Fear is a strong negative emotion that arises as a result of an imagined or real danger and poses a threat to life for the individual. In psychology, fear is understood as the internal state of a person, which is caused by a perceived or real disaster.
Psychologists attribute fear to emotional processes. K. Izard defined this state as a basic emotion that is innate and has genetic and physiological components. Fear mobilizes the individual's body to avoid behavior. A person’s negative emotion signals a state of danger, which directly depends on numerous external and internal, acquired or congenital reasons.
Psychology of fear
Two neural pathways are responsible for the development of this feeling, which must function simultaneously. The first is responsible for basic emotions, reacts quickly and is accompanied by a significant number of errors. The second one reacts much slower, but more accurately. The first way helps us quickly respond to signs of danger, but often works as a false alarm. The second way makes it possible to more thoroughly assess the situation and therefore respond more accurately to the danger.
In the case of a feeling of fear in a person who is initiated by the first path, the functioning of the second path occurs, which evaluates some signs of danger as unreal. When a phobia occurs, the second pathway begins to function inadequately, which provokes the development of a feeling of fear of stimuli that are dangerous.
Fears in their manifestations
Fear in its manifestations is the most confusing part of psychology and the greatest discrepancies exist between individual psychologists. The emotion of fear has been poorly studied from a psychological point of view, although it has been described in great detail from a physiological point of view, that is, one can find a large number of studies that reveal the physiological mechanisms of the occurrence and course of this emotion.
Fear is one of the emotions that allows you to adapt and avoid situations that threaten human life. Many different types of fear and phobias are already inherently inherent at the genetic level, and if parents constantly react to certain stimuli with fear, then there is a high probability that these stimuli will cause fear in their child.
The key emotion in the subjective experience of anxiety is fear, but other emotions, such as sadness, shame and guilt, can be involved in the anxiety experience. The phenomenology of anxiety is based on the experience of fear. Fear, like any basic emotion, can vary in its intensity; accordingly, in anxiety it can be expressed weakly, moderately or strongly. When describing anxiety, some people mention feeling shame or guilt. In our society, adults teach children, especially boys, not to show fear. Thus, the experience of fear and the fear of discovering one's fear can cause a person to feel guilty and ashamed. The combination of fear and shame in the emotional pattern of anxiety is especially harmful to a person’s mental health, since neither of these emotions can be considered at least somewhat favorable background for social interaction.
It is important to understand that in a state of anxiety, we typically experience not just one emotion, but some combination or pattern of different emotions, each of which affects our social relationships, our somatic state, our perceptions, thoughts and behavior.
The state of fear is quite typical for humans, especially in extreme activities, in the presence of unfavorable conditions and unfamiliar surroundings. In many cases, the mechanism for the appearance of fear in a person is a conditioned reflex, as a result of previously experienced pain or some unpleasant situation. We experience fear from ignorance and ignorance, which at the initial stage of “human” evolution is a consequence that instinctively manifests itself and dominates in animal forms and is “inherited” from the “animal-human” ancestors of our biological forms.
Forms of fear, their varieties and intensity of influence
We can “unfold” them in the information “space” of our Self-Consciousness as a result of lost experience when interacting with objects and circumstances of the surrounding reality. Any experience accompanies human development. The more information there is about the object that causes fear, the more adequate your reaction will be. But the problem is that if a person is scared by something, then he tries to remove information about this object from himself instead of learning more about it and destroying the conflict within himself, finding an explanation for his fears and transforming them into a logical human idea .
Emotions, including emotions of fear, externally manifest themselves differently in different people, but similar physiological changes occur in their bodies.
Here is what K. Izard, a recognized researcher of emotions, writes about this: “...sharp changes in somatic indicators when a person experiences a strong emotion indicate that almost everything is involved in this process: the neurophysiological and somatic systems of the body. These changes inevitably affect the individual's perception, thinking and behavior, and in extreme cases can lead to physical and mental disorders."
Fears can be roughly divided into three levels, according to increasing intensity:
- Fear of events and fear of actions.
- Fear of one's own states.
- Fear of not being able to cope with internal states.
The first category refers to simple fears: fears of natural phenomena such as earthquakes, the end of the world, floods and other random disasters. This is a simple fear of the possibility of becoming a participant.
The second level of fear is deep. These are fears and fear of those emotions that may be uncomfortable and therefore paralyze the activity of overcoming them. A typical fear is the fear of disappointment.
The third level is the strongest. This is the level at which the strongest emotional states are produced, and in order to avoid states such as depression, we are willing to do nothing at all. The strongest fuses of our subconscious are involved here.
In appearance, fear manifests itself in different ways: in some people one sign is more pronounced, in others it is different, but in people’s bodies the same processes occur.
The emotion of fear is individual and reflects the genetic characteristics, characteristics of culture and upbringing, temperament, accentuation, and neuroticism of each individual person.
Most often, the tendency to certain types of fear is transmitted genetically (and then external factors are superimposed). Parents and children have similar genetic and often psychological characteristics. In particular, such a characteristic is temperament. The speed and stability of mental processes and their depth depend on the characteristics of temperament. Therefore, people with strong temperament feel emotions more strongly. In addition, another genetic and psychological feature is accentuation. Accentuation is extremely pronounced character traits that are on the verge of the norm. Interaction with society, people and the tendency to develop certain types of fear depend on it.
What is the difference between the manifestations of fear: is it an instinctive normal reaction of the body or is it already a pathology?
