Rangers Stressing You Out? You're Not Alone

ARLINGTON (CBSDFW.COM) - It's the bottom of the ninth, two on, two out and you need a hit or your team loses.  That's what your brain thinks.  In reality you're sitting on a bar stool watching it play out on a big screen.

Fans identify so much with their home teams though, experts say that our brains go through the same emotions and same stresses as they watch a game.

"Our sports teams are our warriors, our modern days warriors," said psychologist Dr. Sylvia Gearing. "We identify with them so when they're out on the field a part of us is out on the field."

Broadcast cameras have settled on nervous fans through the Texas Rangers playoff run in 2011.  Some chew their nails.  Others hold their heads or cover their eyes during tense situations.

It's more stressful this year some fans said, because they expect the team to win after unexpected success in 2010.  "It's Texas," said Heather Turnbow, who was watching the game with friends Thursday at Grease Monkey in Arlington. "We love our Rangers. And when it comes down to it, everybody is just pulling for them."

Gearing said the stress doesn't compare to losing a job or losing a spouse.  Those can be long-term stresses, and tension over a game, should end when its over.  "A win or a loss for your favorite team should hit you for a few hours and then you should let it go."

A win though she said, has been shown to raise our self confidence, and even our own opinions of our sex appeal.