Dealing With High-Stress Environments
A new week begins. That means official work starts again. This could place you in some high-stress situations. But you want to keep your cool despite this right? Let's discuss how.
1. You Need To Be Able to Control Something
The first step to remain calm and rational is to assert your control of the situation even if it’s something insignificant to the overall situation.
Let’s use this example:
“Drunk, belligerent jumps behind counter and says he’s going to stab people, shoot people.”
So what can you control?
There’s not a whole lot there. But there is one thing you can control: Your breathing.
NASA also did some research on this specific issue because astronauts must have one of the most stressful jobs on (and off) the planet. We’re talking about people getting strapped to a bomb filled with rocket fuel and shot up into space that could explode at any second. There’s not much control to be had over the situation when you’re being launched into space. But what NASA’s study showed they could control was their breathing so they trained them to control it, thereby control their state of mind. These astronauts repeatedly practice everything they COULD control in their situation. Of course if the rocket blew up there’s not much they could do.
But by being able to control their breathing they manage to retain control and prepare themselves to deal with any situation they can affect.
Further research was done over in La Jolla at the Veteran Affairs Center in San Diego. This trial showed that Navy Seals, special ops forces and men with similar training reacted in a unique and unnatural way when put into stressful situations; their pulse slows down. By examining brain scans and research data of these men the study showed that the men were consciously calming themselves down when the stress came on. They realize: “Hey I need to be in control of my faculties” and through an exercise of will they are able to positively prepare themselves.
Understand that stress does affect you. If you understand that, you can start to set things up to be prepared. So, control something – even if it’s just your breathing.
2. Think Before Acting
I know some guys say you should be instinctive when reacting to a stressful situation but this is simply wrong. Your natural instinct is to run and this is generally a poor reaction. If you’re with your family (as a man), you don’t want to leave them behind to face the situation without you. Some of you may be concerned thinking would slow you down but thinking is like any other skill – with the proper preparation and training you can improve how and how fast you can exercise that skill.
The basis for this step was based on some research done with PhD and undergraduate students who were divided into two groups. The two groups were both given an exam and were provided with limited time to complete it. The undergraduates jumped right into the exam with little thought – they immediately took action. The PhD students started slower, took a step back, thought about the situation and planned their response. Even though the PhD students started slower, they ended up finishing much stronger and scoring consistently higher than the undergraduates.
So, start to control your breathing and then proceed to think through the situation.
3. Put Yourself In A Controlled High Stress Environment
This step is not going to be possible for everyone but you can at least put yourself in some of these scenarios.
The “Can” – Helicopter Crash Simulation
The “Can” simulates a helicopter but essentially you are strapped into a large tin can with 5 other guys after being blindfolded. The “Can” is then released into water where it’s designed to flip over, trapping you and 5 other guys in it with only 1 exit.
It’s when you’re put into situations like that, that are controlled but very high pressure that you really start to test yourself. You start to realize you can do more than what you think you’re capable of. It also emphasizes how important point 1 of the Air Force research was (understand that stress does affect you) since you more directly realize what happens when you’re put in those environments.
Hypoxic Training
Another controlled test Hypoxic Training where you’re put into a room and they start to pull out the oxygen. This is done to see what happens to your judgment and vision and other abilities when you get less oxygen.
I know everyone’s not going to have access to this type of training but you can put yourself in those situations and mentally plan your reaction.
Martial Arts Training
There is also a whole range of Martial Arts training you can undertake. Even light contact martial arts will place you in that fight-or-flight mindset so that ultimately you can acclimatize yourself to it and react better in a real stuation. Once you do this on a regular basis you’ll get a better awareness of what you’re capable of and get used to that feeling of “maybe things are out of control, but I can step back and take control”.
Another option worth considering is boxing because the objective is to place yourself in a situation that you’re uncomfortable with. A boxer never really gets used to getting hit but when you know what it’s like to get hit you can at least learn to take it and know how to react afterward.
4. Stay Up On Your Training
This is actually one of the hardest things to do. Take for example, the line training in the marines. What they found was people would go through all this physical and hand-to-hand combat training but would forget it very quickly. This is a problem with a lot of martial arts and other physical pursuits: If you stop practicing you can lose the ability very quickly.
Running through physical exercises and scenarios in your head have been shown to have a very strong effect on maintaining your readiness. A way you can further exploit this fact is to engage in a practice or activity that improves your mental skills. One of the more common practices are meditation but there are a wide range of activities you can try like journaling (keeping a journal), visualization or even learning a musical instrument. There are even specific exercises geared towards memorization like chunking, association and Method of Loci you can try.
5. Have Some Humor
Making light of the situation will help you deal with it.
A research talks about a prisoner of war who had this imaginary person that was next to him when he was getting tortured. This gentleman would be talking to his imaginary friend and his torturers would be going:
“Who is this?”
“This guy’s crazy!”
“What adult person has an imaginary friend?”
During part of his torture they even offered the imaginary friend tea and he had to relay to them that his imaginary friend did not like tea. By making fun of the situation and having fun with it you can distance yourself from the seriousness of the situation and maintain the mental clarity you need to come up with a way to deal with the situation.
While it may sound strange it’s been shown through a variety of training systems like that used for Ranger training that if you apply humor to your situation you’re more likely to make it through it.
