Fact about Fear
If you are a person, you may experience fear.
These bodies we occupy are designed for survival, and the gatekeeper is fear.
It safeguards us, keeping us safe and secure by fostering in us a healthy respect for prospective threats.
Fear breeds prudence, alertness, and suspicion, which is acceptable if a hungry lion is after you.
Fear demands your attention, however, if your purpose is to live in the abundance that is always present, to lead from your heart, and to be open to the depth and breadth of what can be possible in your life.
The only thing you have to fear is fear itself; if you suffer from phobophobia, the fear of fear, you have a phobia of fear.
Okay, phobophobia is definitely not what Franklin D. Roosevelt referred to in his famous address, but how peculiar is a fear phobia?
The science driving fear may seem even odder.
What is Fear?
Fear is the basis of the human response to danger. It is a strong human feeling that stimulates physiological and emotional responses.
Hundreds of scientific research studies have tried to analyze how the body responds to fear, but there is no obvious way to 'accurately measure' fear and panic.
"Fear is our survival response," says Zachary Sikora, Psy.D., a clinical psychologist at Northwestern Medicine.
Some people, such as lovers of roller coasters and horror films, thrive on it, while others avoid it. Have you ever asked yourself why?
Why is Fear Beneficial?
Fear stimulates our fight-or-flight reflexes, which keep us secure and alive on a fundamental level.
Fear heightens consciousness and, as a result, functions as a protective mechanism for both people and animals.
What Physiological changes occur when we sense Fear?
The physiological impact of fear on the body is frequently referred to as the "Fight or Flight" reaction.
Changes to the body actually prepare it for combat or flight.
- Breathing rate and heart rate increase,
- Peripheral blood vessels (in the skin, for instance) constrict, central blood arteries around essential organs widen to flood them with oxygen
- Nutrients, and muscles are pumped with blood in preparation for a response.
Facts on Fear
Neurologists and psychologists are researching fear to learn how phobias and anxiety disorders develop, how to treat them, and how to forecast their appearance.
The Marian Koshland Science Museum recently hosted a lecture on the science of fear with psychology experts Daniel Pine (a researcher at the National Institute of Mental Health) on this topic.
Also, Mark Wiederhold (President of the Virtual Reality Medical Center), organised symposium on FEAR,
We have taken some references as well as other facts about fear in our life which happens to have surprising facts about fears.
1. Being fearful doesn't mean you're in danger.
Fear is also partly made up, so it can happen even when there is nothing scary to be afraid of.
In fact, because our brains are so good, we start to fear things that aren't scary or even there.
This is called "conditioned fear" (anticipatory anxiety). We are concerned about what might happen.
Some neuroscientists say that because humans can learn, think, and create fear in their minds, we are the most afraid animals on the planet.
But this vague, low-level fear can become chronic anxiety about nothing in particular and be very hard to deal with.
2. Your actions are braver the more real the danger is.
How we react to real and imagined threats is different. Imagined threats make people freeze up.
When you're afraid of all the bad things that might or might not happen, you worry a lot but don't do much.
You can't get out of your state of fear, and you don't know what to do. On the other hand, real threats cause chaos.
When the threat is close and clear, you take action right away and without hesitation.
This is why people are much more likely to change what they eat after a serious health scare (like a heart attack) than after reading about how a diet full of fried foods is bad for them.
Putting yourself in danger is the only way to get your troops to move.
3. Things will seem Scarier the more afraid you are.
If you are already scared, a process called potentiation makes your fear response stronger.
When you are already afraid, even good things seem scary.
If you are watching a documentary about poisonous spiders, a tickle on your neck from a loose thread in your sweater will startle you and make you jump out of your seat in fear.
If you are afraid of flying, even the slightest turbulence will send your blood pressure through the roof of the plane.
And the more worried you are about losing your job, the more you will worry when your boss calls you in for even a boring meeting.
4. your behaviors are driven by Fear.
There are four sorts of behaviors (4Fs) inspired by fear:
- Freeze,
- Fight,
- Flight, and
- Fright.
Freeze entails ceasing all activity and concentrating on the scary stimulus to determine the next course of action (e.g., you read a memo that your company will be laying off people).
Next, you decide whether to fight or flee.
You pick whether to immediately deal with the threat (explain to your supervisor why you shouldn't be fired) or circumvent it (start looking for another job).
- When the dread is excessive, you experience fright:
- You neither fight nor flee;
- in fact, you do nothing;
- You fear the problem, worry, and cry, but take no action.
Continuously being in fear mode might result in hopelessness and depression.
5. Fear is a healthy response.
Fear is programmed in the brain, and with good reason: Neuroscientists have uncovered separate networks that extend from the limbic system to the prefrontal cortex and back.
When these networks are electrically or chemically triggered, even in the absence of fearful stimuli, they produce fear.
Fear is neither pathological nor a sign of weakness; the brain's capacity to feel fear is a normal function.
In fact, the absence of fear may indicate severe brain injury.
6. The objective is not to eliminate fear
since you are not able to do so. But you have the capability to change your connection with fear.
