Brayden Pawlik

Gripped

"Gripped" looks at the neurophysiology of fear circuits, using Free-Solo climbing to demonstrate the effects fear has on both the body and mind. The sport itself requires an individual to climb exposed rock faces with no safety equipment, aside from climbing shoes and a bag of chalk. The margin for error is almost non-existent, with the consequences of any mistake being fatal. This type of intensity places immense amounts of pressure on the individual, and has the ability to activate fear responses at any moment. To the untrained mind this response can result in muscular paralysis causing the individual to "turn to stone" and cause their sense making pathways to become clouded, both of which having devastating consequences on performance. A main tactic to navigate this situation where fear seems to take control is to place the entirety of ones focus solely onto the next task, and the next, and the next.By stripping down the list of tasks to the bare essentials the minds focus is placed on a specific goal and the achievement of each goal activates reward systems in the brain causing the release of serotonin and increasing the feeling of confidence within the individual. The repetition of this process has a compounding effect which inevitably allows the individual to distance themselves from the grips of fear itself.