Most senior CFIs have at least one story of forcibly taking over control of an aircraft from a locked-up, panicked learner. A SAFE survey of CFIs revealed that 65% had at some point forcibly taken back aircraft control from an irrational student! One CFI/DPE revealed a crash where he struggled and lost this battle resulting in a dramatic crash. A person overcome by fear becomes a powerful and irrational animal in your cockpit. Step one is to avoid ever scaring your student. Step two is staying ever vigilant and be prepared in case this does happen.
The grieving father of a young female CFI who died in a dual accident shared his story and inspired several SAFEblogs on this topic. Unfortunately, new “millennial flight schools” tend to be all excitement and hope with the new growth in aviation. They never cover or train this dark side of the CFI profession. Please watch this recent Air Safety Institute”early analysis” dissecting a recent instructional accident and share it with other CFIs.The possibility of student lock-up is real, and probably more common than currently recognized. (Recent KSMO accident?)
If you are a senior CFI, please mentor your proteges on the possibility of student lock-up and discuss recovery techniques. This is not an excuse for micromanaging the controls but a reminder to never get complacent; the CFI job has many rewards but also provides some “exciting moments.”
If you are a solo pilot, the other side of this same fear equation is surviving startle. Panic is possible for anyone when exposed to a new and shocking flight experience outside their comfort zone. Self-calming is an important first step to regaining control. Every pilot should practice specific techniques like deep 
breathing and positive self talk to empower a systematic recovery in frightening situations. Even in a crash scenario, survival requires flying the plane all the way to a stop and never giving up. This is the burden of pilot in command during the “not fun” experiences that are always possible when we defy gravity.
Practicing flight out of the comport zone is one purpose of flight reviews and recurrent training. Extended Envelope Training allows a pilot to be comfortable and prepared when encountering these surprising flight attitudes (read “upsets”) Build your bravery; get a good CFI and practice. Fly SAFE out there (and often)!
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Fear kills. As a CFI you teach students to not fear what is going on in an airplane. There should be nothing short of a wing falling off that scares a pilot… even then you still have a chance. Just ask the F15 pilot that landed with one wing. Never stop working the problem.
Also an important message to evaluators;
Yup, I was complacent. A hot south Texas morning in an old C150. The private pilot applicant was tall, and larger than me. He chose 2500 ft for a maneuvering altitude, I requested 3500. After clearing turns we started maneuvers; first up, slow flight. With 40 degrees of flaps, energy management is key in an old 150. Unfortunately my applicant’s gaze was fixed solely on the airspeed indicator, or was it the altimeter? In any case, the airplane was losing energy, speed decaying, losing altitude. The pilot had not added full throttle, which was certainly called for. It was hot, I dreamily stared out my window, waiting for the lazy Cessna spin entry with which I was well accustomed. Instead the airplane snapped abruptly into a rapid, near vertical spin. The engine was unloaded and screaming. The applicant was rigid, holding the yoke back and the throttle in. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh we spun. I elbowed him in the ribs and said; let . go . of . the controls. As soon as I reduced power, the spin slowed, and I was flying again. After confirming he was OK, I asked the pilot to fly back to base.
An interesting note: after discussing this incident with the schools two CFIs (after a second test where I could not get the applicant to stall the airplane), I learned that they only demonstrated one full stall, after which they only required students to demonstrate approach to stalls.
Glad you got control back Charlie. We see more and more of this as even *required* training (at the edges of the flight envelope) is ignored by CFIs preparing and endorsing applicants for flight tests. Most DPEs I know request the approach-to-anding stall in a turn (yes, approved ACS maneuver) and that is often many applicants’ first experience with this maneuver.