymore, as long as the pain is managed.

But having cancer is a little different. Totally out of yours or anyone else's control. Torture, murder and imprisonment is committed by other human beings.
 
Gollnick, I get what you're saying. My mother-in-law was diagnosed with cancer and was told right away that she didn't have more than 2 years left to live. It was cruel to see how much she suffered, mentally and physically.

Still, I don't think that a cancer patient is in the same headspace as a person waking up finding him/herself tied naked to a chair in the playroom of a sadistic serial killer. These are totally different intensities.

There would be those (I guess 99%) who would freak out, scream, suffer and whatnot and just a very selected few would have what it takes to accept that fate (like for example Mel Gibson's character in "Braveheart" in the final torture scene) and be calm and serene (well, the movie-Wallace didn't really want to live anymore, I on the other hand, am very pro life :D )
 
I have always wondered why, even after seeing enough to understand their fate, history proves that the condemned will cooperate with their death. They dig trenches and stand passively awaiting their fate. I can't put myself in their place so I can't criticize, but just sitting here in relative comfort, I hope I would make it as difficult and messy as I could.

Similarly, there is often little resistance to mass shootings. Run and hide rather than attack.
 
glubse said:
Gollnick, I get what you're saying. My mother-in-law was diagnosed with cancer and was told right away that she didn't have more than 2 years left to live. It was cruel to see how much she suffered, mentally and physically.

Still, I don't think that a cancer patient is in the same headspace as a person waking up finding him/herself tied naked to a chair in the playroom of a sadistic serial killer. These are totally different intensities.

There would be those (I guess 99%) who would freak out, scream, suffer and whatnot and just a very selected few would have what it takes to accept that fate (like for example Mel Gibson's character in "Braveheart" in the final torture scene) and be calm and serene (well, the movie-Wallace didn't really want to live anymore, I on the other hand, am very pro life :D )
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How do you know unless you've been in such a situation?

I tend to believe that no two people's brains work the exact same way and you can change the way you think about things. You are not specifically tied to a certain thought process. All that being said, it depends on the person and what they decide to do. I've not been in such a situation, but I do know that in times of stress that I'm pretty good at putting things in a box and prioritizing them. I would imagine that I would do something similar..... and would be more apt to focus my anger and energy on resolving the scenario to my satisfaction. I would just hope my OODA loop would reset fast enough.
 
I never thought I'd make it past about 25 or so. I was in the Marine Corps and was leading a very razor edge-risky lifestyle, including way too much drinking, drugs, high-performance cars driven (while intoxicated) at excessive speeds, bar fights at the drop of a hat, affairs with married women (to the point where my reputation was such that when I once flirted with a single girl, she looked at me in surprise and said "I'm not married").

Cleaned up, not totally but to a great extent, every day is a gift - another 25 past my original estimate. But I am fatalistic in that if I need to give it up, I can. Not easily, not willingly, you'll be in for a hell of a fight all the way. I am a tough son of a bitch. But I don't mind going down if I can take a lot of the bastards with me.
 
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You can't prepare for it. You can prepare for the POSSIBILITY of that. We all need to do that. It's called the 'warrior mindset' by some in books I'm studying. But that is merely the mental exercise on how far you are willing to go to PREVENT death in such a situation, and what you can do to deal with it. Knowing FOR SURE that you will die has not point in preparation, because no matter how you react, you will die. Mess your pants, puke, cry and panic, be calm and collected, whatever. You're still going to die.
 
shunsui said:
On the lighter side, this week's episode of Justified had a nice take on this sort of thing. Bob, the rentacop, shines; and Raylan has a nice little speech on the subject. I think you'll like it.

More seriously, there's a book, Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl that deals exactly with your subject.

http://www.amazon.com/Mans-Search-Meaning-Viktor-Frankl/dp/080701429X
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Highly recommended book by Dennis Prager who I listen to on the radio and enjoy immensely.

Dying? No one here gets out alive. Suffer or not, we all go, somehow for me, there is comfort in that very fact.
 
I have been in plenty of near death situations as many or most of us here, from accidents to guy things, but in those you have adrenaline and it can be fun, that is why a man's youth is so dangerous, guys like to come close.

What was different for me was a night when I was to be killed by a crime group in Mexico, there was no out and no escape and it was going to be with knives, it was a totally different feeling from adventure, there was no adrenaline, there was just nothing exciting about it, it was depressing, deflating, I couldn't find any of the positive feelings that we feel in most close to death experiences.

I think that being powerless and being in the hands of your killers who you don't like and don't respect, and who are going to give you a degrading death, makes for a terribly flat feeling a dull bottoming out, something close to loss, but flatter, it is a unique feeling, and very sobering, it is much better to die when your blood is high and your veins are full of adrenaline and your pulse is racing with challenge.
 
Finish your story Braddy, how did you get out?

Great perspective from someone who was in a life/death situation!
 
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