Over the past 16 years, new theories and models have emerged in the stress and anxiety knowledge base regarding the unique forms associated with performance. Existing theories have been applied in creative and helpful ways to better explicate relationships between stress and anxiety with performance. Recently, more sophisticated statistical strategies have been applied to data collected with performers, and additional, safe and expedient strategies for managing stress and anxiety have surfaced. Despite these new advances, the field has been lacking an up-to-date and practical text for undergraduate and graduate students in performing or performance-mentoring programs. Managing Performance Stress examines psychological and psychophysiological models and theories that explain causes of anxiety and stress. An easy-to-use reference work for athletes, musicians, dancers and actors as well as those who devise and conduct their training programs, the book presents exercises, coaching devices, and strategies for conquering stress and anxiety. It is an invaluable resource for those who are performers, will be performers, or who are preparing to mentor, coach or teach performers. The principles enunciated in Managing Performance Stress apply equally to the musician holding an oboe and the athlete holding a baseball bat. The issues explored and the theories, principles, models, hypotheses discussed all bear upon and clarify arousal, stress and anxiety related to artistic and sport performance, irrespective of its kind.

The pace of life in our high technology world has quickened. Industries that do not become more efficient, often by requiring a faster production turnaround with less slack, are superseded. Because of this, workers face an environment in which they must perform under more time pressure and under greater task load, in which stress is more prevalent, and in which consequences of poor performance are more critical than ever before. The dominant, if unstated, psychoanalytic paradigm underlying much stress research over the past fifty years has led to an emphasis on coping and defense mechanisms and to a preoccupation with disordered behavior and illness. Accordingly, almost any book with "stress" in the title will invariably devote a considerable amount of pages to topics such as stress-related disorders, clinical interventions, stress and coping, psychopathology, illness, and health issues. This book presents basic and applied research that addresses the effects of acute stress on performance. There are a large number of applied settings that share the commonalities of high demand, high risk performance conditions, including aviation; military operations; nuclear, chemical, and other industrial settings; emergency medicine; mining; firefighting; and police work, as well as everyday settings in which individuals face stressors such as noise, time pressure, and high task load. This book focuses directly on the effects of acute stress-- defined as intense, novel stress of limited duration--on performance. The effects of stress on task performance, decision making, and team interaction are discussed, as well as the interventions used to overcome them.

The world is a dangerous place and recent events have served to make it less safe. There are many arenas of conflict and even combat across the world. Such situations are the quintessential expression of stress; you stand in imminent danger and live with the knowledge that you may be attacked, injured or even killed at any moment. How do people perform under these conditions? How do they keep a heightened level of vigilance when nothing may happen in their immediate location for weeks or even months? What happens when the bullets actually start flying? How is it you distinguish friend from foe, and each from innocent bystanders when in immediate peril of your life? Can we design technology to help people make good decisions in these ultimately hazardous situations? To what degree does your membership in a team act to dissipate these particular effects? Can we generate sufficiently stressful field exercises to simulate these conditions and can we train and/or select those most able to withstand such adverse conditions? How will the next generation of servicemen deal with these inherent problems? These are the sorts of questions that Performance Under Stress addresses. This book is derived largely from a multiple-year, multiple university initiative (MURI) on stress and soldier performance on the modern, electronic battlefield. It involved leading researchers from many institutions who have brought their individual expertise to bear on these crucial, contemporary concerns. United by a common research framework, these groups attacked the issue from different methodological and conceptual approaches, ranging from traditional laboratory modeling and experimentation, to realistic simulations; from involved field exercises to personal experiences of actual combat conditions. The insights generated have been distilled and presented as a benchmark of current understanding and provide future directions for research in this arena. Although this work focuses on soldier stress and soldier performance, the principles that are derived extend well beyond this single application. Their findings can be applied to people facing the demands of the business world or research as much as to those who meet life or death situations, such as homeland security, first responders, and law enforcement personnel.

Stress, Well-Being, and Performance in Sport provides the first comprehensive and contemporary overview of stress in sport and its implications on performance and well-being. It explores how athletes’, coaches', and support staffs' performance can be enhanced while simultaneously optimizing their well-being in contemporary sport. Divided into four sections following the stress process, Stress, Well-Being, and Performance in Sport covers key topics including: Appraising and coping with stress in sport Responses to and outcomes of stress in sport Moderators of the stress process in sport Stress management to promote thriving in sport Bringing together theory and practice, each chapter discusses conceptual and theoretical issues, current research, and innovative practical implications. Written by scholars around the globe, Stress, Well-being, and Performance in Sport offers an international perspective. It is important reading for students of sport psychology as well as coaches, athletes, and support staff.

