UNDERSTANDINg THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STRESS AND FEAR
What is stress?
There are two main types of stress; acute stress where symptoms develop quickly, but usually don’t last long and chronic stress which has the same symptoms as acute stress, but these symptoms can last for days, months or years.
Acute stress can arise from an unexpected crisis, for example, a person threatens you on the street. Chronic stress can arise from long term pressures such as problems with relationships, the environment or work.
Everyone experiences stress to some degree, but it’s the way we respond to stress that effects our overall well-being.
How do we respond to stress?
Our responses fall into two main categories: the physical and the psychological.
Physical changes are the bodies way of preparing us for a perceived threat. These responses can happen before various situations such as a competition, a work presentation, a driving test!....
Physical responses to stress
- hormones like adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol are released into the blood stream to help prepare you for action
- increased heart rate and blood pressure
- expanding lung capacity
- dilated pupils
- blood diverted to major muscle groups and brain and digestion slows
- blood clotting ability increases to prevent excess blood loss from injuries
- trembling or shaking to prepare body for imminent action
Psychological responses to stress
- Behavioural changes – strained, tense, jumpy
- Emotional changes - anxious, helpless, angry, fearful
- Cognitive changes – distorted perception of what’s happening
These psychological responses can help get us into the right mindset for handling stress.
Fight, flight or freeze
Both physical and psychological responses together are coined ‘fight, flight or freeze’ response. This response can happen because of a physical threat (about to be mugged) or a psychological threat (before a competition) and they help prepare the individual for action. At times these responses may overwhelm us and not be helpful at all, ie. The driving test or work presentation.
Fear
A common feeling we can all experience when faced with a perceived threat is fear. This emotion can be helpful or sometimes not. Let’s take a closer look.
What is fear?
‘Fear is a natural powerful and primitive human emotion... Fear alerts us to the presence of danger or the threat of harm, whether that danger is physical or psychological.’
Verywellmind.com
‘an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm.’
- Oxford dictionary
We can see from these quotes that fear is a psychological response to stress, it is an emotion. Fear is not physical, yet it can have a strong impact on our physical response to stress. Fear can affect us both before (just before a competitive fight) and during a threatening event (during a competitive fight).
To summarise; stress can trigger involuntary physical and psychological reactions, whilst fear is a psychological response to stress. Fear is mental, not physical. The way we manage fear is the key to our continuing physiological response to stress, which we’ll look at a bit further on.
Stress is…
Example
A physical demand
Heavy strength training session
A mental demand
Pre-fight competition or confronted with a threat
Both physical and mental
Sparring
Fear is…
Example
A feeling – a psychological reaction to stress
How you manage your stress just before and during the fight
What are the advantages and disadvantages of ‘fight, flight, freeze’ response?
The advantages
The physical response helps prepare the body for action, which can increase your performance. For example, you have extra blood flow to the muscles, increased lung capacity for heavy physical work, dilated pupils for added sensory perception – you are super charged and ready for action.
The psychological response can help prevent you from doing something dangerous. For example, fear can stop you from walking down a dark alley alone at 3am in the morning. Freezing can help you stay hidden in a threatening environment.
The disadvantages
Your body can go into fight, flight or freeze when there is no real threat, for example: phobias or fear of heights. Also, there is a limited amount of time your body can continue in this heightened state before it runs out of energy.
The psychological response can stop you from making clear decisions. For example, fear can be so overwhelming that you can’t think straight and don’t know what to do in that moment. When you are in a competitive fight, you need your fight response, but you need to keep your fear in check. There also might be situations when you are confronted with a threat and you have the wrong response – you many freeze when you actually need to fight or run.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of fear?
The advantages
Fear can be a positive thing. As said above, fear can keep you out of trouble and keep you safe. It can also get you ready for that exam or competitive fight by making you prepare accordingly for the perceived threat and get into the right mindset – making you hyper aware.
The disadvantages
Fear can also close you down. The more fear you feel and the more you let it take over, the worse you will feel. You can clearly see this in competitive fights, a fighter can be on top of his game, feeling confident and then, for example, takes a big hit which starts the ‘fear’ cycle, and you can watch as that fighter quickly gasses out and loses the will and ability to think strategically. So too much fear can stop you thinking clearly.
How can we manage fear?
We can learn to recognise it for what it is. Embrace it before the competitive fight as part of your preparation. Disconnect from it during that fight and focus on what you need to do in that moment.
By understanding when and why we feel fearful we can begin to learn to step back from this mental state and instead put our focus into what is in front of us – the threat. If you focus on “I’m feeling scared” then you will be feeding the anxiety and fear cycle and may lose focus on the here and now of what is right in front of you. You can change your response to fear and embrace it as part of your preparation: as you feel your heart racing and your legs shaking you can think to yourself “good, this means I’m ready for the fight”.
Can our physiological responses to fear be changed? No. The ‘fight, flight or freeze’ response is what has kept us on this planet for so long and helped us survive challenging situations over the millennia.
Can our psychological responses to fear be changed? Yes. This is where specially designed drills can be our best friend. Training drills that simulate stressful situations in a safe environment, can help desensitise our reactions to help us stay more focussed when we are under pressure. For example, sparring (correct pressure at the level of the student), padwork drills with extra pressure such as someone pushing you randomly. These drills need to be given at the appropriate time for the individual, so you don’t push too hard, too soon. If you do these types of exercises too soon a student can learn the incorrect responses, for example, flinching.
What happens after the threat has passed?
It takes between 20-60 minutes for the body to return to ‘pre-stress’ conditions, ie. calming down. When the perceived threat has passed, the parasympathetic nervous system acts like the "brake" to dampen the stress response. People can feel tired and relaxed after a fight or flight response. This can make people more vulnerable as they are walking around in an ‘unaware state’.
There is a famous quote from Tokugawa Leyasu :
“At the moment of victory, tighten the straps of your helmet”
Conclusion
Stress is an automatic response to a perceived threat. This response cannot be changed. Fear is a response to stress, which can be managed through specific training. As previously said, we are survivors and these responses are part of why we are still here, but it’s how we manage our emotions, our fears that can have a profound effect on our lives and how we respond to threatening or stressful