Dr. Don WoodResolving Your Trauma-Based Challenges So You Can Unlock Peak Performance

A doctor’s take on one of the most horrific events of 9/11 #traumahealing

14 Sept 2026 · 1 min

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1:08

In this brief dialogue, Dr. Don Wood (Speaker A) and a co‑speaker (Speaker B) explore why many people who leapt from the World Trade Center on 9/11 should not be labeled as suicides. They argue that the brain operates on a survival basis: when faced with imminent death from fire, the subconscious mind triggers an instinctual drive to move away from danger. Although the conscious mind recognizes that jumping could still result in death, the subconscious decision bypasses that rational assessment, prompting a rapid action aimed at preserving life. The conversation frames the jumps as an unconscious survival response rather than a deliberate act of self‑destruction, offering a trauma‑healing perspective on a highly emotional event.

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And that just made me think about how on 9/11, a lot of people could be seen jumping out of the building. Now, that would be, to many, considered suicide. However, if they knew they were gonna die by staying in the building, why would they choose to jump if they knew they were gonna die anyways?
Because the brain is survival-based. It will do anything to survive. So in the moment, they know they're gonna die. But what's not going to happen if they jump? They don't die. So the mind is survival-based in the second. So people weren't jumping to their deaths. They were jumping to live. So if the fire is coming towards them, right, how are they going to survive this? They have to move. It's an action call. They have this tremendous emotion to move. They move. Now, logically, Then you know that if you jump out of the building, you're gonna die. So the conscious mind thinks of that, says, well, if we jump, we're gonna die. But the conscious mind isn't involved in that decision of whether to jump. The subconscious mind is going to decide that.