To determine the degree of pathology of fears, the parameters of adequacy (validity), intensity, duration, and degree of control by a person of the feeling of fear are used. Validity is the correspondence of the degree of expression of fear to the real danger emanating from the event or from surrounding people. The intensity is determined based on physiological reactions (intensity of sweating, heartbeat, sometimes trembling in the body, feeling of suffocation, weakness, vomiting, etc.) disorganization of the activity and well-being of the person who is possessed by this emotion. Controllability is the ability to disobey fear and overcome it. Duration is the duration of the emotion of fear.
Physiological response to the emotion of fear
Fear can be rational, justified and irrational (neurotic). The development of a feeling of fear (emotion) both rational and irrational occurs in the same way. It is established along two neural pathways located throughout the body that must function simultaneously.
The first is responsible for the development of basic emotions (self-preservation), reacts quickly (stimulus - thalamus - amygdala - hypothalamus), but is accompanied by a large number of mistakes in life. The second one reacts more accurately, but slowly (stimulus - thalamus - hippocampus - sensory cortex - amygdala - hypothalamus).
On the first path (low, short, subcortical), the emotional stimulus, reflected in the sensitive nuclei of the visual thalamus, closes on the amygdala nuclei of the visual thalamus, causing an emotional response.
On the second path (high, long, cortical), the emotional stimulus, reflected in the sensitive nuclei of the visual thalamus, ascends to the sensory parts of the cerebral cortex and from them is sent to the nuclei of the amygdala (almond-shaped) complex, forming an emotional response.
The first way allows us to quickly respond to danger signs, but often triggers as a false alarm. The second way allows us to more accurately assess the situation and respond to the danger more accurately. In this case, the feeling of fear initiated by the first pathway is blocked by the functioning of the second pathway, which evaluates certain signs of danger as non-existent.
Neuroscientists have found that in anxious people, the prefrontal cortex of the brain becomes increasingly denser than in calm people.
The prefrontal cortex (a collection of several areas of the frontal lobes directly connected to parts of the limbic system) reduces the strength of the impulses of the amygdala and acts like an absorbent, “soaking up” emotional stress. If a person's amygdala is naturally overactive, the body compensates by thickening the prefrontal cortex.
In humans and animals, this subcortical brain structure is involved in the formation of both negative (fear, defensive and aggressive behavior) and positive emotions (experience of pleasure, pleasure from food, sex, attention, viewing, etc.). Moreover, its size correlates with aggressive behavior: in less developed “personalities” the prefrontal cortex is always larger. Conditions such as anxiety, autism, depression, post-traumatic shock and phobias are associated with the presence (initial programming of such conditions) of functional inconsistency and dominance of “animal programs”, which physiologically manifests itself as abnormal functioning of the amygdala with the ensuing mental and physiological consequences.”
The experience of fear is accompanied by a feeling of uncertainty, insecurity, and inability to control the situation. The primary function of fear is to motivate specific cognitive and behavioral acts that promote security and a sense of confidence. Let's imagine a situation: a person is in danger, the brain first receives an impulse received by the amygdala, which in turn gives a signal to other systems. The autonomic system, which is responsible for breathing, comes into motion, and within a few seconds the physical body is ready to defend itself. A flood of chemicals released by the endocrine system rushes into the bloodstream, and the released hormones, adrenaline and cortisol, speed up the heart, which causes blood to flow to the muscles to act quickly. In this state, the perception of time changes: everything in space seems slowed down and the person freezes in horror, but in fact, all of the above processes in the brain occur in just a few seconds.
At this time, information is collected to make a decision: the first instinctive impulse calls for defense, but in the process the hippocampus becomes active.
The hippocampus takes longer to react, sometimes too much time to be of any use in assessing the situation, since the amygdala acts instantly on the emotional level. The reaction of instinctive fear after the moment of fixation of danger very quickly reaches the brain, and the received information is “stopped” in order to create greater opportunities for the implementation of corresponding animal programs in humans. As a result of this, the reverse process occurs: a conscious assessment of the situation and making a decision about the presence of a real danger, it takes much longer in the human mind, and during this time he manages to do a lot of stupid things, the further correction of which allows him to accumulate additional life experience. To ensure the ability to quickly escape from particularly dangerous situations, a kind of “relay” fear switch is provided in the brain, working on the “on-off” principle, which helps to keep under control too violent emotions that can destroy the brain or even the entire body when going through such stress , such as heart attack, stroke and others.
There are many hormones and neurotransmitters associated with the emotion of fear. They act on the body in a complex, causing a reaction in the body, constriction of blood vessels, increased muscle tension; the work of the whole organism slows down. The most important hormones produced during fear are adrenaline and norepinephrine.
When you are afraid, adrenaline is pumped into your blood. It is secreted by the adrenal glands, causing the fight or flight response; its secretion increases sharply during stress, danger, borderline situations, and pain. Its effect accelerates the breakdown of glycogen, which causes an increase in blood glucose levels. Adrenaline acts in extreme situations, it affects the concentration of glucose in the blood, at a time when a person experiences anger or fear. The human body needs a lot of glucose immediately in order to supply energy to the muscles to carry out the fight or flight response. Adrenaline promotes the breakdown of glycogen in the muscles, which they then use. It increases blood pressure (in fact, it is for this reason that adrenaline was discovered) and increases the heart rate and breathing.
These two effects are realized in close interaction with the nervous system; chemical (hormonal) and electrical (nervous) regulation of body functions are not independent, but are closely intertwined with one another: norepinephrine, hormone, and neurotransmitter (neurotransmitters transmit electrical impulses between neurons). The level of norepinephrine also increases with stress, shock, trauma, anxiety, fear, and nervous tension. Its main effect during the emotion of fear is aimed exclusively at narrowing blood vessels and increasing blood pressure. It is believed that norepinephrine is the rage hormone, and adrenaline is the fear hormone. Norepinephrine excites in a person a feeling of malice, anger, rage, and permissiveness. Adrenaline and norepinephrine are closely related. In the adrenal glands, adrenaline is synthesized from norepinephrine. This confirms the assumption that the emotions of fear and hatred are close, they are generated from one another.
