Guest guest Posted November 2, 2006 Report Share Posted November 2, 2006 Guys, The reason the pupils dilate when the witch emerges is very simple. Adrenaline. Whatever incites the witch's rage stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, or the " fight or flight " response. Massive amounts of adrenaline flood the system, and much like speed or other stimulant drugs, this can cause the pupils to dilate. Adrenaline really is natural speed, they are very closely related chemically. Some people think that uncontrollable rages may be related in part to excessive adrenaline secretion, whereby more than the " normal " amount of adrenaline is secreted, or to ineffective adrenaline metabolism, whereby excess adrenaline is not removed from the body in the " normal " amount of time. Similarly, memory loss after adrenaline rushes are common, which could explain some of the BPs problems with remembering the things they do when they rage. Not an excuse, just a possible biological contribution. Regardless, yes you can actually see the witch emerge in her eyes. I used to liken this pupil dilation to a light switch, and I wasn't surprised to see it described as the " switch " in Understanding the Borderline Mother. Even though it's biological and not demons, it's just as scary to witness, especially since it precedes such awful rage. > > > > > > > > > > Since reading 's thread about the movie, I've been > thinking > > > a lot > > > > > about the fact that my nada refers constantly to this movie > and > > > says > > > > > that her mother was " exactly like that! " I've never been > able to > > > > > bring myself to watch it--perhaps because nada told me the > gory > > > > > details of the movie and her own childhood abuse at such a > young > > > age > > > > > and it seems almost gratuitous to me. I'm curious to know > how > > > many > > > > of > > > > > your nada's have seen it and what their reaction is. > > > > > > > > > > Do they identify with the victims like my nada or do they > maybe > > > not > > > > > believe the whole thing? > > > > > > > > > > Trish > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 5, 2006 Report Share Posted November 5, 2006 Lizzy, I know, isn't it so scary when you see that change? Honestly whenever I am having a nightmare about my nada (happens all the time) her eyes are black like that. It brings up the most acute fear in me, too. And so often evil people in movies and the like have black eyes like that. I think this must be a primal leftover, just like the fight or flight response is sort of an evolutionary leftover, too. Thing is, we all know what an adrenaline rush feels like, and we can relate to the " so much going on at once " thing (you know when something overexciting happens and in the heat of the moment you can't really think about what is happening), and the details may be fuzzy later (the 'normal' memory loss I alluded to earlier) but we remember the gist of what happened,and we certainly wouldn't ever deny the event occurred. I find this not to be true for nada. I am starting to think that severe memory loss after a rage (like an amnesia type syndrome) must either be 1.) a lie to enable further denial and shame or 2.) the result of severe brain damage whereby the memory can't " stick " . Understanding the Borderline Mother touches on this, suggesting possible hippocampus damage due to effects of chronically increased stress hormones. I find that fascinating from a biological standpoint. Could it be that the drugs we treat BP with are not addressing the real biochemical issues? Anyways I am on a tangent now. Thanks for verifying that the pupil switch is real to you too. Reading about it in a book doesn't always provide the validation one needs. love > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Since reading 's thread about the movie, I've been > > > thinking > > > > > a lot > > > > > > > about the fact that my nada refers constantly to this > movie > > > and > > > > > says > > > > > > > that her mother was " exactly like that! " I've never > been > > > able to > > > > > > > bring myself to watch it--perhaps because nada told me > the > > > gory > > > > > > > details of the movie and her own childhood abuse at such > a > > > young > > > > > age > > > > > > > and it seems almost gratuitous to me. I'm curious to > know > > > how > > > > > many > > > > > > of > > > > > > > your nada's have seen it and what their reaction is. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Do they identify with the victims like my nada or do > they > > > maybe > > > > > not > > > > > > > believe the whole thing? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Trish > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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