BRAIN MALFUNCTIONS IN SKYDIVING

							         BRAIN MALFUNCTIONS IN SKYDIVING
                                    Deborah Sanderson

Introduction
Objectives      1. Provide and discuss definitions for brain malfunctions
                2. Look at the causes for brain malfunctions
                         - Physical / mental / outside influences
                3. What to do when a brain malfunction occurs
                4. Techniques for brain malfunction reduction

Definition - “ When focus and attention is lost at any point throughout your skydive”
             “ Brain Locking / Snapping” – where your brain seems to freeze.

Stress and Stress Responses

STRESS – „Any situation where non-specific demands (either real or perceived), requires
an individual to respond or take action‟.

The response mounted by an individual to high levels of stress/arousal is commonly
known as „fight or flight‟. This physiological reaction to any threat, be it mental, physical
or emotional, prepares the body for fighting or fleeing. The following occurs to our
bodies within a fraction of a second;

* Adrenaline is released from the adrenal glands. This drug does a number of things;
    - Increases blood pressure - constricts peripheral blood vessels as to concentrate
        blood volume to major organs i.e. brain, lungs, heart, liver, kidneys.
    - Increases heart rate, to send oxygen-rich red blood cells to the brain and
        muscles.
* Heightened senses - allowing quick assessment and decision-making.
* The liver releases stored energy - Sugar and fats flow into the bloodstream to provide
fuel for quickly needed energy.
* Sharpened vision - The pupils dilate to help us better see in the dark (can lead to
blurred vision.
* Digestion ceases - All body fluids are redirected into the bloodstream (nausea,
vomiting).
* Respiration increases. Allows more oxygen to be taken in the lungs.
* Increased blood clotting - Protects us from bleeding to death in the event of injury.
* Blood from the skin is diverted to the muscles - Hands go pale and cold and dry mouth.
* The skin sweats - This cools hot muscles, preventing the body from over-heating.
* Muscles tense - In readiness for fighting or running.
* Bowel and bladder muscles loosen (urinary / bowel frequency)
* Increase in thyroid hormone - Speeds up metabolism and provides extra energy.
* The hypothalamus releases endorphins - The body‟s natural painkillers or „happy drugs‟,
which are similar to morphine (feelings of excitement / elation).
* Calcium released - Calcium discharged from tense muscles leads to „pins and needles‟.
* Cortisol or Cortisone is released from the adrenal gland (primary „stress hormone‟).




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Stress and Memory

Cortisol is a steroid hormone, released into the body from the adrenal gland during
stress. It belongs to a family of stress hormones called glucocorticoids that, among
other actions, can interfere with energy supply to certain brain cells involved in memory.

Studies using a synthetic glucocorticoid, called dexamethasone, when administered prior
to a stressful event, showed significant impairment of memory. New studies that took
blood samples to assess natural cortisol levels during stressful events had the same
negative effect on memory.

Interestingly, it was shown that high cortisol levels didn‟t necessarily impair learning,
but rather affected memory and recall.



Females and the Stress Response

There is new research that proposes the females responses to stress are not well
characterised by the „fight or flight‟, but by a new pattern termed „tend and befriend‟.
By virtue of evolution, female have evolved to maximize survival of self and offspring,
rather than eliminating the threat / cause of stress.

So the „tend and befriend‟ pattern involves female‟s nurturing of offspring under
stressful situations (tend) and befriending – creating and joining social alliances for the
exchange of resources and to provide protection.

Research points out that this response is biobehavioural, meaning our females hormones
such as oxytocin (reduces anxiety and has mild sedative properties) and oestrogen tend
to „tone down‟ our response to stress. It further suggests that because of this, females
tend then to deal better with stress than men.

What has this got to do with Skydiving? Well it means we are less likely to „panic‟. We
might take an extra second to figure out what to do, but we are more likely to make the
right decision. Also, if we better deal with stress, than our memory is less likely to be
impaired by increased cortisol levels.

