Why Some People Never Panic (And How You Can Learn It)

Why Some People Stay Calm Under Pressure (When Everyone Else Panics) In this video, we break down what the research says is really going on inside the people who get calmer when everything goes wrong. They feel the fear too. What's different is what happens in the next few seconds. We start with Stanley Rachman's team and their study of British bomb disposal operators, where the operators decorated for bravery kept a lower heart rate under threat than equally experienced colleagues. Then Charles A. Morgan III's work at U.S. Army survival school, where Special Forces soldiers released more neuropeptide Y, a natural brake on the stress response, and the soldiers with more of it performed better. Steven Maier and Martin Seligman show where that brake comes from: fifty years after discovering learned helplessness, they found that helplessness is the brain's default, and what gets learned is control. James Gross shows why hiding your feelings backfires on the body. Then we cover five drills: Matthew Lieberman's affect labeling ("name it to tame it"), the Stanford cyclic sighing study by Melis Yilmaz Balban, David Spiegel and Andrew Huberman, Donald Meichenbaum's stress inoculation training, finding the one thing you control, and shrinking the world to the next action, the way the crew of US Airways Flight 1549 did on the Hudson. Which drill are you starting with? Naming it, the long exhale, rehearsing the disaster, finding one thing you control, or shrinking the world? Tell me in the comments, and tell me the moment you want to be calm for. I read every one. If someone in your life is always the one holding it together, send this to them. 0:00 Two kinds of people in a crisis 1:32 The calm ones still feel it 2:44 Where the brake comes from 4:16 The habit that makes panic worse 5:30 Drill 1: Name it to tame it 6:25 Drill 2: Breathe out longer 7:21 Drill 3: Rehearse the disaster 8:19 Drill 4: Find one thing you control 9:03 Drill 5: Shrink the world 9:57 What calm really is 10:39 Which drill are you starting with? #psychology #calmunderpressure #mentaltoughness #stressmanagement #emotionalregulation #anxiety #builtunderpressure #selfimprovement Research referenced: Balban, M. Y., Neri, E., Kogon, M. M., Weed, L., Nouriani, B., Jo, B., Holl, G., Zeitzer, J. M., Spiegel, D., & Huberman, A. D. (2023). Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal. Cell Reports Medicine, 4(1), 100895. Cox, D., Hallam, R., O'Connor, K., & Rachman, S. (1983). An experimental analysis of fearlessness and courage. British Journal of Psychology, 74(1), 107-117. O'Connor, K., Hallam, R., & Rachman, S. (1985). Fearlessness and courage: A replication experiment. British Journal of Psychology, 76(2), 187-197. Gross, J. J. (1998). Antecedent- and response-focused emotion regulation: Divergent consequences for experience, expression, and physiology. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(1), 224-237. Lieberman, M. D., Eisenberger, N. I., Crockett, M. J., Tom, S. M., Pfeifer, J. H., & Way, B. M. (2007). Putting feelings into words: Affect labeling disrupts amygdala activity in response to affective stimuli. Psychological Science, 18(5), 421-428. Maier, S. F., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2016). Learned helplessness at fifty: Insights from neuroscience. Psychological Review, 123(4), 349-367. Meichenbaum, D. (1977). Cognitive-behavior modification: An integrative approach. Plenum Press. Meichenbaum, D. (1985). Stress inoculation training. Pergamon Press. Morgan, C. A., III, Wang, S., Southwick, S. M., Rasmusson, A., Hazlett, G., Hauger, R. L., & Charney, D. S. (2000). Plasma neuropeptide-Y concentrations in humans exposed to military survival training. Biological Psychiatry, 47(10), 902-909. National Transportation Safety Board. (2010). Loss of thrust in both engines after encountering a flock of birds and subsequent ditching on the Hudson River, US Airways Flight 1549 (Aircraft Accident Report NTSB/AAR-10/03). — Disclaimer: This video is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute professional psychological or medical advice. If you're struggling with anxiety, panic attacks or your mental health, please reach out to a licensed therapist or mental health professional.