I will often be met with the idea that fear motivates people to achieve things. This is not an uncommon theory and has been pushed and indeed championed by successful people.

I’ve been coaching students at Y11, 12 and 13 and listened to the way they think about and see their lives, and the way they have to perform. This idea of motivational fear will often come up. Teens taking important exams will be driven to revise by a fear of failure. One boy even referred to this process as ‘almost natural’.

Jonny Wilkinson, the famous flyhalf for England, is well known for having suffered from this condition. I say suffered, and so would he. Making fear your master has a number of downsides, most of all to your physiology.

To understand this fully, we must dive into a bit of brain biology. It took me a while to get my head around all of this so I will try and explain it properly.

The first thing to understand is that stress is an important physiological response. We need it at certain times in our life. Our body is set up to access this higher plain of ability and this is why some people see it as a viable way of doing things. The problem comes when you stay in that state for a prolonged period of time.

When threatened, made fearful or put into a dangerous situation, our mind and body respond to create a physiological response. This response gives us greater speed, strength and physical competence to allow us to get away from or free ourselves from said danger or fear.

Here’s what happens: at the centre of the mind sits the amygdala, the area of the brain responsible for interpreting emotional content. The amygdala recognises danger or dangerous situations (interestingly, alcohol dampens the messaging ability of the amygdala which is why we find ourselves doing stupid things when we’re drunk). On perceiving this danger, the amygdala sends a specific message to the hypothalamus, the part of the brain in charge of regulating your physiological state: it prepares our bodies for a flight or fight response, both of which need increased ability. The hormone epinephrine is pumped out by the adrenal glands and a number of things start to happen: energy is diverted to the big muscles; our breathing becomes quicker and therefore shallower; the heart races and blood vessels contract leading to increased blood pressure; there is also a release of glucose which gives you a sugar rush. In this state, you can run faster or hit harder and it is hoped that you will either escape or overcome the threat and at some point, in the near future, return to a state of comfort and safety. There is one final hormone released at this stage and it is possibly the most problematic: cortisol is released by the body to keep the mind and body in a state of readiness should the danger return. Cortisol itself has a number of knock-on effects if this state of readiness is held for any great length of time.

If you stay in this state of high alert for mid to long term, a number of physiological reactions start to take place: cortisol dampens the release of repair hormones; there is extra and sustained pressure on the cardiovascular system; the is low-level inflammation of joints and arteries and a ‘continued hypervigilance’, perhaps rather obviously, reduces your ability to think straight.

As you can gather, this is not a state that your body should stay in for a protracted period of time. You may have been in it. Prolonged durations of stress can cause you to get things like colds and flu more easily, and you have more trouble shifting illnesses or viruses. It makes it difficult to concentrate on anything other than the thing causing you stress, which means you can often appear removed or distracted in social or family situations. Stress is one of the main causes of blood pressure ascent and the subsequent heart attacks or strokes that this causes.

All pretty dark and morbid stuff. But I do have some good news: contrast this with another physiological response involving the amygdala and hypothalamus.

When the amygdala reads the emotional content as nourishing, rewarding or intimate – when we spend quality time with people with whom we have good, strong relationships – a signal is sent to the hypothalamus and this in turn releases oxytocin. Oxytocin is the polar opposite to cortisol: it improves health and organ functionality; it reduces inflammation and accelerates healing; cortisol production itself is drastically reduced, as is any further transmission by the amygdala; your mood is improved and indeed your pain threshold is raised; there is also an increase in your ability to be creative, empathetic, trusting, honest. A knock-on effect is the release of serotonin and dopamine, the so-called ‘happiness’ hormones, and an overall greater sense of well-being and calmness is achieved. This process is at the heart of our ability to form relationships with others and possibly the process that makes us feel most human.

Stress and its physiological response are there for a reason. At certain times, we need to access it, but remaining there for a great deal of time is disadvantageous, even damaging. If we are using fear as a motivator to complete a task, endure examinations or, even worse, as a way of working at our jobs, the long-term effects are deeply troubling.

So I plead with young people, and I am pleading with you, do not make fear your master. Spend time in enriching, valuable, enhancing relationships; search out positive human interaction and recognise how that makes you feel. Work hard and stretch yourself to be at your very best but make time for moments of relaxation and respite. Exercise often, breathe deep, laugh a lot (all great ways to access oxytocin) and when stress comes along, respond to what is needed but find time and space afterwards to return back to the controlled and calm person you are naturally.