How can you work through your fears thoughtfully?
Dangerous situations can cause anxiety in a person and develop into fear of varying degrees of severity (from timidity to horror and panic), that is, accompanied by feelings, but can be perceived without worries, when a person is limited to only stating the danger itself. For example, when he says that he is afraid of snakes, this does not mean that he is experiencing the emotion of fear (at the moment there is no threat, a snake, nearby). The latter means that a person has developed an emotional attitude towards a particular object.
The solution to a problem may be just around the corner, and often lies in the problem itself. Many people don't even realize they are afraid. In such cases, we need to try to realize that we experience fear quite often. And after awareness, we need to learn to control it. When we overcome fear, the moment of truth comes that nothing can happen to us. If you force yourself to meet your fear, different types of fears are transformed, and a specific fear may not be repeated. But the mind can fail; If you do not change your thoughts and ideas about imaginary fear, then you can remain in your previous position in relation to this problem situation.
And methods have been developed to solve this issue; here are some ways to overcome fear, suggested by Dr. Zane.
Switch negative thoughts to positive thoughts. In a state of phobia, a person experiences unpleasant thoughts and scary images in the imagination, which in turn trigger physical symptoms. You have to assume that you will feel scared, but try to move from negative thoughts like, “This dog is going to bite me,” to something actually positive, like, “This dog is tightly attached and can’t break free.”
Face your fear head on. Avoiding what you fear means not overcoming your fear. Instead, you can achieve the desired control through a procedure called “exposure treatment,” in which you are gradually exposed to the object of your fear and become convinced that what you imagined and expected does not actually happen. This measured exposure can help you get used to the subject.
For example, your phobia is spiders. During the exposure treatment hour, you may first face your fear, usually in the presence of another person, such as a picture of spiders. Once you learn to cope with this, you can move on to looking at a dead spider, then at a live one, and even holding one in your hand. You may still feel some fear each time, but with this exposure you will learn that the terrible things you imagined are not actually happening to you and the spider.
The first step on the path to change is to recognize your fear, acknowledge its presence, find out why you needed it vitally in childhood, how it can be useful to you now, and when it interferes with you and needs to be overcome.
Intuitively knowing about the potential possibility of some negative consequences, you can prudently model the circumstances in such a way as to eliminate some adverse consequences. Prudence in this case does not mean fear, but common sense, not the expectation of something bad and dangerous, but the confidence that all precautions have been taken and we are not in danger, and if danger arises, we will be ready to meet it in advance . Such reinsurance behavior is also not absolutely positive, but it is more balanced and less destructive than the fear and horror of waiting for something unknown and life-threatening. Reinsurance is evidence that a person already has experience in his self-awareness, but at the same time it is a clear sign of insufficient experience in passing such situations (full-fledged experience would not allow one to focus on expecting something dangerous).
The process of our consistent acquisition of any experience contributes to the resolution of a particular situation. At first, everything is understood through a large number of trials and errors, and when the results obtained are collected, analyzed and compared with each other, it becomes possible to consciously perform controlled actions, foreseeing in advance most of their possible consequences. And if in our self-awareness there are many gaps of under-received life experience, then every time it will be difficult to understand our “internal” states and decide on any specific choice.
As for my work with one of the types of fear - public speaking - I determined for myself that this fear was based not only on the unknown and uncertainty about what the result of the speech would be. This fear once meant a lack of experience and understanding of the underlying reasons that stimulate fear of the public. They were pride and another fear - to be misunderstood by people around. The fear of the public was formed by a rich imagination: I began to think about what others would say about me, to complete in my fantasies the negative reaction of others to my words. And thus she brought herself to the point of stress, which resulted in panic, uncontrollable tears and a reluctance to perform, which led to withdrawal.
Having started working with this type of fear, I stopped perceiving everything only from the perspective of my own feelings, my own interests, my own problems, and looked at the world from a different perspective using the methods and explanations of issiidiology. Through trial and error in practice, I found motivation for speaking and ways out of uncomfortable situations that arose in the process. Gradually transforming fear, I found joy in participating and communicating with other people. Step by step, the field of awareness of the safety and joy of public communication expanded, the intensity of fear decreased and a feeling of stability and order appeared in one’s life. When I recalled the events of my past and traced how I attracted them into my life, “created” them, it became clear to me that I create all the opportunities and conditions of my life myself, both joyful and stressful.
Answering myself questions about how I can create my own life joyful, conscious, responsible, free from fears, I realized the following. The prospect of conscious existence and responsibility for every choice is completely unattainable for a person until he gets rid of one of his main fears - the fear of death .
The mechanism of realization and transformation of the emotion of fear of death is described in detail in Iissiidiology (the cycle “Immortality is available to everyone,” volume 13). And here is how Iissiidiology defines the concept of death: “Death” is the subjective result of our egoistic self-perception, the degree of drama or favorability of which in relation to each individual depends entirely on the degree of quality of the state of his Self-Knowledge” (BDK volume 13, paragraph 13.15081).
In conclusion, I would like to say: in order to overcome the barrier of fear, it is necessary to more deeply understand the true mechanisms of this process, to get rid of millennia-old ideas that instill in people instinctive horror and an unaccountable fear of complete disappearance from life. Without understanding important details and details, without understanding the meaning of our existence, we continue to cling to what we see in front of us in the mirror. And when we figure out what “death” is, we will be freed not only from the fear of death, but also from the fear of any troubles, which are only necessary attributes for us to gain the missing experience.
