Do things that seem impossible suddenly become possible if put in a life or death situation? For example, how is it that we hear stories of mothers instantly lifting a car off of their baby that is trapped underneath? Is there such thing as this hysterical, or superhuman strength?

Hysterical strength is the unnatural and amazing strength tapped during high stress situations. It is the strength that allows us to life that car off a child. Unfortunately, since these occurrences are so rare and unexpected, it is hard to back it up with scientific evidence. Posing an experiment to find out if this strength can really happen, or if it is just by chance, would be unethical and far too dangerous. We could simply go off of the eyes of witnesses but normally the only ones are the people involved in the accident itself.

Although it would be nearly impossible (at least at the time being) to create a scientific experiment to prove this, researchers have constructed a theory on why and how this can be possible. It all comes back to adrenaline. Adrenaline’s overall effect is to prepare the body for its “fight or flight” response in times of stress or danger. It times of danger, the stressor (the sight of your child immobilized under a car) while stimulate the hypothalamus. Although this region of the brain is responsible for creating a balance of stress and relaxation in the body, when it is alerted with danger it will signal your adrenal glands. Your adrenal glands will then activate your sympathetic system, which will send the body into an excited state. Now we are back to the release of adrenaline, which will ultimately create your readiness on the task at hand. You can find all of that on page two of this article. All of these changes put together will make us more agile and give us the energy needed to react in the situation we are set in. Scientists believe that we basically have this hysterical, or superhuman, strength in our body at all times. However, just picture it in a cage, trapped inside our body, waiting for the right signals to burst out and help when needed. Some also point out that we use certain muscles past their normal use when put in situations of danger.

Vladimir Zatsiorsky, a Penn State kinesiology professor, takes another approach to explaining the idea of this incredible strength. He claims this strength is not something you can acquire, and that even trained athletes can only go above 12% of their regular performance. “This parameter is not a fixed number—the more intense the competition, the higher it can go, as the brain’s fear centers progressively remove any restraint against performance.” He claims there is a limit as to the strength or adrenaline we have in any given situation, whether that be a high school track meet, the Olympics, or a life or death situation. His claim is that this hysterical strength is more related to the theory of analgesia, or the inability to feel pain. He says in the article in the link above that this cannot simply come out of working out at the gym. But, in situations of extreme pressure, like being in second place at the Olympics, or again seeing your child under a 3000 pound car, you are not going to feel the pain or strain put on your body. You are just going to do what needs to be done.

In conclusion, although their have not been controlled, scientific studies to prove this hysterical strength, researchers went into seeing the possible mechanisms to explain how this could be possible. They used the scientific method and turned their theories into hypotheses. There is not simply one answer to explain this incredible question as to how exactly this can happen. But, maybe it is something that one will never believe until put into a situation.