Slow Down
Hello again everyone. This is probably the post that will make you think I am insane.
I believe there is a problem with my mind that today I finally did a lot more research on. I can’t seem to find any real explanation, just other people talking about the same experience. Time appears to slow down randomly.
Now I am not saying I could move at normal speeds with everything else moving slow. That would be absurd, amazing, yet still absurd. I can think at what seems to be a normal speed while things slow down suddenly. I am not saying this is a good thing, this is an experience I would like to be rid of.
I’ve read things online of people talking about how this happens when someone is in danger, or extremely scared. This is not the case though. It happens to me randomly, at moments that are actually rather dull.
The first time was in third grade. The entire class was on a restroom and water fountain break and suddenly everything slowed. It was maddening. The people talking, their movements, everything just seemed to almost stop. I was not at the back of a line waiting to get a drink or anything, creating the sensation that it took forever, like when you’re at work and the day seems to take forever. This is not what I am talking about. Actions and movement seemed to be slow, even for myself.
I’ve read a lot online. Other people in forums claiming to have this problem and then the responders all talk about ‘in moments of fear’ even though that is not what the person is talking about. It is at random moments.
Most recently it happened three months ago. Every so often just everything seems to move like molasses. What is most frustrating is that all the science based articles online only refer to fear, danger, adrenaline and other things such as this.
Very recently one of my friends told me about a time where everything appeared to move faster, as opposed to slower. I would have normally thought this person was trying to make me feel less crazy but this person had no knowledge of it happening to me. They brought it up on their own.
Basically, the purpose of this blog is to talk about my brain probably being messed up and to ask everyone a question.
Remember. Not in the way class, work, or the day seems to take forever. Has time ever appeared to be warped to you? Quicker or slower? Mainly in moments of non-danger, although I am also interested in moments where it happened to you in danger.
Tell me about your experiences, about your opinions, everything. I want to hear from you.
-That One Person
That One Blog 
February 5, 2009 at 2:23 PM
I have nothing to say.
I don’t have this problem, but you know I don’t think you’re insane.
Well, often anyway.
February 5, 2009 at 2:28 PM
Maybe it has something to do with the “Snap, Crackle, Pop” in the back of my head.
>.>
February 5, 2009 at 4:39 PM
That happens to me at random times, too. It hasn’t happened in a while, though. And I haven’t noticed anything that might cause it. All I know is that I end up rather angry while it’s happening.
February 7, 2009 at 7:57 AM
Go to a doctor. Reproduce it in a lab. Sorry, old friend, but I’m skeptical.
Any information you get on a blog site is anecdotal at best. Asking if anyone has been abducted by aliens after claiming that you’ve been abducted, will produce a million crackpots who will tell you about everything from anal probes to zort rays, but won’t get you one step closer to a real alien encounter (although it occasionally DOES manage to produce some really kinky fantasy reading).
Tell a room filled with 100 people that you’ve seen a ghost, and I guarantee you that at least five of them will be lined up at your podium inside 20 seconds to share their stories too. (If THAT results in kinky stories, have the person committed. That’s just gross, IMnsHO.)
There’s a good explanation as to WHY people with a mad adrenaline boost feel that way. Cortisol is released along with the epinephrine (aka: Adrenaline), which shuts down many higher brain functions and puts the body in a powerful state of preparedness to fight or run. The reason they CLAIM to be focused and clear of thought is because they, as a result of the presence of the cortisone, can ONLY focus on the immediate danger.
Taking this further, there is a biological reason that abused children tend to be abusive and violent as adults. Overproduction of cortisone and epinephrine during the formative period of the brain (ie: childhood) tends to have two salient effects.
First, the brain begins to rely upon the presence of the chemicals, which can most easily be satisfied through placing oneself into or creating violent situations.
Second, the brain actually shrinks and doesn’t fully develop, in large part due to the constant presence of the cortisol interfering with the operation of neural transmitters, and a total lack of homeostasis (chemically speaking, a “neutral” state of balance in the body).
Additionally, in studies on adults done by Dr. Robert M. Sapolsky, Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences at Stanford University, lots of stress or exposure to cortisol accelerates the degeneration of the aging hippocampus.
Because the hippocampus is part of the feedback mechanism that signals when to stop cortisol production, a damaged hippocampus causes cortisol levels to get out of control – further compromising memory and cognitive function. The cycle of degeneration then continues.
This is part of the reason our prison system in the US doesn’t work, and is overflowing. An idealist might offer a hand to violent career offenders because he/she just “grew up under bad circumstances” and “didn’t have the opportunities that others had”, which could be true. However, until there is a means of treating the physical and chemical damage to the body caused by this phenomenon since childhood, that offender will likely become violent again.
Ah well, it’s probably more than you really wanted to know, right?
February 10, 2009 at 8:34 AM
I don’t think you’re cray at all. =]
February 17, 2009 at 12:01 PM
I don’t think you’re “cray” either. 😉
February 17, 2009 at 12:06 PM
haha. im to lazy to fix my typos