At present, due in part to our insufficient understanding of the traumatic experience, we are unable to account for the fact that while some people develop post-traumatic symptoms following a traumatic event, others do not. This article suggests that by adopting the enactive approach to perception—according to which perceiving is a way of acting—we may be able to improve our understanding of the traumatic experience and the factors which result in the development of post-traumatic symptoms. The central argument presented in this paper is that when the options of flight or fight are unavailable as a coping/defense mechanism, one freezes (freeze response). In this situation, the ability to master one’s movements is damaged and, in radical cases, the ability to move is lost altogether; as a result the sensorimotor loop may collapse. This, in turn, leads to distorted perception and, in consequence, memory disorders may develop.
AdmonR.MiladM. R.HendlerT. (2013). A causal model of post-traumatic stress disorder: disentangling predisposed from acquired neural abnormalities. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 17(7), 337–347.
2.
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.
3.
AtariaY. (2014a). Dissociation during trauma: The ownership-agency tradeoff model. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, 1–17.
4.
AtariaY. (2014b). Acute peritraumatic dissociation: In favor of a phenomenological inquiry. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 15(3), 332–347.
5.
AtariaY. (2014c). Traumatic memories as black holes: A qualitative-phenomenological approach. Qualitative Psychology, 1(2), 123–140.
6.
AtariaY. (2015). The phenomenology of trauma: The case of dissociation during trauma. Jerusalem, Israel: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
7.
BaldwinD.V. (2013). Primitive mechanisms of trauma response: An evolutionary perspective on trauma-related disorders. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 37(8), 1549–1566.
8.
BerntsenD.WillertM.RubinD. (2003). Splintered memories or vivid landmarks? Qualities and organization of traumatic memories with and without PTSD. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 17(6), 675–693.
9.
BirmesP.BrunetA.CarrerasD.DucasséJ.L.CharletJ.P.LauqueD.SchmittL. (2003). The predictive power of peritraumatic dissociation and acute stress symptoms for posttraumatic stress symptoms: A three-month prospective study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160(7), 1337–1339
10.
BishopJ.M.MartinA.O. (Eds.). (2014). Contemporary sensorimotor theory (Series: Studies in Applied Philosophy, Epistemology and Rational Ethics, Vol. 15). Berlin, Germany: Springer International.
11.
BrachaS.H. (2004). Freeze, flight, fight, fright, faint: Adaptationist perspectives on the acute stress response spectrum. CNS Spectrums, 9(9), 679–685.
12.
BrehD.C.SeidlerG.H. (2007). Is peritraumatic dissociation a risk factor for PTSD?Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 8(1), 53–69.
13.
BreslauN.KesslerR.C.ChilcoatH.D.SchultzL.R.DavisG.C.AndreskiP. (1998). Trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in the community: The 1996 Detroit Area Survey of Trauma. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 55(7), 626–632.
14.
BriereJ.ScottC.WeathersF. (2005). Peritraumatic and persistent dissociation in the presumed etiology of PTSD. American Journal of Psychiatry, 162(12), 2295–2301.
15.
BryantR. (2007). Does dissociation further our understanding of PTSD?Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 21, 183−191.
16.
BuhrmannT.Di PaoloE.A. (2014). Non-representational sensorimotor knowledge. In del PobilA. P.ChinellatoE.Martínez-MartínE.HallamJ.CerveraE.MoralesA. (Eds.), From animals to animats13 (pp. 21−31). Castellón, Spain: Springer International.
17.
BurgessA.W.HolmstromL.L. (1976). Coping behavior of the rape victim. American Journal of Psychiatry, 133, 413–417.
18.
CannonW.B. (1929). Bodily changes in pain, hunger, fear, and rage. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
19.
ClarkA. (1997). Being there: Putting brain, body, and world together again. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
20.
De JaegherH.Di PaoloE.A.GallagherS. (2010). Can social interaction constitute social cognition?Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 14(10), 441–447.
21.
De JesusP. (2014). From perception to action to perception in action: A review of contemporary sensorimotor theory. Adaptive Behavior, 22(5), 360–366.
22.
DegenaarJ. (2012). Perceptual engagement. Antwerp, Belgium: University of Antwerp.
23.