Monitoring Stress / Arousal Levels

Your arousal level refers to your physical, emotional and mental state during a skydive.
It describes how calm / hyped-up / anxious / confident / apprehensive you are at a
particular time.
Under excited – decreased arousal, sleepy, low energy
Over excited – increased arousal, „sick‟ with worry, nervous and anxious, „hyped-up‟
Optimally excited – nervous but in control, apprehensive but positive, energized, feeling
„strong‟, relaxed.

Optimal arousal is the mixture of calmness and aggression at which you perform your
best. This level differs for everyone. Some people need to be really revved up, others
sit by themselves quietly. In your optimal arousal state, you are calm enough to see and




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comprehend everything going on in your skydive. You can react and adjust in the air
quickly and confidently. You feel a good sense of control.

To find your optimal arousal level, you need to monitor and record how you felt and
compare it to your performance. After you land, assign a number from one to ten to
describe how aroused / excited you where. 1 = barely awake, and 10 = super-pumped. By
keeping track of your arousal versus performance, patterns should soon develop.

Once you‟ve figured out what your optimal arousal is, you can use this to get the best out
of yourself on every jump. Do this by asking yourself on the ride to altitude if you are
under or over-excited. If your are under-excited, pump yourself up by using powerful
imagery (discussed later) of a great past performance or by singing an aggressive song.
If you are over-excited, calm yourself down with relaxation techniques, positive self-
talk and visualisation.

This should help take you to your „optimally excited‟ state before you skydive. Learn how
to reach this state, stay there and reset if you are distracted.

Other causes of Brain Malfunctions

Poor preparation of body, mind or equipment. If your gear is not in good condition, and
you have concerns eg. “I‟ll change that closing loop NEXT jump”, then your confidence is
reduced (even if it‟s subconscious). Decreased confidence is a stress state. Your body
should be fed, hydrated and rested. A lack of one or all of these three things can
greatly affect your mental / physical performance.

Altitude (Hypoxia) - The immediate effects include increased heart rate, increased
respiratory rate, nausea, headache and vertigo. Long-term effects are increased
haemoglobin levels and volume, increased blood viscosity (becomes more thin), increased
capillarisation of tissues, decreased lactic acid tolerance.

Temperature (Hypothermia) causes decreased peripheral circulation, increased heart
rate, shivering (muscles trying to warm themselves), you „feel cold‟ and thus distracted
from concentrating on your skydive.

Other People In the plane, people can be noisy, farting, scared (so you get scared). In
freefall, collisions can disorientate you, someone can take your slot and funnels mean
everyone has to start again!

      Remember – you can’t control what other people do, but you can control how
       you react!



When a Brain Malfunction occurs

      Stop, take a breath – don‟t jump on grippers if you‟re not sure
      Look at your opposite – Eye contact is always critical for a successful skydive
      Formation should build so you can see your slot
      Chant out your sequence of points in your head
      If all else fails, smile at your mates!!


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   One other note – ladies tend to have high expectations for themselves and get
    over-deflated by achieving goals straight away. The frustration this causes may
    provide a negative mental outlook for your next jump. See yourself as continually
    learning, even on a „not so successful skydive‟.

Skills for reducing Stress and thus Brain Malfunction occurrence

Be Prepared – orientation to the Drop Zone. Includes knowing cardinal points (north,
south, east and west), runway direction, where power lines / hazards / buildings / big
trees (little ones hurt too!) are in relation to the landing area, windsocks and flags.
Ask locals about wind directions, landing patterns and special things to look out for.

Knowing all of this will greatly increase your overall awareness and confidence once
you go to get into the plane. You are then able to concentrate better on your
skydive, and be less stressed about not knowing which way the wind is blowing before
you took off!

Positive Self Talk – involves reducing / eliminating negative internal chatter.
Redirecting thoughts to positive behaviour and outcomes, away from self-limiting
doubts. Focus on previous successful skydives and tell yourself what you‟re good at.
Instead of “oh, I‟m not sure about this move, I‟ve never done it before, what if can‟t
do it? Everyone will laugh at me / I‟ll never be able to track as good as so-and-so”.
Try this, “ I feel strong today, I love skydiving and doing a good job”, “I will do my
very best job within my skills and ability”, “No-one affects me, only I control
myself”, “I know I can make this new move, I‟ll make myself proud”.

