Stress
and survival in the UK BBC Television game show -
The
Heat Is On - in Peru. Being pushed to the limit and further. Stress
responses of the mind and body at their peak.
A
group of volunteers learned skills in Scotland in order to survive extreme
conditions in the jungle of Peru. They learned to light fires, cook
rats, build shelter and rafts, while going without sleep and food for
long periods of time.
One
difference to this program was that they had their personal critics,
who claimed to know them well (for example; either a boss, husband,
ex wife etc.) and were commenting on the volunteers behavior throughout
the challenge, while watching them on the recorded programs. The challengers
were unaware this was happening.
When
rising to a challenge, the stress responses can inhibit higher thinking
processes. Positive self belief is necessary to achievement in any type
of challenge, at the same time being realistic about the possible outcome.
Why
did they volunteer? Knowing your limitations can be a benefit to survival.
They needed endurance and determination to show what they were made
of and prove they could take the heat. The lucky eight, chosen from
the selection process, were followed during the weeks by a camera crew.
The program showed how personal challenge was channelled into team work
as the group faced a long hike across the jungle and river to a final
destination. They put into practice the skills they learned in Scotland.
A camera team appeared to be alongside the group filming as they go.
Once in Peru, this group did not have the luxury of voting anyone out,
so getting on with others or agreeing to differ was a good survival
skill. Personal motivation was important as a time limit was imposed
in order to win the challenge.
Selection.
An interesting point was that the women, although slower as they were
not so physically able as the men, were better overall at the learning
and retention of essential survival knowledge. The group were living
on rats and other morsels. One contest was designed to overcome their
personal fears and phobias of snakes and giant spiders after initial
reactions of tears, horror, terror or just plain scared.
Reasons
for doing the challenge varied from - its off the wall, out of the
ordinary, to a good opportunity to get off chocolate.
After
a swim in the lake without their outer clothes, the men raced off in
order to win at orienteering. Meanwhile the women went more slowly gaining
the advantage of thinking time. Sheila found the water swim difficult
due to the memory of an early childhood experience. She was fighting
for breath but with encouragement from the instructor was able to overcome
her fear and continue with the challenge.
Fears
and phobias can be overcome with the help of trained professionals as
happened here. A phobia can be a fear out of control, creating feelings
of sheer terror. One contestant had enormous doubt from the beginning
and continued to waver for a week until finally leaving the training
group.
One
volunteer, Andre, was a soldier and the rest were civilians. Andre wanted
to prove he could work with civilians and relied on complete domination
of others; his brother was skeptical of Andre being able to get on with
the other people.
Next
stop Peru. The first stage showed a division
between leadership styles with Andre, the soldier in charge and almost
forcing the others to agree with his route and pace of travel. His opinion
was based on the idea of leading without questioning or disagreeing
(army style) and he felt that others would not have the same motivation
to succeed. His decision was made based on the time limit given to complete
the exercise and the difficulty of the challenge for civilians. The
route was direct but difficult resulting in Sheila falling down a mud
slide and cutting her head so severely, that she was later airlifted
out by helicopter to be x-rayed for a skull fracture. Joleen remained
very calm, reassuring and competent after the accident. Krishan was
described as having his head in the clouds. He cheated by smuggling
dextrose tablets in his rucksack and finally feeling good natured when
confronted, he shared them with the group.
The
next part began to show a challenge for leadership from one other member,
who succeeded and took control. The group built a raft which managed
to stay in one piece for the 40 km trip down the fast flowing Amazonian
river. Some found the trip exhilarating and others found it scary. The
comments ranged from - fantastic, screamed my head off, the most
fantastic thing I have ever done, the highlight of the whole trip, absolutely
brilliant, a good giggle, scared the hell out of me, the most exhilarating
thing of my life. Some differences started to appear; with one member
apparently not pulling his weight and another was concerned with his
appearance.
There
were no prizes for completing only personal satisfaction. Stress on
the body and mind began to be felt by the group. Day 6 and they were
starving; not having eaten for 2 days. Andre was constantly bossing
and humor was definitely lacking at some points. Dehydration was a problem
- not feeling well, feeling, shaky hands and wanting to fall asleep.
Some poor decisions were made; like taking a machete but the stone to
sharpen it with. Hacking through the jungle became difficult with blunt
weapons. The group began to change their view of Andre, realizing how
hard it was to navigate in dense jungle and a new respect began to emerge.
One member talked about not being broken, switch off the pain receptors
and ignore the body signals. The group kept pushing their limits recognizing
the dangerous waters of the river, piranha fish, alligators and all
manner of insects. They slept on giant ant hills and woke up with bites
galore. The group was tired; negative thoughts about giving up began
to surface and discussion revolved around making personal decisions.
Sheila had rejoined the group increasing, initially, the morale of the
group. Andre took the responsibilty personally; as a challenge to get
the group through the jungle in one piece.
Last leg. Ultimately, the group learned
to face the possibility of giving up. With drama and anxiety on the
river, they came close to quitting. The prospect of failing the challenge
was causing tension in the group. They were losing their fighting spirit.
Now Sheila faced a battle of wills - whether to continue or give up.
After some serious thinking she decided she could not let the group
down, even at personal cost to herself, otherwise she would feel guilty
for missing the end. They all chose to continue.
They
carried on and Sheila was the slowest, so the pace was matched to her
ability. Andre, the soldier, pushed himself to his limit and beyond.
He commented that the jungle was no place for the faint hearted,
that leadership can be lonely and where does the support come from?
Andre was airlifted out of the jungle, when his body temperature rose
to 105 degrees fever pitch and with one day left to the challenge. Andre,
the soldier, had felt a great responsibility to help the civilians complete
the challenge. The stress took its toll.
The
group continued without Andre and succeeded within the time limit. They
became resourceful and bartered with a local tribesman; to take the
group down the river on a large canoe with an outboard motor. No more
paddling. Time was running out and they had little hope of paddling
themselves to completion within the time. All the equipment was left
behind, in a final attempt to complete the challenge.
Hidden
strengths emerged and personal failure was faced. The trip down the
river was dangerous and life threatening. They all became aware of the
closeness to staring death in the face.
Andre
joined them at the finishing point, recovering sufficiently to be able
to celebrate the final moment. Andre said that he was left with the
impression that the group of civilians were a great bunch of people
to lead and he would not hesitate to lead them again.
Challenge
complete. At the end their personal relatives and friends were
there to meet the group and experience a little of the discomforts of
the jungle. Most of the critics changed their views, feeling an immense
sense of pride and respect for the challengers. In the end the group
learned to work as a creative team; forcing some to take new responsibility
and others to accept their limitations by retiring to a lesser role.
The group had to go at the pace of the slowest and the least able, learning
tolerance and patience in the face of dangerous challenges.
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