High Stress Managment Training
(applicants are subject to a thorough psychological evaluation as a condition for admission to the programme)

Military is the natural venue where participants are subdued to a great amount of pressure during training, to simulate war conditions and its inherent stress. In this realm, the body's and brain's reaction to stress has been studied thoroughly.

However, stress managment is not only useful in a war setting, but also in daily life. A great part of the inability to cope with challenges with the resulting underachievement is the result of a complete absence of stress managment capabilities.

HSMT intends to offer a heavy load of stress to every participant, along with the psychological tools to handle it succesfully and stay calm under pressure.

HSMT strictly limits how harsh the physical and mental pressures can be. But it will not publicly disclose what the limits are so it can maximize the anxiety for future participants.

After several days of the war game - including food and sleep deprivation - the participats reach their breaking point.

HSMT is designed to provide the most realistic conditions possible. "Is the guy going to be under pressure in this training? You're dang straight, he is," says HSMT instructor Urko, a former Special Forces Officer.

PHYSIOLOGY OF STRESS

To understand what makes a better soldier, the Military institutions worlwide have examined the stress levels of soldiers who have gone through military training and war field activities. In one study, the levels of cortisol, a hormone that prepares the body for stress, were measured. Researchers found that students undergoing stressfull military training experienced significant changes in hormone levels, which the military described as some of the greatest ever documented in humans.

The chart at right shows average cortisol levels measured in SERE students (one of the harder military trainings) compared to levels recorded in previous studies that looked at patients about to undergo major surgery, soldiers in Army Ranger training, pilots performing military flight operations and novice skydivers making their first jump.

One of the most interesting findings by the Army was the difference found between Special Forces soldiers and other soldiers. Data from Army studies showed that Special Forces soldiers had higher levels of adrenaline during the SERE training than regular Army soldiers.

When adrenaline was measured 24 hours after the SERE stress was over, the adrenaline levels of Special Forces soldiers returned to normal levels. But adrenaline levels in non-Special Forces soldiers were depleted. The data suggests that Special Forces have a biological profile of people who are "cool under fire."

HSMT is designed to recreate strenuous and hard conditions that produce a significant stress reaction in the participants. This enables the participants to get used to that psychological setting in order to condition their minds in such a way that they learn to act with total calmness under pressure.

HSMT will offer a source of stress in a controlled situation very difficult to recreate in normal life. Therefore, it also furnishes a strong and everlasting contrast effect: after HSMT everything will seem a lot easier and nothing may be deemed suitable to generate stress.

Fees: u$s 2.598 - Duration: 3 months - Venue: Buenos Aires - Argentina Book this training

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Source: Dr. C.A. Morgan III and Maj. Gary Hazlett, from "Special Warfare" magazine published by the JFK Special Warfare Center and School