Causes of fear
In everyday life, as well as in emergency situations, a person is faced with a strong emotion - fear. A negative emotion in a person represents a long-term or short-term emotional process that develops due to an imaginary or real danger. Often this condition is marked by unpleasant sensations, at the same time being a signal for protection, since the main goal facing a person is to save his own life.
But it should be borne in mind that the response to fear is the unconscious or thoughtless actions of a person, which are caused by panic attacks with the manifestation of severe anxiety. Depending on the situations, the course of the emotion of fear in all people varies significantly in strength, as well as in its influence on behavior. Finding out the reason in a timely manner will significantly speed up getting rid of negative emotions.
The causes of fear can be both hidden and obvious. Often a person does not remember the obvious reasons. Hidden fears are understood as fears that come from childhood, for example, increased parental care, temptations, a consequence of psychological trauma; fears caused by a moral conflict or unresolved problem.
There are cognitively constructed reasons: feelings of rejection, loneliness, threats to self-esteem, depression, feelings of inadequacy, feelings of imminent failure.
Consequences of negative emotions in a person: strong nervous tension, emotional states of uncertainty, search for protection, prompting the individual to escape, save. There are basic functions of people’s fear, as well as accompanying emotional states: protective, signaling, adaptive, search.
Fear can manifest itself in the form of a depressed or excited emotional state. Panic fear (horror) is often marked by a depressed state. Synonyms for the term “fear” or similar terms are the terms “anxiety”, “panic”, “fright”, “phobia”.
If a person has a short-term and at the same time strong fear caused by a sudden stimulus, then it will be classified as fear, and a long-term and not clearly expressed one will be classified as anxiety.
Conditions such as phobias can lead to frequent and strong experiences of negative emotions by an individual. A phobia is understood as an irrational, obsessive fear associated with a certain situation or object, when a person cannot cope with it on his own.
Why are we afraid?
If we weren’t afraid, we wouldn’t live long: we would go out onto the road right under cars and squeeze poisonous snakes. The purpose of fear in humans and all animals in general is to promote survival. During human evolution, people who feared what was right survived to pass on their genes, causing the fear trait and response to it to be selected for by evolution as beneficial.
Why do people make a special grimace of fear when they are scared? Charles Darwin said that this is the result of instinctive muscle tension caused by a developed reaction to fear. To prove his point, he went to the reptile house at the London Zoological Gardens. Trying to remain completely calm, he stood as close to the glass as possible, and from the other side a viper rushed towards him. Every time she got too close, Darwin winced and jumped away.
Most of us are no longer fighting for our lives in the wild, but fear is far from an outdated instinct. Today it serves the same purpose as the day before yesterday, when we could come across a wild animal while collecting. The more modern decision not to take a shortcut through a deserted courtyard at night is based on rational fear, which promotes survival. Only the incentives have changed, but we are in as much danger today as we were hundreds of years ago, and our fear protects us just as much as it did then.
Besides instinct, people have other factors associated with fear. Thus, humans have the “gift of anticipation”: we anticipate terrible things that might happen, things we have heard about, read about, or seen on TV. Most of us have never experienced a plane crash, but that doesn't stop us from sitting on a plane and being afraid. At the same time, anticipating a frightening stimulus can cause the same reaction as experiencing it—this is also an evolutionary advantage. Those people who, having felt the rain, waited for lightning and stayed in the cave, had a better chance of not being shocked by electricity of thousands of volts.
Signs of fear
Some features of the expression of negative emotions are manifested in physiological changes: increased sweating, rapid heartbeat, diarrhea, dilation and constriction of the pupils, urinary incontinence, darting eyes. These signs appear when there is a threat to life or in front of a characteristic biological fear.
Signs of fear are forced silence, passivity, refusal to act, avoidance of communication, uncertain behavior, the appearance of a speech defect (stuttering) and bad habits (looking around, stooping, biting nails, fiddling with objects); the individual strives for solitude and isolation, which contributes to the development of depression, melancholy, and in some cases provokes suicide. People who experience fears complain of obsession, which ultimately prevents them from living a full life. Obsession with fear interferes with initiative and forces inaction. Deceptive visions and mirages accompany a person; he is afraid, tries to hide or run away.
Sensations that arise during a strong negative emotion: the ground disappears from under your feet, adequacy and control over the situation are lost, internal numbness and numbness (stupor) occurs. A person becomes fussy and hyperactive, he always needs to run somewhere, because it is unbearable to be alone with the object or problem of fear. A person is squeezed and dependent, stuffed with insecurity complexes. Depending on the type of nervous system, the individual defends himself and goes on the offensive, showing aggression. In essence, this acts as a disguise for experiences, addictions and anxieties.
Fears manifest themselves in different ways, but have common features: restlessness, anxiety, nightmares, irritability, suspicion, suspiciousness, passivity, tearfulness.
When to seek help from a psychologist
Among people who love the feeling of fear, there are also adrenaline junkies. They constantly risk their own lives; if they give up this dangerous occupation, they begin to feel sad and depressed. Some of these people may need the help of a professional psychologist.
It is believed that such people take risks instead of love, communication, and the desire to enter into a relationship.
There are also people who believe that adrenaline junkies subconsciously strive for death. This is a very controversial opinion, but a person should talk to a specialist, otherwise the problem of fear and its incorrect implementation can lead to tragic consequences.
Video about ADME and find out what you are afraid of.
