Women in Saipan took their small children and jumped off the cliffs in WW2 to avoid capture by the Americans despite the Americans' decent treatment of prisoners. Fear and horror are to some degree individualized.
Absolutely. I just think that the odds are that, after one jumps, there is the biological instinct to try and stop the falling - if that makes sense. Death can absolutely seem like the best alternative, but I would be surprised if anyone, in the midst of experiencing a violent death, doesn't have a brief, sudden, need to survive. Not psychologically, biologically.
AMA has a working definition of catastrophic injury involving serious injuries to the spinal cord and brain (ie TBI) and I think that's the definition that will apply.
The more common working definition involves parsing things out into permanent, functional/loss of function, transient but significant. The AMA 'working definition' doesn't apply across medical disciplines. But no-one should be implying catastrophic injury means psychological injury - it means the big bad stuff that changes your life forever.
Catastrophic injuries are defined as: fatalities, permanent disability injuries, serious injuries (fractured neck or serious head injury) even though the athlete has a full recovery, temporary or transient paralysis (athlete has no movement for a short time, but has a complete recovery), heat stroke due to exercise, or sudden cardiac arrest or sudden cardiac or severe cardiac disruption.
from
http://nccsir.unc.edu/definition-of-injury/
If you can find me a solid source that includes psychological injury as part of catastrophic injury, point me to it and I'll absolutely consider it.
@lostforgottensoul - I'll disagree with you and say that - in terms of a PTSD diagnosis - it's the threat of catastrophic physical injury that creates the psychological injury. We can all agree that there's a connection between PTSD and a spike to the limbic system (I think we can all agree on that). PTSD is the psychological injury. It is brought about by direct exposure to actual or immediate threat of death, catastrophic injury, or sexual violence.
When someone holds your head underwater, and you think you are going to drown - you are experiencing immediate threat of death or catastrophic injury. And that experience can lead to PTSD.
And yes, PTSD is a horrible thing. But until they understand it scientifically more than they do today, it's only hypothesis that says it's a physical injury at all. not enough is known.