Fainting

Fainting is read as a brief flight from a reality one cannot face. The pattern is exhaustion of one's resistance - so worn down that one momentarily "desists," unable to take a situation in hand, alternating between fear, discouragement and powerlessness. Often there is a fear of not being up to certain people or situations, a sense of being beaten in advance and no longer nourished or supported by life, going through things mechanically while feeling here and elsewhere at once. The short explanation's feeling bad about oneself - inadequate, even useless - sits in that defeated withdrawal. Relief is described as feeling supported by life again, reclaiming one's footing, and meeting situations rather than blanking out from them.

Example from the findings: the faint is read as resistance gone flat - a momentary flight from a situation one feels unable to face.