Specifics of panic in emergencies

Abstract

Along with the progress of modern society in terms of material prosperity, democracy, political rights and personal freedoms, new threats arise and the risk factors that cause fear or panic, endanger the health, lead to psychological breakdown of the personality, and, exceptionally, to the loss of life. Anxiety, panic and threat to life are no longer rare - the tragic personal experiences, the tragedies of relatives and friends, terrorist attacks, military interventions etc., have become our daily reality. Psychology of the crowd is very interesting for studying. The panic stricken crowd radically changes in terms of human psyche, the total response and behavior; the flow of mental process gets its own characteristics. Instincts become the main regulators of individual and crowd behavior. Cognitive processes, aimed at identifying and categorizing the world are significantly weakened, the interaction between people becomes one-sided, while the rules and norms lose their regular function.

Uporedo sa napretkom savremenog društva u pogledu materijalnog blagostanja, demokratije, političkih prava i ličnih sloboda, nastaju nove opasnosti i faktori rizika koji izazivaju strah, paniku, ugrožavaju zdravlje, dovode do psihološkog sloma ličnosti, a izuzetno i do gubitka života. Strepnja, panika i ugrožavanje života nisu više retki - tragični lični događaji, tragedije rođaka i prijatelja, teroristički napadi, vojne intervencije itd., postaju naša svakodnevna realnost. Psihologija grupe je veoma zanimljiva za izučavanje. U grupi zahvaćenoj panikom radikalno se menja ljudska psiha, ukupno reagovanje i ponašanje, a protok mentalnih procesa dobija svoje specifičnosti. Glavni regulatori ponašanja pojedinca i grupe postaju instinkti. Saznajni procesi, usmereni na prepoznavanje i kategorizaciju sveta bivaju znatno oslabljeni, interakcija među ljudima postaje jednostrana, dok pravila i norme gube svoju regularnu funkciju.