When we go through traumatic events, our brain can shut out feelings and thoughts as a way to protect us from emotional or physical damage. This can make people go numb in stressful situations, so our bodies have time to figure out the best course of survival.
Healthcare workers are frequently exposed to traumatic experiences, so when they were asked what event made them go permanently numb, they shared many devastating stories. Scroll down to find them below, and don’t forget to share similar ones if you have any.
#41
I had a 19 y/o patient that got in a car accident. He’s brain dead but his parents have been keeping him ventilated for almost 2 years now.
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66points
#42
Compressions on a man who was vomiting his own stool who told me right before he coded to tell his family to sell his clothes for rent money that month.
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62points
#43
Little baby not even 1. Back in forth between parents losing custody. Chronically sick w/ heart condition. Picked that baby up she didn’t want to let me go. She just needed to be held. I think about her everyday I hope she is loved.
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62points
#44
Hearing a grown man cry and scream as he’s getting brought down to surgery saying that all he wants is his babies back after getting into a car accident and was the only one that survived.
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61points
#45
A missing female patient dumped on the side of the road after days of the unthinkable. She was badly injured and had been Sa’d and given unk substances. She was altered and thought I was her best friend. Kept eye contact with me the entire ride. Pleaded me to help her. She screamed for me as I left her in the trauma room. Thought her bff was ditching her. I still wish I could’ve stayed for her.
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60points
#46
CNA for 7 years, ED RN for 2, thought i had been numb…i didn’t know what numb was until i drove up on my little brothers wreck and just screaming at everyone for not doing anything…while he had a fence post through his heart.
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59points
#48
I discharged a patient with no previous psych hx who came in for anxiety. No SI/HI/AVH just really bad trauma but good support system. Family had no concerns. She k**led herself the next morning. I will live with the guilt of not being able to identify someone who truly needed saved for the rest of my life.
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58points
#49
Doing compressions on a 3 weeks old baby and holding them until the coroner arrived since no family was allowed back due to suspected neglect/abuse.
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57points
#50
A 10 week old with SDH, SAH, terrible case of shaken baby syndrome, apparently was found in between the wall and his crib and was severely malnourished.
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29points
