Why do we feel 'suffocated' when under pressure?

Recent studies explain why people feel "suffocated" when under pressure, leading to poor work performance.

LiveScience on September 26 quoted Dr. Jeri Tikarem, a clinical psychologist at the online mental health service Kooth, saying that choking when under pressure or stress may be related to the "fight or flight" response, when the body will protect itself from situations that the brain perceives as threatening.

According to Tikarem, this mechanism has ensured our survival to this day. However, in some cases, the brain confuses real danger with other situations, such as the stress of public speaking, and leads to similar physiological responses.

Stress affects work performance.

The fight-or-flight response prompts the body to produce stress hormones, including cortisol and adrenaline, which cause heart rate and blood pressure to increase.

A 2023 study published in the journal Psychological Science found that these cardiovascular factors can predict poor performance in sports. Researchers measured the heart rates of 122 athletes during an Olympic archery competition and found that high heart rates were associated with poorer performance.

Mr. Tikare explains that mental stress causes suffocation because the brain focuses on the threat rather than the task at hand.

According to another study, the presence of other people may also be a major factor in causing shortness of breath under pressure. Additionally, in a study of monkeys, researchers found that the prospect of a large reward could affect their performance.

The anticipation of a large reward affects the brain's ability to prepare the body for a motor task. The monkeys performed best when the rewards were moderate to large—big enough to deter them from being careless, but small enough to not feel pressured. In contrast, when the rewards were extremely large, the monkeys stiffened and performed poorly.

Psychotherapist Sam Jahara, from Brighton and Hove Psychotherapy, says some people are more likely to feel suffocated when stressed or under pressure than others. This, Jahara says, is linked to certain triggers, such as a past event or failure that leads to a loss of confidence.

Fortunately, humans can train themselves to perform well under pressure or stress, according to sports psychology lecturer Chris Hartley, who teaches at the University of Stirling in Scotland.

Additionally, when people feel overwhelmed, they tend to focus on things unrelated to the task, Hartley said.

'In these situations, we can come up with a simple step-by-step protocol that we can follow at any time to help us reorient ourselves back to the task at hand,' Hartley added.