Types of fears
Yu.V. Shcherbatykh identified the following classification of fears. The professor divided all fears into three groups: social, biological, existential.
He included in the biological group those that are directly related to a threat to human life, the social group is responsible for fears and fears in social status, the scientist associated the existential group of fears with the essence of man, which is observed in all people.
All social fears are caused by situations that can undermine social status and lower self-esteem. These include fear of public speaking, responsibility, and social contacts.
Existential fears are associated with the individual’s intellect and are caused by reflection (reflection on issues that affect the problems of life, as well as death and human existence itself). For example, this is fear of time, death, as well as the meaninglessness of human existence, etc.
Following this principle: fear of fire will be classified as a biological category, stage fright as a social category, and fear of death as an existential category.
In addition, there are also intermediate forms of fear that stand on the border between two groups. These include fear of disease. On the one hand, the disease brings suffering, pain, damage (biological factor), and on the other, a social factor (separation from society and the team, exclusion from usual activities, decreased income, poverty, dismissal from work). Therefore, this condition is referred to as the border of the biological and social group, fear of swimming in a pond on the border of the biological and existential, fear of losing loved ones on the border of the biological and existential group. It should be noted that in every phobia all three components are noted, but one is dominant.
It is common for an individual, and this is normal, to be afraid of dangerous animals, certain situations, as well as natural phenomena. People's fears about this are reflexive or genetic in nature. In the first case, the danger is based on negative experience, in the second it is recorded at the genetic level. Both cases control reason and logic. Presumably, these reactions have lost their useful meaning and therefore greatly interfere with a person’s ability to live fully and happily. For example, it makes sense to be careful around snakes, but it is foolish to be afraid of small spiders; One can be justifiably afraid of lightning, but not thunder, which is incapable of causing harm. With such phobias and inconveniences, people should rebuild their reflexes.
People's fears that arise in situations that are dangerous to health and life have a protective function and are therefore useful. And people’s fear of medical procedures can harm their health, since they will prevent timely diagnosis of the disease and initiation of treatment.
People's fears are varied, as are their areas of activity. A phobia is based on the instinct of self-preservation and acts as a defensive reaction in the face of danger. Fear can manifest itself in various forms. If a negative emotion is not clearly expressed, then it is experienced as a fuzzy, vague feeling - anxiety. Stronger fear is noted in negative feelings: horror, panic.
The benefits and harms of fear for humans
If a person faces fear, this does not mean that he will have to live with it for the rest of his life. After all, if there were no fear and uncertainty, it would be more difficult for people to survive. From this we can conclude that in some sense fear is useful.
Benefits of fear:
Saves from attacks, accidents, self-harm; this is the main positive function of fear.
It has a positive effect on muscle tone, as the hormone serotonin is produced.
A person begins to think faster and act harmoniously (but some are paralyzed by fear).
The harm of fear:
Restricts movement.
It disrupts the respiratory processes, making breathing confusing and difficult.
A person may make strange, reckless or unfounded decisions when driven by fear.
A panic attack may occur.
Some particularly impressionable people may lose consciousness.
The body becomes tight, this can cause headaches, digestive problems, insomnia, etc.
State of fear
Negative emotion is a normal individual response to the vicissitudes of life. In an implicit, expressed form, this state acts as an adaptive reaction. For example, an applicant cannot successfully pass an exam without experiencing excitement and any anxiety. But in extreme terms, the state of fear deprives the individual of the ability to fight, giving a feeling of horror and panic. Excessive excitement and anxiety do not allow the applicant to concentrate during the exam, he may lose his voice. Researchers often note a state of anxiety and fear in patients during an extreme situation.
The state of fear can be relieved for a short time by sedatives and benzodiazepines. A negative emotion includes a state of irritability, horror, absorption in certain thoughts, and is also marked by changes in physiological parameters: the appearance of shortness of breath, excessive sweating, insomnia, chills. These manifestations intensify over time and thereby complicate the patient’s normal life. Often this condition becomes chronic and manifests itself in the absence of a specific external reason.
Feeling of fear
The emotion of fear would be more accurate, but there is no clear boundary between these two concepts. Often, when there is a short-term effect, they talk about emotion, and when there is a long-term effect, they mean a feeling of fear. This is where the two concepts differ. And in colloquial speech, fear is classified as both a feeling and an emotion. Fear manifests itself in different ways in people: for some it constrains and limits, while for others, on the contrary, it intensifies activity.
The feeling of fear is individual and reflects all genetic characteristics, as well as the characteristics of upbringing and culture, temperament, accentuation, and neuroticism of each individual person.
There are both external and internal manifestations of fear. External refers to how an individual looks, while internal refers to the physiological processes occurring in the body. Because of all these processes, fear is classified as a negative emotion, which negatively affects the entire body, increasing the pulse and heartbeat, accordingly increasing blood pressure, and sometimes vice versa, increasing sweating, changing the composition of the blood (releasing the hormone adrenaline).
The essence of fear is that an individual, being afraid, tries to avoid situations that provoke negative emotions. Strong fear, being a toxic emotion, provokes the development of various diseases.
Fears are observed in all individuals. Neurotic fear is observed in every third inhabitant of the Earth, but if it reaches the strength of affect, it turns into horror and this takes the individual out of control of consciousness, and as a result, numbness, panic, defensive aggression, flight. Therefore, the emotion of fear is justified and serves for the survival of the individual, however, it can also take pathological forms that will require the intervention of doctors. Each fear performs a specific function and arises for a reason.
