Aron Ralston: Trapped by a Boulder – The Psychology of Self-Amputation and Extreme Decision-Making Under Despair

In 2003, mountaineer Aron Ralston became trapped alone in a remote Utah canyon for five days with his right arm pinned by an 800-pound boulder and no hope of rescue. Facing certain death, he made the unimaginable choice to amputate his own arm with a dull pocket knife. This episode examines the psychological processes—extreme stress, problem-solving under duress, dissociation, and post-traumatic growth—that enabled his survival and what his story reveals about human resilience when all conventional options disappear.