"Tachypsychia"

Gee guys, I appreciate all the definitions. Very educational! I think we all agree to what it is to one degree or another and the difference in definition is moot. We all know what it is but as to my original question

"What can you do to combat these symptoms? The only answer I have heard so far is training, training and more training so that when you are in a real life situation and "Tachypsychia" starts to set in you naturally revert back to your training, hopefully. But are there any drills in particular that actually help with the "Tachypsychia".

It seems only repeated actual experience is the real training. I am neither LE or Military, so for me thats not gonna happen. I hope. Sparring.....well unfortunately I grew up in poverty in the inner city so I have had my share of hand to hand dealing with neighborhood thugs and my share of bar fights, that always got my heart rate and rapid breathing and stressfull but I never experience the deer in the headlights phenomenon. And the deep regular breathing sounds as a excellent idea, but if you can remember to do that, then you probably are not experiencing tachypsychia. Maybe a good way to train so you might revert back to it when your responses become automatic. Hogdog, would love to go hog hunting, sounds very stressful and just the thing to stimulate the effects tachypsychia. I have heard that the military has exercises such as live fire while crawling. That would be stressfull! So I guess I am asking how did the military or LE prepare you to handle the stress. I guess I will take up sky diving and stock car driving to get use to handling stress.
 
ragwd said:
"What can you do to combat these symptoms?...Maybe a good way to train so you might revert back to it when your responses become automatic.
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I also believe that training for an automatic response is the best idea.

As I suffered through a painful ramp up, my doctor told me to ride it out. He explained that the modulating a brain chemical dosage the size of a head of a pin could have a Green Beret hiding under his bed begging for his life.

If you think about it, sometime in your life you've a guy resembling Barney Fife attack a much larger guy so fiercely that it takes several people to restrain him.

Believe me, no one can predict just how this chemical dump will effect them. In fact, you cannot predict your response even if you have experienced it before.
 
ragwd
My answer would be that you don't want to train to combat it (IMO, it is a good thing). Train to focus your concentration. There are many different techniques you can use, the most effective would be hypnosis or self-hypnosis and/or visualization. If you train your mind (using key trigger words for example), you will eventually be able to turn your focus on & off at will. Read Lanny Basham's book, sports psyching, Plaxco's book, Clarkson's book, there are thousands out there. I have cds available and there are countless sources out there if you look around.


More than that: it would be a shame if someone experienced an altered mental state as part of the survival response, but did not realize that was what they were experiencing, and either fought against the response or allowed it to distract them from doing what they needed to do in order to survive.
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Anyone who has experienced it will tell you that you cannot consciously realize it. It occurs when your subconscious mind pushes your conscious mind out of the way. When you have a conscious thought (or you hear the little voice in your head), your conscious mind is in control. When your conscious mind is in control, you won't experience tachypsychia.

When you tell folks that their minds are in the driver's seat, I think it would probably be really good to admit that sometimes these same altered mental states happen unexpectedly in moments of extreme stress. Otherwise, you're loaning credence to the idea that the normal human adrenal response is something to be fought against as an alien invader, instead of welcomed as the naturally occurring survival reflex that it is.
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We'll have to agree to disagree. Nothing happens in your body independent of the mind/brain. No chemicals are released, no reactions, no response. Everything that happens starts with a signal from the brain. There is no such thing as a normal response without a trigger from the brain. Adrenaline for example, has no mind of its own, it cannot release into your system without the brain telling it to. It is fair and accurate to say that the states happen unexpectedly, but it isn't accurate to say that you need extreme stress to induce them. Nor is it accurate to say that it is a natural survival reflex that cannot be controlled.

It's not just me who tells people that, there are countless sports psychologists, psychiatrists, hypnotherapists, athletes, researchers and others who all say the same thing. There is volumes and volumes of research that support the contention that you can train to overcome what some say are processes that we can't control.

In my experience (23+ years) there is no "crisis stage" of competition, nor does it take stress or the need to manufacture the feelings necessary. That was the way some of those quoted in the article described it. In fact preparation is for me and the clients I have worked with just the opposite. It involves being relaxed, focusing your concentration, clearing your mind and allowing your subconscious to take over.
 
Lurper said:
There is volumes and volumes of research that support the contention that you can train to overcome what some say are processes that we can't control.
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This is where you and I have to agree to disagree.

