Trembling hands, weak legs, and cold sweat do not mean that a person has become ineffective. Doing hard, necessary work is one of the best ways to keep one's fears under control. Brave men and women who are self-confident admit their fears, even when the threat of death is remote. Then they plan and work to lessen the causes of their fears. If the danger is unexpected enough or great enough, normal persons sometimes experience terror as well as fear.
Terror prevents the mind from evaluating dangers and thinking logically.
It develops in two stages, which have been described by Dr. Walo von Gregerz, a physician with much war experience, in his book Psychology of Survival. The second stage is a compulsion to flee. However, persons who learn to understand the nature of our inherent human traits and behavior and symptoms are less likely to become terrorized and ineffective in the event of a nuclear attack. The most common reaction to great danger is not terror, but a kind of numbing of the emotions which actually may be helpful. This reaction allows many persons, when in the grip of great danger, to avoid being overwhelmed by compassionate emotions and horrible sights.