Stupor is associated with astonishment.
We would have to go to Latin to be able to find the etymological origin of the term stupor that concerns us now. And this comes from the word stupor , which means "stunned" and is derived from the verb stupere , which can be translated as "to be stunned."
Stupor is a term that can be used as a synonym for amazement , surprise , strangeness or astonishment . When a person feels stupor, they are almost paralyzed in a certain situation and cannot react immediately, needing time to assimilate what they have seen or recorded and act accordingly.
For example: "When the young man entered the room, stupor took over those present: he was naked and had blood on his face" , "After the initial stupor, the passengers began to slowly get up to leave the plane" , "The The candidate's words caused stupor among the public .
“Stupor and tremors” by Amélie Nothomb
Within the field of literature, we would have to highlight the existence of various works that use the term in question in their titles. An example of this is the book “Stupor and Tremors” , written by Amélie Nothomb .
Of a markedly autobiographical nature, this work tells how a young Belgian woman begins to work in Japan in a large company in the country. She begins this new professional journey with great enthusiasm, but soon that will fade. And what she will find there will be a constant humiliation of her rights, and that will be because she will be subjected to all types of acts of social or labor degradation. The reasons? She is a woman, she is young and she comes from the West . Three reasons that do not go unnoticed by a Japanese society still anchored in the past and very hierarchical.
Stupor makes the person need time to react.
The concept in medicine
In the field of medicine , stupor is a decrease in intellectual activities that appears accompanied by a certain air of astonishment or indifference. It is possible to link stupor to catatonia , a physical and psychological state produced by some type of disorder or crisis .
Catatonia is a syndrome that occurs due to various causes, and not a disease in itself. A stroke, trauma, encephalitis, tumor, or even drug withdrawal can cause stupor or catatonia in a person.
Stupor as a phase of catatonia
Stupor, in this sense, is a phase of catatonia that can last from a few hours to several months. The person in a catatonic crisis goes into a stupor and becomes immobilized, unable to react to external stimuli and losing voluntary movement. On the other hand, the subject can repeat stereotyped movements or respond with reflex actions to certain stimuli.
It is possible to differentiate between catatonic stupor (linked to schizophrenia), organic stupor (organic cause), dissociative stupor (produced by a trauma or a stressful situation) and depressive stupor (the final state of severe depression ). .
It is common for two terms to be contrasted: stupor and coma . However, the difference is clear between them. Thus, while the person in the first case can be awakened in a short period of time through actions such as pinching or voices, which will involve notable electrical stimulation, someone who is in a coma cannot come out of it in this way. That is, you cannot wake up the person who is in that state.