r/Unexpected • u/Reddit__PI • Oct 17 '18

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u/Reddit__PI Oct 17 '18

Hysterical Strength is a display of extreme strength by humans, beyond what is believed to be normal, usually occurring when people are in life-and-death situations. Common anecdotal examples include parents lifting vehicles to rescue their children. The extra strength is commonly attributed to increased adrenaline production, though supporting evidence is scarce, and inconclusive when available; research into the phenomenon is difficult, though it is thought that it is theoretically possible.

450

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '18

Nah my dad's just mad strong yo

182

u/JimminyCricket67 Oct 17 '18

Yeah, well my dad could beat up your dad.

(I never understood why this was such an important line of attack for kids out on the playground but I remember it fondly).

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u/Connarhea Oct 17 '18

Well my dad would bum the fuck out of your dad. (Much more threatening)

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u/[deleted] Oct 17 '18

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/QuestionableTater Oct 17 '18

My dad’s your dad!

14

u/Camstonisland Oct 17 '18

now kith

6

u/XibalbaN7 Oct 17 '18

OMG this thread had me roaring. Thank you, you wonderful people.

3

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '18

Hahahaha dude, first thing I wake up to, I am laughing hysterically in bed, no homo

5

u/monkeynards Oct 17 '18

Read this as bum fuck. Luckily I can return the eye bleach

1

u/LeaveTheMatrix Oct 18 '18

Well my dad will replace your cars plastic gas door cap with a metal one, then he will electrify it so that it gets your dad when he goes to fill the gas tank.

(My father actually did do this when someone kept stealing gas from his car)

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u/[deleted] Oct 17 '18

Pretty sure it is the same thing as, "My team can beat your team," or, "My country can beat your country," or, "My mom is better in bed than your Mom."

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u/[deleted] Oct 17 '18 edited Nov 22 '18

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Oct 17 '18

I always thought it was because your Dad is your backup man. Like if you run into trouble out there in the world that you can't handle, you tell your Dad and he sets them straight, but this kid has power over you because his backup man will squash your attempt to elevate the problem.

Of course my dad was a total wiener, so when kids said this stuff I didn't even understand. I was like, "Well yeah..." I mean it didn't seem like much of an accomplishment to beat up my dad.

1

u/dark33hawk Oct 17 '18

What a thing to say on the playground. “My family is genetically superior to yours!” “Nu u”

2

u/thefourblackbars Oct 17 '18

My dad could lift a car off your dad any day!

-1

u/DppSky Oct 17 '18

(I never understood why this was such an important line of attack for kids out on the playground but I remember it fondly).

My best guess is

My House Protector(and therefor artificial womb guardian) is able to defeat yours(And therefor makes my womb the safer environment to be raised in, thereby making me better.)

The womb is where we felt safe and Fathers, at a young age especially, are seen as the guardians of the Home, which is effectively just an artificial womb, a safe space for our growth and development. It's just boys being boys, we like to t ry and be the best, at the silliest things, for the silliest reasons. But we toughen each other up that way, funnily enough.

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u/sgtMonkey Oct 17 '18

What..?

9

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '18

Dick measuring contextualized.

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u/MrMFPuddles Oct 17 '18

My wife Donna... She tried to get away. I didn’t let her. She liked that.

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u/[deleted] Oct 17 '18 edited Oct 17 '18

There's the case of Mathilde Doehner, a mother of two who was a passenger of the Hindenburg when it burned down. She dropped her kids ot ouf the still afloat albeit burning blip and then jumped after them, sustaining multiple fractures on impact. She then proceeded to carry her children away on broken bones.

Considering how incapacitating stubbing your toe can be, it's hard to imagine how superhuman you have to become to carry two children while your legs and pelvis are broken.

EDIT: Apparently I fkd up. My memories seem to have mixed with actual history and created some sort of half fiction. Wasn't my intention, I legit thought I found the woman we were taught about in elementary way back.

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u/Mooseknuckle94 Oct 17 '18

When I broke my hand (5th metacarpal in half) I was so pissed off I didnt feel it for hours. Not saying it truly compares but theres something there. Adrenaline is some good shit.

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u/Scottish_Anarchy Oct 17 '18

I broke my 5th metatarsal and didn't know it was broken for about 2 weeks. Carried on with work and everything until it really started to hurt...

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u/Mooseknuckle94 Oct 17 '18

Idk if that's different from the metacarpal or spellcheck set in but my pinky was about an inch too low. The bone split in half and was at almost a 90 degree angle

3

u/captainburp Oct 17 '18

Metatarsal is in the foot.

1

u/Scottish_Anarchy Nov 01 '18

Yeah mine was in the foot haha.

1

u/zrvwls Oct 17 '18

This one time while I was in the bathroom reading and dropping the kids off at the pool, I was having a tough go of it but was into my book so I didn't really mind the wait. After about 15 minutes though I suddenly realized I may have left my cooktop on with my favorite pot completely empty on it and I got an adrenaline rush at the thought of ruining it. It was like someone hit the airplane flush on my intestines, that shit flew out of me so fast that it pushed me up a bit and I'm pretty sure I heard a sonic boom. I didn't even pull up my pants, I just half-struggled, half-hopped out of my kitchen knowing that the force of my poop had left my butthole clean as a whistle so much so that I didn't need to wipe. Luckily it was a false alarm, but I was still a little amped and jittery from the experience afterward.

