what Chris Hemsworth learned about stress
stress-proof, the Hollywood edition; PLUS last chance for early-bird pricing for the Psychosocial Safety Summit
A couple of years ago, National Geographic set out to make Chris Hemsworth “stress-proof” by having him walk a 275-meter-high plank. In the opening episode of “Limitless”, Hemsworth learns to deal with some pretty scary tasks, in preparation for the final made-for-TV scene: a crane walk off the roof of Sydney’s tallest building. The idea is that learning to tame his terror will also mean he’ll be better equipped to deal with the chronic stresses of being a high-profile guy with a big job, small children, and a disarmingly standard set of insecurities.
Hemsworth goes through a drown-proofing exercise with Special Forces officers and a rescue exercise with a firefighting crew, before embarking on his crane walk. Along the way, he’s taught to control his breathing and his self-talk. In parallel, we’re introduced to Faith Dickey, a professional slackliner who treats us to a masterclass in breathing and self-talk as she traverses a dramatic canyon somewhere in Arizona.
The proposition in the episode is simple: mind over matter. If you can learn to control your stress response, accept fear and put it to use instead of fighting it or backing away, you become stress-proof; you can do anything.
can doing scary things really make us stress-proof?
Spoiler alert: after some early jitters, Hemsworth nails his crane walk. Beyond just coping well enough to get it over with, he’s able to get his heart rate down enough to enjoy the experience. Not bad for two days of training.
It’s a neat example of Stress Inoculation Training (SIT), sometimes called Stress Exposure Training (SET). SIT has three steps:
preparation: a basic overview of the stressor, what it’s likely to feel like, and some core skills for dealing with it,
learning: practising new skills, ideally in situations that are closer and closer to the real environment you’re preparing for, and
application: applying those new skills in the real environment, and then debriefing to catch any improvements that might be required.
SIT has runs on the board that go beyond Hollywood: it’s been shown to reduce PTSD incidence among military personnel, for example. Even if it doesn’t make us stress-proof, exactly, it’s very likely to make us more resilient, at least in the face of stresses that are similar to those we’ve practised on.
what if a crane walk isn’t my biggest problem?
Most SIT research has focused on preparation for specific sources of stress through rehearsal in similar circumstances. Hemsworth’s adventure starts with a VR recreation of the crane walk, for example. There’s much less evidence for the kind of leap that “Limitless” is asking us to make: that learning to handle physical stressors (immersion, fire, heights) can also prepare us for the everyday social stressors that are much more common for most of us.
Hemsworth shares the movie star version of some very common social stressors: a fear of being underprepared on set, a fear of financial insecurity that leads him to over-commit to projects, and the universal parental experience of having your kids misbehave in public - amplified in his case by knowing it will instantly be all over social media.
We don’t get to see whether his crane walk experience sets him up to stay calmer in the face of these much less TV-ready stressors, but there’s at least some evidence to suggest it might. If we’re able to carry over the stress reduction skills we’ve learned in one set of circumstances, they’re likely to work in others, even if the stressors are quite dissimilar. The trick is in remembering to apply them.
not all stress is created equal, though
There’s no downside to learning skills like slow-breathing techniques, or to forming the habit of positive self-talk. They’re reliable ways to reduce your stress response, and as long as the stressor you’re dealing with is relatively short and sharp, they should help you stay in the “good stress” zone - just stressed enough to rise to the challenge, not so stressed that it compromises your wellbeing.
The real problem is not that crane walks aren’t the same as toddler tantrums; it’s that crane walks are a once-in-a-career stressor, while toddler tantrums piled up on work overflow piled up on financial worries (whether or not they’re rational) can feel endless. Acute stress isn’t the same as chronic stress. We’re built to deal with the first, not so much with the second. Breathing and self-talk can go some way to preventing chronic stress from happening, but once you’re in it, they’re unlikely to be enough to get you out.
Dealing with chronic stress takes a more fundamental adjustment: a shift away from being always on, towards more regular time in the calm state our bodies need to recover before we take them back into the fray. Not just less stressed, but actually resting, recovering and rejoicing.
Recovery is key. It just doesn’t make great TV.
… and don’t forget the Psychosocial Safety Summit in October
One last thing for the week: I mentioned earlier in the month that TANK is a partner for the Psychosocial Safety Summit in Brisbane, 16-17 October, and I’ll be talking about all things burnout prevention.
If you’re a leader who wants a single place to access the latest research, solutions and tools to navigate psychosocial safety, guided by Australian and International experts, this is the one for you.
Early bird tickets are available until June 30 - they’re $500 off so well worth jumping on before the end of the financial year. Look forward to seeing you there!