http://uscca.us/ccr/view_post.php?postId=606
click the link above for the rest of ther articleBy: Cody S. Alderson(01/06/2012)
Though every defender will have to deal with emotion after an attack (both his or her own and the emotions of others), it is important to set it aside when actually engaging a threat. The fundamental reason for self-defense is survival. It can be survival for you or a loved one. The emotions will be overwhelming when a critical incident occurs. If not at the moment, then it will come later. Sometimes it comes within minutes. Sometimes it takes years. Sometimes it spills out a little at a time over the rest of the survivor's life. However, in a physical encounter with another human being where there is threat of one becoming a victim of a rape, violent maiming or murder, it rarely is the showing of emotion that will save a person even though the emotion of the trauma will sooner or later come out.