Julius Caesar noticed that there are two types of warriors. On the battlefield, some of them fight staunchly, showing miracles of heroism, while others are ready to panic at the slightest complications of the situation. And only the example of daredevils and even good training plus discipline allow these second ones to control themselves.
The theme of courage and cowardice, loyalty to duty and betrayal is one of the key themes in classical art. Public morality is largely based on it, teachers and educators constantly turn to it.
Still from the film "Edge of the Future"
It has always been believed that absolutely fearless and at the same time mentally healthy people do not exist in nature. It's just that some supposedly know how to cope with their own cowardice quickly, almost instantly and find the answer how to behave in a critical situation.
It was also noted that the ability to maintain self-control in extreme situations is shown to a greater extent by those people who think not about their personal survival, but about saving others, about personal responsibility for a worthy decision. According to various estimates, there are about 25 percent of such people acting decisively and clearly, regardless of any circumstances.
Others are prone to panic and in case of trouble, they can behave unpredictably. However, if a person of this type has undergone special training for a possible stressful situation, has acquired confident skills to overcome difficulties, then he can cope with his fear, especially when he sees an example of brave men. Otherwise, panic is inevitable, which can take on a massive nature, which often happened when fleeing from the battlefield or during large-scale natural disasters.
In April 1966, the strongest Tashkent earthquake occurred, the epicenter of which was located directly under the city center. The eastern capital was shaking for several months in a row. Many of its inhabitants were also shaking. Not everyone's nerves could stand it, which significantly complicated the work of the responsible services.
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It was the experience of eliminating the consequences of the Tashkent earthquake that prompted the USSR government to adopt a secret resolution on the creation of a tranquilizer drug - a kind of "pill for fear" that would help a person, at least temporarily, overcome their fears in the face of the threat of mass panic.
For their experiments, our pharmacogenetics first bred two types of rats. Relatively speaking, rats-heroes and rats-cowards. It turned out that in the same stressful situation, these animals behave differently. For example, those and others were transferred from a completely dark room to a bright light. The "heroic" rats immediately began to run, sniff all corners, obviously wondering where they had ended up. And the "cowardly" rats shrank into a ball and shivered, as if expecting a new misfortune.
Then these creatures were added to their food tranquilizers, after which they continued to be monitored. The first sample of the drug made cowardly rats more active, but oppressed the brave ones, drove them into a passive state.
But at the next stage, scientists managed to create a tranquilizer of a new class, which activated the fearful, but did not change the reaction of the brave. We are already talking about volunteers on whom the effect of the drug was tested. The task was completed by 1980. A group of Soviet scientists from four research institutes was awarded a state prize for creating a "pill for fear". Even earlier, similar pills were obtained in the West.
Fear does not only manifest itself on the battlefield or in natural disasters. Various fears, or otherwise phobias, accompany many people all their lives in everyday life, in the most trivial situations. There are several hundreds of these phobias. According to some estimates, in today's Russia about 50 million people are exposed to them.
It is curious that many prominent personalities suffered from all kinds of phobias. For example, Peter the Great was plagued by several phobias at once. One of them is ecophobia, fear of large rooms and high ceilings. It is no coincidence that in the preserved house of Peter, another, lower one was suspended from the normal ceiling, creating the effect of a "cozy box".
Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was afraid of horses (hippophobia), as well as white (leukophobia). He was doubly afraid of white horses. It's funny that some painters depict the commander astride a white horse. Such were never in his stables.
It happens that obsessive fears overwhelm a person with such force that he ceases to control the situation. His state of health sharply deteriorates: his head hurts, his heart rate increases, and a lump approaches his throat. And sometimes it seems to a person that he does not know how he ended up in some other world. Psychiatrists call this condition a vegetative crisis, or panic attack.
Is it possible to fight off a panic attack and generally learn to conquer your fear without resorting to tranquilizers or expensive sessions with a psychologist?
As already mentioned, an example of daredevils and professional training helps to avoid panic. It is on this that the extreme training method is built, which is practiced all over the world today.
The bottom line is that a group of people, each of whom is tormented by fears, travels to some secluded place outside the city under the guidance of an experienced coach (daredevil). The coach sets a specific task. For example, you need to jump from a rather steep cliff and even with a tight bandage over your eyes.
The first to jump is the coach himself. Then, inspired by his example, volunteers from the group jump. Finally, even the most fearful can see that a seemingly dangerous jump does not entail any serious consequences. People tune in to a certain wave, instilling in themselves the idea of success.
The next trip is a new task. The group is divided into pairs. These couples are bred in different parts of an unfamiliar, dark forest. You need to find each other, echoing only with sounds that imitate, say, a wolf howl.
Tasks can be scary at all: say, dig a grave for yourself, then lie down in it and not move when they start to cover you with earth. Extreme is extreme. But all these tests are subject to a certain sequence.
After completing a course of such training, even a fearful person by nature feels peace of mind and confidence. He already understands that the devil is not so terrible as he is painted. Let it be impossible to completely defeat your fears, but you can and should fight them.
Valery NECHIPORENKO