The only people I know of who espouse this theory are Scientologists. If there was a process where I could control my bipolar syndrome I would certainly be using it. In fact, I know of no such study that uses bio-feedback with any success on my side of the line except anxiety.

Of course, a good back-rub from a foxy blonde lady accomplishes about the same thing.

I am unable to control my serotonin levels. As a slow cycler (one full top to bottom joy ride takes two years), your theory would suggest that I can perceive, apply theory and adjust microscopic synapse function between boutons angstrum to angstrum. Good luck with that.

In a similar fashion, your subject would have to perceive, apply theory, adjust and receive a benefit during an agressor's attack during the 21-foot rule.

Yikes, neither my Harley or my best pick-up line moves that fast!

This no-drug theory comes and goes. Brooke Shields got admonished by Tom Cruise to embrace this philosophy for post partum depression. I believe I might as well swing a chicken over my head and chant for rain. These are serious conditions with painful results affecting health, marriage and jobs. It is too risky to trust to a garage mechanic how doesn't have to care for the siufferer.

And I certainly wouldn't suggest theories like this for good guys facing loaded guns.
 
Tourist,
That's because you are trying to apply sports psychology to bipolar disorder. They are not the same. It is not scientology, it is not a philosophy, it is a proven fact. Many of the top athletes in the world use visualization, hypnosis, self-hypnosis, relaxation and meditation to train their minds. While there may be some hypnosis, bio-feedback treatments for bipolar disorder, it is outside of my area.
 
I think the best way for a civilian to train under stress and potentially experience tachypsychia for themself is through "force on force" training, preferrably with simunitions.

I'll also throw this observation out there regarding the perception of time: I've been shooting IPSC and IDPA for nearly a year now and I recently noticed an odd phenomenon. From my perspective, stages take longer and I'm shooting slower and noticing more details during the stage. However, my times are getting shorter so I'm actually moving faster.

Induced low-grade tachypsychia? I can think of non critical times when this would be very handy. And perhaps even more so, times when the reverse would be desirable!

Albert Einstein said:
"When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute and it's longer than any hour. That's relativity."
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Joe
 
Lurper said:
They are not the same
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Sure they are. Identical. Serotonin is serotonin. Your body cannot discern the difference between an actual chemical adjustment in your psysche' and the screaming meemies I so often enjoy.

It's zero-dark-thirty at your casa. You hear and intense bump. It's a cat.

It's zero-dark-thirty at your casa. You hear and intense bump. It's Freddie Kruger.

Big difference.

Salt is salt. We enjoy it with margaritas, not so much with armpits.
 
Body Alarm Reactions and etc.

Sometimes I really enjoy the discussions we get into on TFL . . .

Lurper has made the point in a couple of similar discussions that some of the effects of body alarm reaction/tachepsychia can be reduced through proper training. (the idea of pre-event "stress innoculaton"). I suspect that's often true.

What's hard to figure are all the variables . . .

Sports psychology may have some principles that are applicable in this realm.

Experience probably also has a lot to do with it. I've never been in a shooting incident, but about once or twice a year I get into a high speed vehicle pursuit. I don't get that excited about it now, but I CLEARLY remember my first one (on a bitter cold night in March of 1984) and I got pretty excited during that one.
 
One of the best things about this forum is that you can learn the answers to questions that you didn't even know you should ask. Great information!
 
Sure they are. Identical. Serotonin is serotonin.
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They are not the same. No one can tell you what causes tachypsychia to occur. They can only tell you when it is likely to occur. They don't know if it is caused by chemicals and if so, which. It could totally be a perception or state of mind/level of consciousness issue. The only thing anyone can say for certain is that it occurs and that you can train to reach a state where it is likely to occur. Yes, athletes do experience it fully. From my own experience, I have had it occur in armed confrontations, an automobile accident and in competition. Every time I have experienced it, it occured absent of fear or any other noticable effect of fear. Events happened with crystal clarity, but without conscious thought. It happens in an area of the brain that is still not understood. That is why no one can say "if we inject you with "X", you will experience it. So far, the only success has been through hypnosis and visualization (sports psychology). That's why you are starting to see a slow shift in LE training to incorporate some of the proven sports psychology techniques.

While Laur's articles are good, Dr. Lewinski at the Force Science Institute has done studies that show elevated pulse rates (by themselves) have no effect on fine motor skills.
 
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