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epsilona01 t1_j8g9hvh wrote

Reply to comment by Bubbagumpredditor in The brain can rapidly detect and process fearful faces that are otherwise invisible to the eye. There appears to be a neural pathway for detection of fear, which operates automatically, outside of conscious awareness. by Wagamaga

I was in a very dangerous crowd crush many years ago. You saw it in people's faces first, then you could smell the fear. It's the sound of wrist's breaking that stays with you (don't hang on to people's hands).

I suspect they'll find a pheromonal component eventually, because the only time I've experienced the same smell since was at Waterloo Station on the morning of the 7/7 bombings. We all knew something was wrong, but at that moment no one knew it was a terror attack, but fear was in the air.

Unrelated, but the life lesson from the crowd crush was this. You can save you and one other person, that's it. Once I'd got the friend I was with off the floor and out of the crush, and turned around to help more people, we both just got sucked back in. Pick your person and get out.

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Evrimnn13 t1_j8gi9w2 wrote

Can you describe the smell?

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epsilona01 t1_j8gjrzh wrote

Not particularly well, it's like a particularly sharp/sour body odour. Not the kind you get from extended sweating or not washing, but the moment you do smell it, you're fully alert. I assume there is purpose in that.

In Edinburgh, I'd put it down to the sheer number of people. As I looked back on the hole in the crowd where the railings had collapsed once I was away, you could see steam pouring from it as if it was on fire.

The moment I got off the train at Waterloo and it hit me and I knew for certain something was very wrong.

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extropia t1_j8hvdtz wrote

That is really fascinating, especially the part where you describe the alertness it triggers. Anecdotally it does feel like the sweating that happens when one is suddenly scared/anxious seems different, like it suddenly starts seeping out of you without any of the physical work it 'normally' requires to produce.

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Topic_Professional t1_j8idwxq wrote

I smelled it too after a violent robbery at the business I worked at in my early 20s. The only thing I can compare it too aside from body odor is the fishy smell when a dog needs to have their anal glands expressed, although the fear smell wasn’t as fishy awful as the dog.

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