Fear of heights protects you from falling from a mountain or balcony; fear of getting burned makes you not go close to the fire, and, therefore, protects you from injury. Fear of public speaking forces you to prepare more carefully for speeches and take rhetoric courses, which should help in career growth. It is natural that an individual tries to overcome personal fears. If the source of danger is uncertain or unconscious, then the state that arises is called anxiety.
A person is one who is able to feel
Have you ever seen a fish with an anxiety disorder, a sparrow in mortal anguish, or a toad in a panic attack? Rational nature controls animals through a coordinated intraspecific instinct. This allows each species to safely survive and reproduce. We are not talking about any “sentiments” here.
The only one whom nature has endowed with a sensual form of life is man. We gladly accept this gift when emotions bring pleasure. When we soar on the wings of love, we experience tenderness and passion, inspiration and joy.
Another thing is human fears, this “dark side” of our sensuality. No one wants to shake when they see spiders, panic when trying to leave the house, or suffer from epileptic seizures when boarding a plane. In modern human life, fears significantly limit our capabilities. They narrow the ability to live every available moment with joy.
And here we have many questions for nature. Is fear a natural emotion or an unnecessary burden? Why are we created this way?
Panic fear
This condition never occurs without reason. For its development, a number of factors and conditions are necessary: apathy, anhedonia, anxiety, depression and anxiety, stress, obsessive-compulsive neurosis, schizophrenia, hypochondria, psychopathy.
A depressed person’s psyche quickly reacts to any stimuli and therefore restless thoughts can undermine a person’s capacity. Anxiety and accompanying conditions gradually turn into neurosis, and neuroses, in turn, provoke the emergence of panic fear.
This condition cannot be predicted, since it can occur at any time: at work, on the street, in transport, in a store. A panic state is the body’s defensive reaction to a perceived or imaginary threat. Panic causeless fear is characterized by the following symptoms: suffocation, dizziness, rapid heartbeat, trembling, stupor, chaos of thoughts. Some cases are marked by chills or vomiting. Such conditions last from an hour to two for one or two times a week. The stronger the mental disorder, the longer and more frequent the panic attacks.
Often this condition can occur against the background of overwork and exhaustion of the body in emotionally unstable people. In most cases, women fall into this category as they are emotional, vulnerable, and react sharply to stress. However, men also experience panic for no reason, but try not to admit it to others.
Panic fear does not disappear on its own, and panic attacks will haunt patients. Treatment is carried out strictly under the supervision of psychiatrists, and relieving symptoms with alcohol only aggravates the situation, and panic will appear not only after stress, but also when nothing threatens.
Phobia and anxiety
Phobia is a psychological condition when a person experiences constant fear. In such a state, thoughts and words have the same meaning as a real threat. During an attack, a person experiences fear, and the rest of the time - anxiety. The victim of a phobia is so afraid of repeating a negative experience that he constantly lives in it.
Why is increased anxiety dangerous?
- the body is constantly in a state of stress (psychological tension does not disappear day or night);
- anxiety makes a person paranoid;
- new responsibility causes new stress;
- a person withdraws into himself and into the feelings that he constantly experiences;
- fear makes a person apathetic and tired.
A state of fear and constant anxiety are two factors that affect overall well-being. Against the background of prolonged anxiety, nervousness develops (any form of neurosis). The more stressful situations, the stronger the phobia. The new threat creates the preconditions for the manifestation of mental disorders.
Fear of pain
Since it is common for a person to periodically fear something, this is a normal reaction of our body, which reflects the performance of protective functions. Frequent experiences of this kind include fear of pain. Having previously experienced pain, the individual at an emotional level tries to avoid a repetition of this sensation and fear acts as a protective mechanism that prevents dangerous situations.
Fear of pain is not only useful, but also harmful. A person, not understanding how to get rid of this condition, tries not to visit the dentist for a long time or avoids an important operation, as well as the examination method. In this case, fear has a destructive function and must be fought against. Confusion about how to effectively get rid of the fear of pain only aggravates the situation and pushes towards the formation of a panic reaction.
Modern medicine currently has various methods of pain relief, so the fear of pain is predominantly only psychological in nature. This negative emotion is rarely formed from previously experienced experiences. Most likely, a person’s fear of pain from injuries, burns, or frostbite is strong, and this is a protective function.
Fear of death
Some people practically do not think about the fact that they will not live forever, while for others the fear of dying becomes a real phobia. Fear of death is one of the most powerful emotions; it is basic for a person. It is quite logical to be afraid of dying, because everyone fears for their life and strives to preserve and prolong it.
There are many reasons for a person to be afraid of death. This is the frightening uncertainty of what will happen after, and the inability to imagine one’s non-existence, and the fear of pain and suffering before leaving for another world.
People who have not previously thought about death, when they find themselves in situations that really threaten their lives, begin to experience real fear. This can happen, for example, if a person was almost hit by a car, or a plane miraculously avoided a crash. At such moments, everyone begins to value their life and think that we are all impermanent.
Treatment of fears
Before starting therapy, it is necessary to diagnose what mental disorder the fears are manifesting. Phobias occur in schizophrenia, hypochondria, depression, in the structure of neurotic disorders, panic attacks, panic disorders.
The feeling of fear occupies a significant place in the clinical picture of somatic diseases (hypertension, bronchial asthma and others). Fear can also be a normal reaction of an individual to the situation in which he finds himself. Therefore, the correct diagnosis is responsible for treatment tactics. The development of the disease, from the point of view of pathogenesis, should be treated in the totality of symptoms, and not in its individual manifestations.
Fear of pain can be effectively treated with psychotherapeutic methods and is eliminated by therapy, which is individual in nature. Many people who do not have special knowledge on getting rid of the fear of pain mistakenly think that this is an inevitable feeling and therefore live with it for many years. In addition to psychotherapeutic methods of treating this phobia, homeopathic treatment is used.