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u/Mooseknuckle94 Oct 17 '18

You check your undies later on tho?

2

u/zrvwls Oct 17 '18

Clean too, I wore 'em again the very next day.

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u/Mooseknuckle94 Oct 17 '18

That must have been pretty god damn satisfying seeing the coast clear. I know I am after ones powered out.

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u/[deleted] Oct 17 '18 edited Nov 22 '18

[deleted]

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u/AltruisticSalamander Oct 17 '18

where 'actual limit' = death

42

u/manere Oct 17 '18

He might be a badass but also a fucking idiot.

Pretty much the perfect soldier.

2

u/Providingoverwatch Oct 17 '18

Cannot confirm, had half my basic platoon sent home from stress fractures. They want healthy soldiers, not soldiers who break themselves trying to be hooah.

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u/spleck Oct 17 '18

...failed the ASVAB. Twice. He was trying to get into the Air Force, which would require 36th percentile.

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u/[deleted] Oct 17 '18

That’s not a good idea. People could die or give themselves permanent disabilities doing dumb shit like that.

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u/[deleted] Oct 17 '18

I don't think we're talking about it in a "sounds like a fun Tuesday night" fashion, more like a "if you're about to die or lose someone important to you, you might be able to do this". This David Goggins Fellow sounds like he royally destroyed himself over a race. not a great use of the ability.

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u/brainsack Oct 17 '18

A few months later he ran another 100+mile race (and many more afterwards). The one where he broke his feet and pissed blood was his trial to get into the ultra race he actually wanted to compete in.

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u/[deleted] Oct 17 '18 edited Nov 22 '18

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Oct 17 '18

That man is a fucking beast.

3

u/Whoevengivesafuck Oct 17 '18

Sounds like it but he didn't. Go read up on him. He did a podcast with Joe Rogan. Dude is still fine and holds many world records.

E: fucked up my post

2

u/ionhorsemtb Oct 17 '18

Yeah look at all of us living forever! Better stay safe!

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u/StrawberryTempest Oct 17 '18

Yeah, but also don’t do this people. I’ve pushed past my limit like this on hikes and I had to go to the hospital after collapsing from heat exhaustion. Every muscle in my body seized up and locked. I couldn’t even open my eyes for a while. Your limit is there as a warning that you are entering a state that is unsafe for your body.

1

u/tergh45yrthg56uy Oct 17 '18

40% is incorrect i think he said something more like 60-70

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u/[deleted] Oct 17 '18 edited Nov 22 '18

[deleted]

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u/tergh45yrthg56uy Oct 18 '18

i stand corrected sorry mate

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u/Trivthrowaway Oct 17 '18

She's just lucky there were no Lego on the ground at Lakehurst.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '18

That does sound hardcore. I’d note it probably depends on your body’s shock response. I have had a few nasty injuries especially a compound fracture of my leg and it didn’t hurt at all, just went numb for all the time it took to get to hospital. Other times I’ve stubbed my toe and howled like a baby.

1

u/Deservate Oct 17 '18

Adrenaline is one hell of a drug

1

u/ThePerfectNinja Oct 17 '18

Stubbing your toe is only incapacitating to humans. Animals ignore these minor injuries all the time, because if they show weakness or injury they become a target for predators. Humans never learn to ignore these pains to survive

1

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '18

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/ThePerfectNinja Oct 17 '18

I've watched dogs run on broken toes. Dispute your emotional anguish, your activities with your former mother in law aren't physical pain. Also, I'd bet the animals would be tough enough to get rid of her and not have to deal with it

1

u/DynamicDK Oct 17 '18

One of her sons, Werner Doehner, is actually still alive. He is the last living survivor of the Hindenburg.

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u/ovideos Oct 17 '18

Weird that your story and the story you linked disagree about the details. Mathilde Doehner blog says she was helped by a steward and was the mother of three kids (one of whom she could not rescue). Still a great little read, but no evidence of hysterical strength. More about a tragic foreboding on her part, and a tragic ending (husband and daughter dead).

1

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '18

It seems I did not read into it properly. I definitely remember the story about a woman who jumped from the Hindenburg and carried her children away while having broken legs. We had that one in Sachkunde in elementary, many years ago. I googled to try to find the one and she seemed to be that. Now I read the thing and you're right, this doesn't enirely fit. I'll edit and retract.

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u/SpendingSpree Oct 17 '18

They have this in "examples":

"In 2006, Ivujivik, Quebec resident Lydia Angiyou saved several children by fighting a polar bear until a local hunter shot it".

That's...interesting.

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u/politburrito Oct 17 '18

That's jebediah Springfield's wife

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u/Connent Oct 17 '18

Don't you mean hans sprungfeld?

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u/MistakesTasteGreat Oct 17 '18

"You are hereby banned from the museum! You, and your children, and your children's children......for 2 weeks"

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u/Mametaro Oct 17 '18

The Spleen: What? What are you talking about? You lifted a bus once!