Covers both theoretical and practical aspects of sports psychology. The first section is devoted to an examination of the relationship between competitive stress and performance, identifying areas that have attracted significant research. It also discusses recent models of stress and performance as well as laboratory-based research, including examination of the differential effects of multidimensional anxiety components, the application of catastrophe theory and reversal theory to stress in sport. The second section focuses on stress management and self-regulation in sport. It discusses goal-setting as a motivation and self-confidence enhancer, anxiety reduction techniques for particular symptoms and the possible mediating role of cognitions in sport performance. Mental training programs for coping with stress and the reasons behind the success of performance routines are also considered. A final section discusses future research directions.

People comprise the backbone of any military force. But what happens when the stress of operations becomes overwhelming and those people fail to cope? Stress can have negative consequences for the individual, the organisation, and even for overall combat effectiveness. The Australian Defence Force has spent many years researching how to maximise individual resilience and performance in the face of extreme stress. For the first time this wealth of knowledge and experience has been brought together in one volume. This work examines the impact of highly stressful events, such as combat and peacekeeping operations, on individual troops and leaders, with a particular focus on factors that build resilience and maximise performance under stress. Managing stress is an important issue not only for the military, but equally for other high-risk professions such as the police and emergency services. This work provides a unique synthesis of a wide range of research, and clinical and personal experience, providing a coherent, integrated approach to the subject. Of particular use to mental health professionals, it will also be of interest to general readers of military and psychology books.

A National Bestseller Foreword by Mark Hyman, MD Preface by Andrew Huberman, PhD You know you should be meditating, so what’s stopping you? This entertaining and enlightening book by the founder of Ziva Meditation—the favorite training for high achievers—will finally take meditation mainstream. In our high-stress, overworked lives, we think the answer to accomplishing more is to do more. But the best advantage we can give ourselves is to take a mental break—to spend a few minutes of the day giving the body and brain rest. Did you know that a brief meditation can offer rest that’s five times deeper than sleep? When you make time to practice the Z Technique this book teaches, you’ll actually be more productive than if you took an hour-and-a-half nap or had a cup of coffee. A leading expert in meditation for high performance, Emily Fletcher has taught meditation at numerous global corporations, including Google, Barclays Bank, and Viacom, to help their employees improve their focus and increase their productivity levels. With Stress Less, Accomplish More, anyone can get the benefits of her 15-minute twice-daily plan. Emily specifically developed the Z Technique for working people with busy lives. Now, you can learn to recharge anywhere, anytime—at home or at your desk. All you need is a few minutes and a chair (no apps, incense, or finger cymbals required). This is not just another meditation book. In Stress Less, Accomplish More, Emily teaches a powerful trifecta of Mindfulness, Meditation, and Manifesting to improve your personal and professional performance, clarity, health, and sleep. You’ll learn how to cultivate Mindfulness through brief but powerful exercises that will help you stop wasting time stressing. Plus, you’ll get Manifesting tools to help you get crystal clear on your personal and professional goals for the future. Filled with fascinating real-life transformations, interactive exercises, and practical knowledge, Stress Less, Accomplish More introduces you to a revelatory daily practice and shows you how to make it work for your modern life. “We meditate to get good at life, not to get good at meditation.”—Emily Fletcher

Human Performance provides the student and researcher with a comprehensive and accessible review of performance, in the real world and essential cognitive science theory. Four main sections cover both theoretical and practical issues: Section One outlines the perspectives on performance offered by contemporary cognitive science, including information processing and neuroscience perspectives. Section Two presents a multi-level view of the performer as biological organism, information-processor and intentional agent. It reviews the development of the cognitive theory of performance through experimental studies and also looks at practical issues such as human error. Section Three reviews the impact of stress factors such as noise, fatigue and illness on performance. Section Four assesses individual and group differences in performance with accounts of ability, personality and aging.

The physiological or psychological stresses that employees bring to their workplace affect not only their own performance but that of their co-workers and others. These stresses are often compounded by those of the job itself. Medical personnel, firefighters, police, and military personnel in combat settingsâ€"among othersâ€"experience highly unpredictable timing and types of stressors. This book reviews and comments on the performance-enhancing potential of specific food components. It reflects the views of military and non-military scientists from such fields as neuroscience, nutrition, physiology, various medical specialties, and performance psychology on the most up-to-date research available on physical and mental performance enhancement in stressful conditions. Although placed within the context of military tasks, the volume will have wide-reaching implications for individuals in any job setting.