Learn to receive it with an open mind and a loving heart, and discover how it lessens your passion for some things.
If it persists, though, do not think that something is wrong or that you've failed. Simply meet it every time with love.
7. Childhood anxiety is Natural.
If you experience anxiety as a youngster, you will likely overcome it.
The majority of children feel worried, but they overcome this anxiety by adolescence.
However, anxiety can sometimes remain until maturity.
Can we distinguish between nervous children who will overcome their anxiety and anxious children who will develop into anxious adults?
Scientists are working on it, but it's not finished.
8. Fear follows a moment of truth.
After a moment of truth, people often feel a wave of fear.
Let's say you have a great idea for something you'd love to do.
Soon after that, you might start to think of reasons why you can't or shouldn't do it.
Know that this is your fear of talking. Being discouraged before beginning any work is also a type of very common fear.
9. Phobia is not Fear
"Jaws" did what it was expected to do if it made you a little nervous about swimming in the ocean.
But if the thought of lying on the beach makes you feel scared, frightened, and unable to do anything, you might be feeling more than just fear.
It's easy to tell the difference between fear and phobia.
People often have fears about things or events. But fear turns into a phobia when it makes it hard for you to function and keep a good quality of life.
If you go to great lengths to avoid things like water, spiders, or other people, you might have a phobia.
10. Recognizing the presence of fear enables conscious decision-making.
Being aware of the presence of fear enables you to make decisions with your full consciousness.
Now that you are aware of what your fears are directing you to do, you are able to think about what it is that you truly desire.
People who don't have a normal fear response to scary situations are fearless.
Fearless persons, unlike those with anxiety disorders, do not experience normal fear responses to frightening situations.
Fearless people are fearless even in terrifying conditions. (For example, a fearless individual might remain calm during a plane accident.)
Why do they lack fear?
The answer is that we are unsure. Neuroscientists are striving to discover the solution, but in the meantime, we only have hints.
"There is some evidence that fearless people exhibit brain response patterns that are consistent with expectations,"
In other words, fearless people are likely not to engage the same areas of the brain that extremely fearful people frequently use excessively, as explained by Pine.
11. Ignoring your fears will just make them stronger.
You do not need to be afraid.
The voice of reason, caution, and realism can sometimes be the voice that helps you best in times of need.
12. Fear Protects You.
"Fear is a natural and physiologic state that everyone has," explains Dr Sikora. "Fear shows us that we are weak and need to be protected.":
Fear is a complicated emotion that can be healthy and good for us, but it can also affect us.
Talk to your primary care provider if fear or phobia is making your life difficult or inconvenient.
They can help you figure out what kind of treatment you might need.
13. It takes time and effort to resist fear.
It needs strength to fight back against fear.
Your mind and body will be able to rest once you have familiarized yourself with it and given it the liberty to be as it is.
This creates an opening for creativity, wonder, and excitement, as well as love, beauty, and inspiration.
14. People can get rid of their fears.
But in this scenario, extinction differs from the context of dinosaurs.
Fear extinction is the reduction of fear through the formation of non-fearful memory connections.
Such instance teaching a mouse to associate a light with a loud noise.
If the mouse experiences the light without the loud noise, it will associate the light with new (and more pleasant) memories.
The alternative collection of happy memories will boost (but not eradicate) the original set of fearful memories.
15. Stress hormones accelerate the extinction of Fear.
The effects of the stress hormone cortisol on people receiving exposure therapy for a fear of heights were studied in a 2010 study (also known as acrophobia).
The placebo-controlled, double-blind research delivered cortisol or a placebo one hour before exposure therapy.
Those who took cortisol reported a decrease in their fear of heights.
During treatment, these people had a considerably larger reduction in their anxieties.
Cortisol has been shown to enhance memory consolidation of new information in humans and animals, which improves the extinction of fears during exposure therapy.
16. Virtual reality has Solution beyond games.
At the Virtual Reality Medical Center (VRMC), phobia and anxiety patients are subjected to their concerns using a novel exposure therapy technique: virtual reality.
Phobias, PTSD, and other anxiety disorders are treated using 3-D computer stimulations.
It was experiented through a head-mount with miniature TV monitors and stereo headphones) that gradually expose the patient to the anxiety-inducing stimulus.
Depending on the stage of treatment, a person with a fear of crowds might encounter a simulation of walking along a street with various numbers of people.
Virtual reality exposure therapy is especially beneficial for patients who, for whatever reason, cannot tolerate or get conventional exposure, such as former soldiers with PTSD who are no longer on active duty.
Understand fear. You are so familiar with it that it cannot surprise you.
Liberate yourself from the chains of fear, and every moment of your life will glow with brilliance.
Last Word
Fear has the potential to work in both our favor and against us in equal measure.
And the fear of terror itself might keep you confined in isolation of discomfort.
How are you going to overcome it? You become able to make use of it.
How have you learned to face your fears?
Do you feel any impacts from it?
What are the consequences of giving in to fear?
It would definitely stimulate my interest to hear from those of you.