In a recent story out of New (and improved) Zealand, a prisoner relates how his mental state ranged from panic to zombie-like. Being a zombie is a mental, or neurological, condition. Zombies are real. Zombies are us. The more we are asked/compelled to act/obey without thinking, the more zombielike we are.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/2565861/David-Bain-tells-of-prison-violence