Anyone else get \"inverted stress reactions\"?

[yoadrian]

OK, gang, try not to laugh too hard. I just want to see if others out there get the same thing as I do. It’s very strange and I don’t understand it myself. Here’s what happens: I find krav training and in particular fight training and the hand-combat tactics drills strangely relaxing. In fact if I get nervous or scared about anything (or as is usually the case, nothing) at all it is likely to be when I am someplace others would call very calm and placid conditions, like at work in my office when no one else or few others are around, remembering too that I get along fine with my coworkers and my job is very low-stress. I have noticed it’s not just that I feel relaxed in krav class this way either; for example when I am on the highway if I see a car come up fast behind me or I see an accident in front of me I actually seem to calm down rather than get the kind of heart-race and adrenaline reaction that others say they get. Same thing for such places as on carnival rides, like roller-coasters. I find them amusing, like I said, almost relaxing; I even find fight class kind of amusing (seriously, not that I am making fun of it at all, it’s just my reaction to it is that I actually experience it as a relaxing event and feel a kind of measurable happiness and peace while doing it — sometimes it causes me to laugh out loud, earning me strange \”So what’s so funny?\” looks from others at times). I mean it’s very strange, I seem to have a reaction of enjoyment when I am in the kind of conditions others feel as stressful, but am more likely to get nervous and even feel timid perhaps at times when others would say there is no stimulus in the environment to warrant it.

OK, so does this happen to others? I once read about a fish that scientists somehow were able to measure its biological processes even after it had been eaten alive, swallowed whole by another fish. They fully expected the swallowed fish to be in a panic-state but that was not it at all. The fish was in fact very relaxed and its brainwaves indicated to the scientists’ surprise that it was drifting into a sleep-state. So my question is, is it possible that some people, like this fish whose breed-name escapes me at the moment, have a kind of inverted reaction to stress, wherein they are much more likely to be nervous and feel scared in placid and uneventful environments where they are otherwise perfectly safe, while they relax and feel comfortable in environments where they are exposed to some degree of danger?

I have heard of PTSD for example causing sometimes strange reactions to stress (though don’t know if this would be one of them) and am wondering if this is not some kind of PTSD-related symptom, even though I have never been in the police or military professions, though it’s true to say I have had some experiences in life that could be called traumatic. But anyway, does anyone else have these kinds of stress-reaction-related experiences in relation, or even not, to our krav training?

[simhamukha]

That is fascinating. I have never heard of this condition before, and I am wondering how you found a name for it? I was also wondering if you think it makes you better or worse at sparring and other KM activities?

I have heard of people deliberately extinguishing fight or flight reactions by exposing themselves to the feared experience again and again, but your situation sounds really unique.

You would have to get it checked out by a psychiatrist, but just FYI it does not sound like PTSD. You are not truly detached or emotionally estranged from the things you are doing when you experience this state. You are just very calm, even happy. The individuals I’ve known who have had PTSD experience their detachment as a sort of emotional flatness – an utter lack of any kind of a feeling. PTSD is accompanied by other symptoms, too, like intrusive flashbacks to distressing experiences and really horrible nightmares.

There may be some endorphin or enkephalin or a combination of both that get released in excess when you are in a stressful situation. The CNS \”rebounds\” when it has been suppressed, even by endogenous opioids. If you are in a stressful situation but experience an unusual sense of calm, it may be that your CNS makes up for it later by having a reaction. Confusing if there is no apparent reason to be anxious. Could also be some kind of dissociative disorder especially if you have trauma in your background. Kids figure out amazing ways to mentally and emotionally deal with bad situations.

I hope you are able to find out more about it and get some answers. If there are any universities in your area I would look into them – I am sure there must be some neurochemists somewhere who would love to help you figure it out.

[clfmak]

You should be learning systema! Seriously, they train to fight with maximum looseness and relaxation, and you often see them smile while doing so.

[rosie]

I don’t think it’s strange to enjoy fight class or find it relaxing and even amusing. I certainly enjoy it, and I have found myself laughing or smiling when it’s funny. I may be the only one who thinks it’s funny, but I always attributed that to the fact that I have a goofy sense of humor. But I also don’t think it’s strange to find krav training relaxing or even therapeutic. My personal experience is that it is very helpful for building confidence and getting rid of feelings of helplessness or anger.

Like you, with my family and friends, I am known for keeping my cool in situations where other people panic. I don’t know why that is, except that I have been through some life experiences that have given me a sense of perspective. I know what it’s like to go through nightmarish stuff so handling the small stuff like tailgaters is easy to me.

Related to that, I also experience what you describe as \”inverted stress\” – when nothing’s going wrong, you get stressed. I think that has to due with going through long periods of time where something is always wrong and you just get used to having problems. When the problems go away, you don’t know what to do with yourself. I always thought that was PTSD or something like it, but I’m not a therapist so I don’t know for sure. Since some time has passed since the events that caused me to feel this way, I’ve found that this stress has been going away, but it’s been about 2 years. It takes time.

Anyway, you’re not the only one…and I don’t think that what you describe is all that uncommon in krav maga.

[johnwhitman]

Actually, one of my favorite stories on this topic is from Darren. A number of years ago he had to go in for surgery. As the surgery begins, the doctors are accustomed to the patient’s metabolic rates going up — anxiety over the surgery, cutting, etc. But with Darren they said it was the first time they’d seen his rates go down. It was from stress training. Getting used to stress will help you deal with it.

[yoadrian]

Re:

quote \”Simhamukha\:

That is fascinating. I have never heard of this condition before, and I am wondering how you found a name for it? I was also wondering if you think it makes you better or worse at sparring and other KM activities?

Thanks for the commentary in your reply. Well, I invented the name for it because I couldn’t find a name to go with it by web-surfing, though really, how am I gonna know I’ve found it when I have? As to whether it makes me better at sparring, etc., I am not so sure. In some ways maybe, in others, not. I can more easily take the offensive because I can plan out a combination or plan of attack more easily since I don’t feel charged up by the presence of my opponent. At the same time, if my opponent takes the initiative, my reactions are IMJ slower as compared to others and I will not have the kind of defensive reaction I see others get that helps them to act in their best interests when attacked. Perhaps what I need to do under the circumstances is to simply treat an attack as if it’s something to respond to rather then to react to, and eventually I will react appropriately. Overall though I will say it’s probably better that I start from being too placid to being too jumpy. I guess time will tell.

Again, thanks for your input.

[yoadrian]

Re:

quote \”rosie\:

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Related to that, I also experience what you describe as \”inverted stress\” – when nothing’s going wrong, you get stressed. I think that has to due with going through long periods of time where something is always wrong and you just get used to having problems. When the problems go away, you don’t know what to do with yourself. I always thought that was PTSD or something like it, but I’m not a therapist so I don’t know for sure. Since some time has passed since the events that caused me to feel this way, I’ve found that this stress has been going away, but it’s been about 2 years. It takes time..
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Thanks, rosie. I feel so much better now knowing I am not alone in my differentness. 🙂

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