   Remember – YOU ONLY ACHIEVE WHAT YOU BELIEVE

Breathing Techniques - learn to become aware of your breathing and how to control
rate and volume. The classic „in through the nose and out through the mouth‟ always
works for me.

Progressive Muscular Relaxation – involves the active contracting and relaxing of
muscles. When a muscle is tightened for 4-6seconds then relaxed, the muscle
returns to a more relaxed state. Perform the following body parts in turn – feet,
calves, thighs, buttocks, pelvic floor, stomach, back, shoulders, neck, arms, forearms
and hands. This exercise should provide either warmth or heaviness or both, in the
relaxed limb.

Eye Contact increases freefall communication. Make a conscious effort to „read‟
other people in the sky. Much communication can be done through facial expressions.

Complimenting others performance builds self-esteem. Reinforcing correct
behaviour helps commit it to memory, increasing the chance of repeating it.
NB. When someone compliments your jumping, you will never forget it.




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Positive Visualization – the ability to create clear, detailed and accurate images in
your mind, of events you want to create as physical reality. Quality visualization is
meant to be the same in your consciousness as an actual skydive! Learn to see it
right, and you will do it right.

Visualize your skydive from at least two angles, the first is from behind your eyes.
See everything just as you practised; imagine the sequences of your jump and how it
should appear in the sky in real time. The second angle is from that of the
cameraman. See your jump from the outside and watch yourself within the jump.
Watching videos of your skydives is good practice for this! Always visualize your
very best work.

Mental Imagery - An experience just like a sensory experience but without the
external stimuli. Mental imagery involves visualization, but is much more. The person
attempts to fully enter the skydive with all their senses. Seeing the skydive, hearing
the plane/freefall, docking, smelling the avgas/plane/freefall, muscular movements,
emotions – just as you would like to perform in the skydive.

Mental images exert a very real action on the physiology of the body. When you
imagine yourself skydiving, the muscle groups involved in that action actually
memorize the action. This is termed „muscle memory‟ through neural firings. Mental
imagery causes an expenditure of energy due to the neural and muscular response,
which occurs when imagining movement. (Let your body remember the skydive for
you!)

One of the first steps to improving your imagery skills is to become more aware of
what is happening in your skydives. The more that you see, feel, hear, taste, smell,
the more detailed and realistic your images will be.



  Here is a great acronym from Alan Moss to help get you ready for skydive!




                       P E A C H

Physical                                                   Heart

           Ears/Eyes                       Calmness/Confidence

                           Awareness




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                                 References
Web page – Sports coach
          http://www.brianmac.demon.co.uk/mental/htm

Web page – Tunnel Camp, Coaches Corner
          www.mariosantos.com

Web page – Airspeed Formation Skydiving Advanced Skills Camp Workbook
          www.mariosantos.com

Web page – Freefall communication – „Eye Contact‟ & Debriefing Structure
          www.4way.org

“A Skydiver‟s Guide to Mental Training” A Thesis by Alison Quick, 1988.

Newcomer, J.W. et al. 1999. “Decreased Memory Performance in Healthy Humans
Induced by Stress Level Cortisol Treatment”. Archives of General Psychiatry, vol.
56, no. 6. pp 527-533.

Web page – Fight or Flight Response
          http://www.nostressnow.com.en/fightorflight.aspx.

Web page – Are Women better Stress Managers?
          http://stress.about.com/cs/copingskills/a/aa011502.htm

Taylor, S.E. et al, 2000. “Biobehavioural Responses to Stress in Females : Tend &
Befriend, Not Fight or Flight”, Psychological Review, vol. 107, no.3, pp 411-429.

Web page – Gender Differences in Behavioural Responses to Stress.
  http://www.medicalmoment.org/_content/healthupdates/dec03/187868.asp




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