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Old 06-30-2011, 05:43 AM
Mark Doyle Mark Doyle is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2011
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Default Adrenal Stress Training, PTSD, And the Biochemistry of Fear

Let me relate the experience of a man I knew named Mike who was a good friend who often challenged himself mentally and physically. One method he did this was in 'technical mountain climbing'. After a few years of this he was given his first 'lead climber' position.

That meant he was the 'point man' and he had to climb the rock face first and put the chocks into the rock to provide the safety rope for the others to follow.

He was on a ledge and had to cross a missing part of that ledge to reach the other side. If he fell it was certain death of course. Mike seemed to me to fancy himself a sort of "hero" type in his own mind and he often had an exaggerated idea of his abilities in many areas, but he was competent in most. Yet he told me that something quite remarkable occurred when he extended his right leg out over the abyss to reach that small 'foothold' on the other side of the ledge.

He was surprised to see and feel that his leg was as he put it, "moving up and down like a sewing machine needle'. He was genuinely surprised to see and feel his body involuntarily trembling with fear. A greater knowledge of fear had thus come to him.

One thing I wish to point out here is that while his mind had not yet registered fear as he initially attempted to cross the ledge gap, his body was certainly and dramatically had. And his body was reacting to that fear first. Hence, he had a genuine epiphany here about himself and the nature of true fear as well.
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