DegenaarJ. (2013). Through the inverting glass: First-person observations on spatial vision and imagery. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, 13(2), 373–393.
24.
Di PaoloE.A.RohdeM.De JaegherH. (2010). Horizons for the enactive mind: Values, social interaction, and play. In StewartJ.GapenneO.Di PaoloE. A. (Eds.), Enaction: Towards a new paradigm for cognitive science (pp. 33–87). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
25.
EhlersA.ClarkD. (2000). A cognitive model of posttraumatic stress disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38, 319–345.
26.
EhlersA.HackmannA.MichaelT. (2004). Intrusive re-experiencing in post-traumatic stress disorder: Phenomenology, theory, and therapy. Memory, 12(4), 403–415.
27.
FiszmanA.MendlowiczM.V.Marques-PortellaC.VolchanE.CoutinhoE.S.SouzaW.F.FigueiraI. (2008). Peritraumatic tonic immobility predicts a poor response to pharmacological treatment in victims of urban violence with PTSD. Journal of Affective Disorders, 107(1), 193–197.
28.
FoaE.B.MolnarC.CashmanL. (1995). Change in rape narratives during exposure therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 8(4), 675–690.
29.
GallianoG.NobleL.M.TravisL.A.PuechlC. (1993). Victim reactions during rape/sexual assault. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 8, 109–114.
30.
GibsonJ. (1979). The ecological approach to visual perception. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
31.
HeidtJ. M.MarxB. P.ForsythJ. P. (2005). Tonic immobility and childhood sexual abuse: a preliminary report evaluating the sequela of rape-induced paralysis. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 43, 1157–1171.
32.
HermanJ.L. (1992). Trauma and recovery. New York: Basic Books.
33.
HolenA. (1990). A long-term outcome study of survivors from disaster. Oslo, Norway: University of Oslo Press.
34.
HolmesE.BrownR.MansellW.FearonP.HunterE.F.OakleyD. (2005). Are there two qualitatively distinct forms of dissociation? A review and some clinical implications. Clinical Psychology Review, 25, 1–23.
35.
HurleyS. (2001). Perception and action: Alternative views. Synthese, 129(1), 3–40.
36.
KesslerR.C.SonnegaA.BrometE.HughesM.NelsonC.B. (1995). Posttraumatic stress disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 52(12), 1048–1060.
37.
KesslerR.C.SonnegaA.BrometE.HughesM.NelsonC.BreslauN. (1999). Epidemiological risk factors for trauma and PTSD. In YehudaR. (Ed.), Risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder (pp. 23–59). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.
38.
KindtaM.Van den HoutM.BuckN. (2005). Dissociation related to subjective memory fragmentation and intrusions but not to objective memory disturbances. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 36, 43–59.
39.
LevineP.A. (1997). Waking the tiger. Berkely, CA: North Atlantic Press.
40.
LiftonR. (1967). Death in life: Survivors of Hiroshima. New York: Random House.
41.
MarmarC.R.WeissD.S.SchlengerW.E.FairbankJ.A.JordanB.K.KulkaR.A.HoughR.L. (1994). Peritraumatic dissociation and posttraumatic stress in male Vietnam theater veterans. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 151(6), 902–907.
42.
MarmarC.R.WeissD.MetzlerT. (1998). Peritraumatic dissociation and posttraumatic stress disorder. In BremnerJ.MarmarC. (Eds.), Trauma, memory, and dissociation (pp. 229–252). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.
43.
MarshallG.N.SchellT.L. (2002). Reappraising the link between peritraumatic dissociation and PTSD symptom severity: Evidence from a longitudinal study of community violence survivors. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 111, 626−636.
44.
MarxB. P.ForsythJ. P.GallupG. G.& FuséT. (2008). Tonic immobility as an evolved predator defense: implications for sexual assault survivors. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 15(1), 74–90.
45.
McGannM.De JaegherH.Di PaoloE.A. (2013). Enaction and psychology. Review of General Psychology (17), 203–209.
46.
McNallyR.J. (2003a). Remembering trauma. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
47.
McNallyR.J. (2003b). Psychological mechanisms in acute response to trauma. Society of Biological Psychiatry, 53(9), 779–788.
48.
