Stress and Stress Management
What the exam tests
Stress and Stress Management tests the stress response, sources of stress in aviation, effects on performance and evidence-based coping. Questions often ask why a competent pilot makes a poor decision under pressure.
Core rules
- A stressor is any demand appraised as exceeding resources; stress is the response, not the event.
- Selye's general adaptation syndrome: alarm, resistance, exhaustion. Short-term stress can mobilise performance; chronic stress depletes it.
- Eustress is stimulating stress; distress is harmful. The effect depends on intensity, duration and appraisal.
- Acute stress narrows attention, speeds shallow breathing, and can cause fixation or hyperventilation. Chronic stress affects sleep, mood, immunity and judgement.
- Coping can be problem-focused (change the situation) or emotion-focused (manage the feeling); avoidant coping such as denial is risky in flight.
- Management: recognise personal signs, control breathing, prioritise, use checklists, communicate, and use support systems. Crew resource management is a stress buffer.
Worked example
During a check ride, a pilot notices a fast heart rate, dry mouth and narrowed attention on one instrument. Instead of denying it, the pilot names the stress, slows breathing, returns to a scan and verbalises the next three actions. This converts a high-arousal state into a controlled one; the examiner sees monitoring, not panic.
Traps
- Believing all stress is bad.
- Confusing acute arousal with loss of competence.
- Using 'just relax' as a plan.
- Ignoring chronic stress until performance collapses.