People's fears are very difficult to correct. In modern society, it is not customary to discuss your fears. People publicly discuss illnesses and attitudes towards work, but as soon as you start talking about fears, a vacuum immediately appears. People are ashamed of their phobias. This attitude towards fears has been instilled since childhood.
Correction of fears: take a sheet of white paper and write down all your fears. In the center of the sheet, place the most significant phobia that interferes with your life. And be sure to understand the reasons for this condition.
Rider on a Black Horse - Hunger
In 1947, my great-grandmother, together with her younger children, decided to move from Vladivostok to be closer to her eldest daughter, to Baku. She collected all her belongings, sold her house and hit the road with an impressive amount of cash. On December 29, during a transfer in Moscow, monetary reform broke out, and absolutely all of my grandmother’s savings disappeared in one moment, turning into an amount... sufficient to buy one train ticket. So they traveled further - “hares” for several days on the road: a grandmother with a ticket and completely without a livelihood and two small children.
The fear of hunger is not an allegorical story for us. After all, hunger is where there are no reserves, and almost everyone in their family background has a sad story about the same as mine about savings burned in one day (war, crisis, reform). So we all have an unhealthy relationship with supplies. If you look at it more broadly, the fear of times of famine is the fear of not being able to earn money, the fear of poverty, of poverty.
How do we feel about it?
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Like defense deficiency . Those who do not have an “airbag” feel this most acutely. Here we are talking not so much and not only about financial reserves, but about understanding your professional savings. Maybe these are some specific skills, or experience that is in demand on the market at any time, useful connections, the ability to work in a team, or resistance to stress, or the ability to process information, or the stubbornness to complete the solution of any task - something you should have accumulated ! And if you don’t know anything like that about yourself, you are a professional bankrupt. And a serious question arises: why did you develop such an attitude towards yourself, where do the legs of this blindness come from? Well, no one has canceled the financial question: of course, life puts us all in very different conditions, but the question “if you are so smart, then why are you so poor?” has some specific answer. It may be worth reconsidering your individual balance of spending and earning or working on the ability to set your own price - but something here definitely needs correction.
What to do?
To avoid the fear of one day coming face to face with poverty, you need to learn to save. Conduct an audit of your capabilities. Calculate your capital, make a rational plan (implemented projects, connections, achievements, finances and savings, obligations). To learn how to save, you need to at least focus on it. Start spending resources wisely - don’t jump from place to place, don’t make sudden movements, stop panicking - this is just a task that, like all tasks, has its own solution.
How to get rid of fear
Every person is able to learn to overcome his fears, otherwise it will be difficult for him to achieve his goals, fulfill his dreams, achieve success and be realized in all directions of life. There are various techniques for getting rid of phobias. It is important to develop the habit of actively acting and not paying attention to the fears that arise along the way. In this case, a negative emotion is a simple reaction that arises in response to any efforts to create something new.
Fear can arise from trying to do something against your beliefs. Understand that each person develops a personal worldview over a certain period of time, and when trying to change it, it is necessary to overcome fear.
Fear can be strong or weak, depending on the power of persuasion. A person is not born successful. We are often not raised to be successful people. It is very important to act despite personal fear. Tell yourself: “Yes, I’m scared, but I will do it.” While you hesitate, your phobia grows, triumphantly turning into a powerful weapon against you. The longer you hesitate, the more you grow it in your mind. But as soon as you begin to act, the fear will immediately disappear. It turns out that fear is an illusion that does not exist.
The cure for fear is to accept your phobia and, resigned, step towards it. You shouldn't fight it. Admit to yourself: “Yes, I’m scared.” There is nothing wrong with this, you have the right to be afraid. The moment you acknowledge it, it rejoices, and then it weakens. And you start taking action.
How to get rid of fear? Assess the worst-case scenario for the expected development of events using logic. When fear appears, think about the worst-case scenario if suddenly, no matter what, you decide to act. Even the worst case scenario is not as scary as the unknown.
What causes fear? Fear's most powerful weapon is the unknown. It seems terrible, cumbersome and impossible to overcome. If your assessment is really real and the terrible condition does not go away, then it is worth thinking about whether in this case the phobia acts as a natural defensive reaction. Maybe you really need to give up further action because your negative emotion is keeping you out of trouble. If the fear is not justified and the worst case scenario is not that bad, then go ahead and act. Remember that fear lives where there is doubt, uncertainty and indecision.
The cure for fear is to remove doubts and there will be no room left for fear. This state has such power because it causes negative images in the consciousness of what we do not need and the person feels discomfort. When a person decides to do something, doubts evaporate instantly, since the decision has been made and there is no turning back.
What causes fear? As soon as fear arises in a person, a scenario of failures and failures begins to scroll through the mind. These thoughts negatively affect emotions, and they control life. The lack of positive emotions greatly influences the emergence of indecisiveness in actions, and time of inaction ingrains the individual’s own insignificance. A lot depends on determination: whether you get rid of fear or not.
Fear keeps the human mind's attention on the negative development of an event, and the decision concentrates on a positive outcome. When making any decision, we focus on how wonderful it will be when we overcome fear and ultimately get a good result. This allows you to have a positive attitude, and the main thing is to fill your mind with pleasant scenarios, where there will be no room for doubts and fears. However, remember that if at least one negative thought associated with a negative emotion arises in your head, then multiple similar thoughts will immediately arise.