Merleau-PontyM. (2002). Phenomenology of perception (SmithC., Trans.). London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
49.
MyersC. (1940). Shell shock in France 1914–18. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
50.
NijenhuisE.R.VanderlindenJ.SpinhovenP. (1998). Animal defensive reactions as a model for trauma-induced dissociative reactions. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 11(2), 243–260.
51.
NoëA. (2004). Action in perception. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
52.
NorrisF.H.SloneL.B. (2007). The epidemiology of trauma and PTSD: Science and practice. In FriedmanM. J.KeaneT. M.ResickP. A. (Eds.), Handbook of PTSD: Science and practice (pp. 78–98). New York: Guilford Press.
53.
O’ReganK.J. (2010). Explaining what people say about sensory qualia. In GangopadhyayN.MadaryM.SpicerF. (eds.), Perception, action, and consciousness (pp. 31–50). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
54.
O’ReganK.J.NoëA. (2001a). A sensorimotor account of vision and visual consciousness. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24(5), 939–1031.
55.
O’ReganK.J.NoëA. (2001b). What it is like to see: A sensorimotor theory of perceptual experience. Synthese, 129(1), 79–103.
56.
OzerE.J.BestS.R.LipseyT.L.WeissD.S. (2008). Predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder and symptoms in adults: A meta-analysis. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, S(1), 3–36.
57.
OzerE. J.WeissD. S. (2004). Who develops posttraumatic stress disorder?Current Directions in Psychological Science, 13(4), 169–172.
58.
RatcliffeM. (2012). What is touch?Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 90(3), 413–432.
59.
RatcliffeM. (2013). Touch and the sense of reality. In RadmanZ. (Ed.)., In the hand: An organ of the mind (pp. 131–157). Cambridge MA: MIT Press.
60.
Rocha-RegoV.FiszmanA.PortugalL.C.GarciaP.M.de OliveiraL.MendlowiczM.V.VolchanE. (2009). Is tonic immobility the core sign among conventional peritraumatic signs and symptoms listed for PTSD?Journal of Affective Disorders, 115(1–2), 269–273.
61.
ScaerR.C. (2001). The neurophysiology of dissociation and chronic disease. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 26(1), 73–91.
62.
ScaerR.C. (2007). The body bears the burden: Trauma, dissociation, and disease. New York: Haworth Medical Press.
63.
SchoreA.N. (2002). Dysregulation of the right brain: A fundamental mechanism of traumatic attachment and the psychopathogenesis of posttraumatic stress disorder. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 36(1), 9–30.
64.
StrattonG.M. (1896). Some preliminary experiments on vision without inversion of the retinal image. Psychological Review, 3(6), 611–617.
65.
ThompsonE. (2007). Mind in life. Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press.
66.
van der HartO.NijenhuisE.SteeleK. (2005). Dissociation: An insufficiently recognized major feature of complex PTSD. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 18(5), 413–423.
67.
van der HartO.NijenhuisE.SteeleK.BrownD. (2004). Trauma-related dissociation: Conceptual clarity lost and found. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 38, 906–914.
68.
van der HartO.van DijkeA.van SonM.SteeleK. (2000). Somatoform dissociation in traumatized World War I combat soldiers: A neglected clinical heritage. Journal of Trauma and Dissociation, 1(4), 33–66.
69.
van der KolkB.A.FislerR. (1995). Dissociation and the fragmentary nature of traumatic memories: Overview and exploratory study. Retrieved 11January2011, from David Baldwin’s Trauma Pages: http://www.trauma-pages.com/a/vanderk2.php
70.
van der KolkB.A.GreenbergM.S.OrrS.P.PitmanR.K. (1988). Endogenous opioids, stress induced analgesia, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychopharmacology bulletin, 25(3), 417–421.
71.
van der VeldenP.WittmannL. (2008). The independent predictive value of peritraumatic dissociation for PTSD symptomatology after type I trauma: A systematic review of prospective studies. Clinical Psychology Review, 28, 1009–1020.
72.
VarelaF.ThompsonE.RoschE. (1991). The embodied mind: Cognitive science and human experience. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
73.
WilsonM. (2002). Six views of embodied cognition. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 9(4), 625–636.
