Physical, verbal or non-violent aggression inevitably has psychological consequences that can be devastating. You get overwhelmed by your emotions. Everyone reacts differently which means that whereas some people get completely paralyzed, others get angry, cry or try to escape. The issue is that until you actually experience it, it’s almost impossible to know how you’re more prone to react.
It can also get out of hand if the aggressor has a knife, for instance. To avoid an unnecessary confrontation, let’s see together how to manage your stress in case of an aggression.
Table of Contents
How can you react when victim of an assault
First of all, it is important to know the different possible way to react, both physical and psychological. Generally, fear takes over in a dangerous situation, and especially during an aggression. But don’t bet yourself up, it’s completely normal, it’s a genetic legacy inherited from our ancestors. Indeed, at that time, fear was synonymous with immediate danger and a decision had to be made, you had to choose between fleeing or fighting.
Today, this has not changed much since there are 3 main types of reaction to an aggression:
- Flee: the best option available to you. Fleeing is the only way to survive almost for sure. It should always be privileged.
- Paralysis: Unfortunately, sometimes our bodies don’t know how to react to excessive fear and stress. As a result, we find ourselves paralyzed.
- Attack: this is not the best choice, but in some dangerous situations, we have an instinct to attack, because we think we are strong enough to defeat the opponent. However, if the aggressor is armed, this can become very dangerous.
Two factors that will help you cope with stress in case of aggression
To reduce stress in a risky situation, you can act on two factors that allow you to recover control over your body. Combined with a good workout, this method gives quite satisfying results. Here’s how to do it:
- Act on your thoughts: instead of letting your negative thoughts overwhelm you, try to calm yourself and focus on the aggression. Observe your opponent and try to understand his movements in order to anticipate the physical aggression as much as possible. Don’t imagine the worst scenarios, stay connected to reality.
- Control your breathing: to reduce the effect of stress, focus on your breathing. This will calm you down and help you think normally. Do a very simple exercise: breathe more and more slowly and through your stomach. You should be able to feel it with your hand.
Learn to manage your stress when confronted with an aggression
To manage stress does not mean to eradicate it, far from it. In fact, you will rather try to focus on positive stress by working on two main factors:
- You already know the situation (the opposite produces negative, unfavorable stress),
- You are able to cope with the situation, you have control over it.
To develop these two factors, you have no other choice than to train. If, every week, you confront aggressive situations with other practitioners during a self defense training, you allow your subconscious to no longer be afraid or destabilized by such a situation.
Indeed, self defense is a very effective method of defense against aggression since it works on the concrete aspect of an aggression, as it could happen in the street. The more combat techniques you know, the more confident you will be.
A good physical and mental preparation
While we may be able to think and come up with a plan of action quickly under normal circumstances, during an attack, this is not the case since stress can prevent us from thinking and being logical. The hardest part is figuring out what you are going to do and how you are going to do it.
But if you are attacked, you don’t have time, you have to act very quickly. To do so, your body will respond with its automatisms. In other words, by training and repeating simple and effective gestures, your behavioral memory will be ready to react with these same defense mechanisms during an aggression.
Try your hand at self defense!
Finally, if you have only one thing to remember from this article, it would be this: if you know techniques to protect yourself effectively and you are in good physical condition, you will be ready to react more calmly and you will know how to manage your stress in the event of an attack. Indeed, you will be prepared for this, ready for it to happen, and therefore you will not be caught off guard.
If you want to discover self defense techniques, watch our free training. Also, don’t hesitate to share your thoughts in comments as well as your method to manage your stress in case of aggression!