So, go into the week ahead, armed and ready to take control of whatever stressful situation you might come up against. You'll be the better for it.
1. You Need To Be Able to Control Something
The first step to remain calm and rational is to assert your control of the situation even if it’s something insignificant to the overall situation.
Let’s use this example:
“Drunk, belligerent jumps behind counter and says he’s going to stab people, shoot people.”
So what can you control?
There’s not a whole lot there. But there is one thing you can control: Your breathing.
NASA also did some research on this specific issue because astronauts must have one of the most stressful jobs on (and off) the planet. We’re talking about people getting strapped to a bomb filled with rocket fuel and shot up into space that could explode at any second. There’s not much control to be had over the situation when you’re being launched into space. But what NASA’s study showed they could control was their breathing so they trained them to control it, thereby control their state of mind. These astronauts repeatedly practice everything they COULD control in their situation. Of course if the rocket blew up there’s not much they could do.
But by being able to control their breathing they manage to retain control and prepare themselves to deal with any situation they can affect.
Further research was done over in La Jolla at the Veteran Affairs Center in San Diego. This trial showed that Navy Seals, special ops forces and men with similar training reacted in a unique and unnatural way when put into stressful situations; their pulse slows down. By examining brain scans and research data of these men the study showed that the men were consciously calming themselves down when the stress came on. They realize: “Hey I need to be in control of my faculties” and through an exercise of will they are able to positively prepare themselves.
Understand that stress does affect you. If you understand that, you can start to set things up to be prepared. So, control something – even if it’s just your breathing.
2. Think Before Acting
I know some guys say you should be instinctive when reacting to a stressful situation but this is simply wrong. Your natural instinct is to run and this is generally a poor reaction. If you’re with your family (as a man), you don’t want to leave them behind to face the situation without you. Some of you may be concerned thinking would slow you down but thinking is like any other skill – with the proper preparation and training you can improve how and how fast you can exercise that skill.
The basis for this step was based on some research done with PhD and undergraduate students who were divided into two groups. The two groups were both given an exam and were provided with limited time to complete it. The undergraduates jumped right into the exam with little thought – they immediately took action. The PhD students started slower, took a step back, thought about the situation and planned their response. Even though the PhD students started slower, they ended up finishing much stronger and scoring consistently higher than the undergraduates.
So, start to control your breathing and then proceed to think through the situation.
3. Put Yourself In A Controlled High Stress Environment
This step is not going to be possible for everyone but you can at least put yourself in some of these scenarios.
The “Can” – Helicopter Crash Simulation
The “Can” simulates a helicopter but essentially you are strapped into a large tin can with 5 other guys after being blindfolded. The “Can” is then released into water where it’s designed to flip over, trapping you and 5 other guys in it with only 1 exit.
It’s when you’re put into situations like that, that are controlled but very high pressure that you really start to test yourself. You start to realize you can do more than what you think you’re capable of. It also emphasizes how important point 1 of the Air Force research was (understand that stress does affect you) since you more directly realize what happens when you’re put in those environments.
Hypoxic Training
Another controlled test Hypoxic Training where you’re put into a room and they start to pull out the oxygen. This is done to see what happens to your judgment and vision and other abilities when you get less oxygen.
I know everyone’s not going to have access to this type of training but you can put yourself in those situations and mentally plan your reaction.
Martial Arts Training
There is also a whole range of Martial Arts training you can undertake. Even light contact martial arts will place you in that fight-or-flight mindset so that ultimately you can acclimatize yourself to it and react better in a real stuation. Once you do this on a regular basis you’ll get a better awareness of what you’re capable of and get used to that feeling of “maybe things are out of control, but I can step back and take control”.
Another option worth considering is boxing because the objective is to place yourself in a situation that you’re uncomfortable with. A boxer never really gets used to getting hit but when you know what it’s like to get hit you can at least learn to take it and know how to react afterward.
4. Stay Up On Your Training
This is actually one of the hardest things to do. Take for example, the line training in the marines. What they found was people would go through all this physical and hand-to-hand combat training but would forget it very quickly. This is a problem with a lot of martial arts and other physical pursuits: If you stop practicing you can lose the ability very quickly.
Running through physical exercises and scenarios in your head have been shown to have a very strong effect on maintaining your readiness. A way you can further exploit this fact is to engage in a practice or activity that improves your mental skills. One of the more common practices are meditation but there are a wide range of activities you can try like journaling (keeping a journal), visualization or even learning a musical instrument. There are even specific exercises geared towards memorization like chunking, association and Method of Loci you can try.
5. Have Some Humor
Making light of the situation will help you deal with it.
A research talks about a prisoner of war who had this imaginary person that was next to him when he was getting tortured. This gentleman would be talking to his imaginary friend and his torturers would be going:
“Who is this?”
“This guy’s crazy!”
“What adult person has an imaginary friend?”
During part of his torture they even offered the imaginary friend tea and he had to relay to them that his imaginary friend did not like tea. By making fun of the situation and having fun with it you can distance yourself from the seriousness of the situation and maintain the mental clarity you need to come up with a way to deal with the situation.
While it may sound strange it’s been shown through a variety of training systems like that used for Ranger training that if you apply humor to your situation you’re more likely to make it through it.
So, go into the week ahead, armed and ready to take control of whatever stressful situation you might come up against. You'll be the better for it.
Culled and edited. Images: Google
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