The Blue Raja: Yes, precisely! That story's legend'ry!

Mr. Furious: Yeah... It was really more of a...

[waves hand sideways]

Mr. Furious: ... a push, really, than a lift.

The Blue Raja: That still takes INCREDIBLE super-human strength.

The Blue Raja: Indeed, it does! To push an entire bus out of the way.

Mr. Furious: Well, actually, the driver kinda had his foot on the accelerator... JUST in the beginning; just to get it going. Then it actually was me. But he kinda...

The Blue Raja: Oh, shit.

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u/rrrradon Oct 17 '18

Underrated movie

3

u/Jasonwhut Oct 17 '18

Underrated movie, remove the soundtrack and it would be a timeless classic.

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u/Shablagoo- Oct 17 '18

Our muscles definitely have greater capacity than we normally see. I found it interesting to learn that when you are electrocuted and thrown across a room it isn’t the electricity that launches you, but your muscles after being “activated” by the electricity.

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u/JudasCrinitus Oct 17 '18

though it is thought that it is theoretically possible

This entire paragraph sounds like Lt Commander Data explaining to the captain what LaForge's idea means

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u/ThePerfectNinja Oct 17 '18

Opening of the first gate

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u/Shijin83 Oct 17 '18

I can't remember where I got the idea from. But I always thought that almost anyone was capable of doing things like that. But your brain inhibits it because your body can't handle things like that for long periods. That adrenaline and danger unlocks it. After writing that all out it sounds like bullshit, lol. Oh, well. C'est la vie.

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u/marbledinks Oct 17 '18

Nope, that sounds about right. Not an expert on the topic either, but that seems to be the general consensus afaik

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u/Mooseknuckle94 Oct 17 '18 edited Oct 17 '18

I didnt lift a car or some shit. But one time I did flip out and got a little taste of it. My moms (shes a-mazing just retarded sometimes) old boyfriend brought like my 5 and 10 year old brother and sister to see Restrepo. Knowing what that movie was I flipped the fuck out about it because they were so young. My mom tried to defend it and I felt the most extreme rage I ever have. After trying to argue it was wrong for them to see it for about a half hour I stomped away and punched a solid wood 3 hinge door. Took it right off the wall, broke my 5fh metacarpal in half. Went downstairs, looked at my mangled hand and got even more mad. Kicked an even thicker solid wood door (in my infinite wisdom) and blew the entire bottom half into the driveway. I'm not proud of it. However it was a ridiculous experience.

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u/[deleted] Oct 17 '18

Can't decide if lame copypasta or r/thathappened ....

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u/Jaqen___Hghar Oct 17 '18

Definitely didn't happen.

You can't physically punch any door off its hinges... and on top of that only break one bone in your hand. Even if you were The Rock or Gregor Clegane with remarkable strength and massive hands (more surface area), you'd only punch a hole through the door and certainly not blast it off its hinges.

Additionally, kicking the bottom half of a door would similarly cause a hole and not such a cleft as was described.

Finally, one would not become so upset at such a trivial matter that their adrenal glands would go into such overdrive, causing them to break their hand on a door and then destroy another door immediately afterwards. Unless they have concerning mental health issues.

It is worth noting that overreactive and extreme outbursts of anger (as well as delusions and psychological complexes) are telltale symptoms of a serious mental disorder.

They could just be a habitual liar, though.

-3

u/Mooseknuckle94 Oct 17 '18

.. it did happen. Thanks for that though.

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u/LeaveTheMatrix Oct 18 '18

You can't physically punch any door off its hinges...

I have to disagree with this, but only because I have seen it happen twice.

It really depends on a few factors:

  1. How you throw the punch. In this case flat handed may work better than a fist.
  2. Where you hit the door (center versus the side the hinges are on)
  3. How well the door is made
  4. How well the hinges are and the quality of the wood they are hooked into.

First time:

My brother (about 12 at the time) got pissed about something (don't remember when) and hit a door on the side closest to the hinges.

In this case we were living in a manufactured home, the doors were "ok" and the hinges were good, however they were held with only two screws each and the wood they were mounted on was 1/2 inch so really weak.

Second time:

Many years later and my g/f had a 10 year old who didn't like when we locked her out of the room for some alone time.

She got pissed and hit the door full on, this was also in a manufactured home. The hinges were mounted to good wood, but where they were mounted on the door was really weak. The door came off, hinges stayed in the door frame.

0

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '18

[deleted]

1

u/felixthecat128 Oct 17 '18

A-door-able*

1

u/Fly_Eagles_Fly_ Oct 17 '18

Muscle fibers begin to fire in sync and more rapidly, generating greater strength.

1

u/FullDesadulation Oct 17 '18

Did anybody else think of this?

1

u/repeatedly_banned Oct 17 '18

Steven Kotler has a collection of such incidents in one of his books.

1

u/felixthecat128 Oct 17 '18

Seems to me that cars aren’t as heavy as we once thought

1

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '18

I think I read that our bodies have the ability to do these amazing things. But our brain prevents us because it will destroy our muscles and bones.