How to get rid of fear? Despite the fear, act. You know what you are afraid of, and this is a big plus. Analyze your fear and answer the questions: “What exactly am I afraid of?”, “Is this really worth being afraid of?”, “Why am I afraid?”, “Does my fear have a basis?”, “What is more important for me: making an effort?” over yourself or never achieve what you want?” Ask yourself questions more often. Analyze your phobias, since analysis occurs at a logical level, and fears are emotions that are stronger than logic and therefore always win. Having analyzed and realized, a person independently comes to the conclusion that fear makes absolutely no sense. It only worsens life, making it anxious, nervous and dissatisfied with its results. Are you still afraid?
How to get rid of fear? You can fight fear with feelings (emotions). To do this, sitting comfortably in a chair, scroll through scenarios in your head of what you are afraid of and how you do what you are afraid of. The mind is unable to distinguish imaginary events from real ones. After overcoming the imaginary fear in your head, it will be much easier for you to cope with the given task in reality, since at the subconscious level the model of events has already been strengthened.
The self-hypnosis method, namely visualization of success, will be effective and powerful in the fight against fears. After ten minutes of visualization, you feel better and it is easier to overcome fear. Remember that you are not alone in your phobias. All people are afraid of something. This is fine. Your task is to learn to act in the presence of fear, and not pay attention to it, being distracted by other thoughts. When fighting fear, a person becomes weaker energetically, since the negative emotion sucks out all the energy. A person destroys fear when he completely ignores it and is distracted by other events.
How to get rid of fear? Train and develop courage. If you are afraid of rejection, there is no point in fighting it by trying to minimize the number of rejections. People who are unable to cope with fear reduce such situations to nothing and, in general, do practically nothing, which makes them unhappy in life.
Imagine that training courage is akin to pumping up muscles in the gym. First, we train with a light weight that can be lifted, and then we gradually switch to a heavier weight and try to lift it. A similar situation exists with fears. Initially, we train with minor fear, and then switch to stronger fear. For example, the fear of public speaking in front of a large audience is eliminated by training in front of a small number of people, gradually increasing the audience several times.
Rider on a Red Horse - War
The war is not a war, but in many ways it is even harder for everyone now: there is no enemy as such, but everything is collapsing. It is not clear who to blame, against whom to direct the defense. There are no “friends” - moreover, “friends”, loved ones, have precisely become a threat, and there is a direct ban on rapprochement. There is no idea to rally around. Our generation has not yet had this experience of collective resonating fear - the fear of global loss, defeat forever.
How do we feel about it?
Like the inability to realize yourself personally . This especially applies to those who were already looking for work before the crisis, those who doubted whether they were in the right place, those who knew for sure that they were not in the right place, and were teetering on the brink of changing jobs - statistics say that this is about 40% of all working. During the pandemic, the labor market has noticeably and predictably stagnated, so if before your resume did not receive many interesting responses, now HR is simply buried under the onslaught of those interested: layoffs and the general idea of optimization have done their job, competition in almost all areas has increased greatly .
Like the inability to implement an idea. Owners of small, young and not very strong businesses that cannot withstand the decline in consumer activity are often forced to close projects in which they often methodically and persistently invested absolutely everything: financially, emotionally, and ideologically. In this case, failure is felt not just as a defeat, but as a deprivation of the basic need to present yourself and your ideas to the world.
Like the inability to cope with difficulties, weakness. Teams that have not found the resource to immediately respond to external changes are not ready to quickly and effectively transition to a digital format, and are faced with the disunity of their teams and management problems.
What to do?
Don't resist. When faced with dramatic experiences of failure, we always delay the moment of recognition. So the main advice is to quickly get past the phases of anger and denial and tell yourself: this difficult world really is like that. Stop expecting that one day things will be the same, accept new realities (digital, including). Yes, you lost, the chosen strategy did not work. But both people and ideas/companies, defeats provide remarkably useful experience; the main thing is to appropriate it and draw appropriate conclusions. Adaptability, flexibility, creativity and willingness to change to suit existing circumstances are a force many times more powerful than the ability to fight to the last, unyielding will and pressure.
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In 1913, the first boutique of fashionable women's dress Gabrielle Chanel opened in Deauville, France. Obviously, the time for fashion is not the best: Europe is before the First World War, and there is already a smell of impending disaster in the air. But it was precisely this situation, the enormous changes that the world was approaching, the economic collapse and ruin of those who once spent huge amounts of money on luxurious toilets, and the entry of women into the workforce that allowed Chanel’s innovative ideas to take off: simple “ignoble” fabric, an exaggerated masculine silhouette, trousers, comfort, freedom from corsets - incredible feminist achievements that changed women's lives and turned Coco into a fashion icon.
Sometimes we do not see that the “horse is dead” because we are unable to abandon the investments we have made. Sometimes, because we cannot separate ourselves from the dead animal, our ideas and projects seem to us to be part of our personality. Sometimes we have sculpted our own infallible image for so long and painfully that it is a shame to retreat and admit defeat in front of those around us and especially significant people. But we are much more than our ideas and projects, our goals and aspirations, our losses and defeats. So if we step back, change, turn around and start moving in a different direction, it will still be us (only better, because with new experiences).
How to overcome fear?
Practice normal communication: in line, on the street, in transport. Use neutral themes for this. The point is to first overcome small fears, and then move on to more significant ones. Practice constantly.
How to overcome fear using other methods? Boost your self-esteem. There is a certain pattern: the better your opinion of yourself, the fewer phobias you have. Personal self-esteem protects against fears and its objectivity does not matter at all. Therefore, people with high self-esteem are able to do more than people with objective self-esteem. Being in love, people overcome very strong fear in the name of their desires. Any positive emotion helps in overcoming fears, and all negative ones only hinder.
