The smell of fear

Blessed Easter to all the readers of The STAR.

Have you ever heard the expression “I can smell your fear” or heard that animals can sense fear? We often say this in sports, when we know an opponent feels that they will not win, or doubts their capacity. It’s like the nervous “flop sweat” when doing something uncomfortable or unfamiliar, like speaking in public or going to a job interview. Multiple scientific studies have proven this to be true. And if you sense it, it can activate your killer instinct.

In similar research conducted in Portugal and Stony Brook University in New York (commissioned by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the military research agency of the Pentagon), there is a chemical difference between regular sweat brought about by playing sports and exercising in a relaxed situation, and being in a high-stress situation. In the study, Dr. Lilianne Mujica-Parodi and her team taped absorbent pads to the armpits of 20 novice skydivers as they made their first jump. They then collected sweat from the same individuals on another day at the same time and duration, as they ran on a treadmill.

The scientists then transferred the two types of sweat into nebulizers, and asked volunteers under a brain scanner to breathe them in. The analysis showed that each volunteer had more activity in their amygdala and hypothalamus, the regions of the brain associated with fear, when they breathed in the skydiving “fear” sweat. This proves that in times of perceived danger, human sweat reflects a chemical sign of fear which is not present in “neutral” sweat, or sweat produced in warm environments or through physical exertion. Similar results appeared in the UK, where they used a computer-controlled smelling machine (olfactometer) to distinguish the two types of sweat.

This means two things. First, your body produces a chemically different sweat when under stress or in fear. Secondly, when other people sense it, they experience similar feelings. What are the implications of this for sports? It means that whether or not athletes admit that they feel fear or panic or choking, their teammates and people around them can sense it. Worse, they also experience it. In a sense, fear is contagious.

This stresses the importance of sport psychology. Although Philippine sports for the most part has made great strides in other areas (nutrition, recovery, cross-training), sport psychology has been lagging behind. Mental health has long been neglected in countries by the Philippines, what more for athletes? It’s time we invested more in taking care of our athletes from the neck up.

In a culture where peak performance is the goal, distractions must be avoided, and pressure is always present, mental strength is half the battle won, perhaps more. In your mind, you can control your blood, pressure, heart rate, response time and so much more. Needing help is not a weakness. Depending on your sport, you can have strength, nutrition, defensive, and recovery coaches. Why not someone who can teach you to unload and process your thoughts, prepare you through visualization, and make you mentally stronger?

I think, therefore I am.

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Catch the newest episode of Basketball Universe PHL tonight on YouTube, Facebook and other social media platforms.