Fear

The Beginning

Are you scared?... Why? What are the things that used to scare you? Heights? Strangers? Water? Dark? Death? Why does you have goose bumps and perspires a lot? What will you do if the thing that scares you embraced you tight? Are you going to hide? Run? or bravely face it? I’m scared too, and yes you are not alone here, no, all of us are scared. We are scared of something, though sometimes we can’t point it out. What is this kind of feeling?

Fear

Fear is an emotional response to threats and danger like a basic survival mechanism. Fear is one of a small set of basic or innate emotions and can be related to the specific behaviors of escape and avoidance, whereas anxiety is the result of threats which are perceived to be uncontrollable or unavoidable. Unpleasant feeling as it is, fear always relates to future events, such as worsening of a situation, or continuation of a situation that is unacceptable and being prepared.

Although fear helps the people to recognize the threats, fear can evolve into unhealthy or pathological fear, which can lead to exaggerated and violent behavior. The most commonly feared objects are spiders, snakes, heights, water, enclosed spaces, tunnels and bridges, social rejection, failure, and public speaking. Therefore, in general, people appear to be most afraid of two things: the threat of pain or death, and the threat of social rejection or isolation. All of the people bears the kind of feeling, although they tried to hide, they feel fear. But they should be oriented that having a fear something is no humiliating his own. It is normal to be afraid of something even if, for some it is weird.

Causes

People develop specific fears as a result of learning and being a part of the human nature. In the real world, fear can be acquired by a frightening traumatic accident. For example, if a child falls into a well and struggles to get out, he or she may develop a fear of wells, heights (acrophobia), enclosed spaces (claustrophobia), or water (hydrophobia). The experience of fear is affected by historical and cultural influences. Like diseases that was experienced from the past centuries such as the Spanish influenza that killed millions, the anthrax which also appeared on Nostradamus’s prophecy, and the recent is another version of influenza. Others are through the forms of terrorism or robbers, some fear are came from our own imagination like watching horror movies and eventually turns into nightmare.

When a sudden earthquake shakes the ground, the people used to be panic which is also a form of fear. When a person almost loses his blood when he felt fear is a phobia, which develops in time and sometimes hard to cope up. When a person witnessed a scene such as, a car accident, this person usually have the feeling of shock or being surprised. The bad side of the fear is, when a person experienced the unpleasant events, he usually gained the trauma – a psychological stage where a person, will avoid everything just to prevent the same event that might happen. There are fears the already affected the emotional balance of a person, making it hard for them to handle the fear in conflict situations. Fears can be also identified with mostly women when it comes to their physical attributes. The women that are so vain are afraid of rejection and feeling or unappreciated. Sometimes, this fear destroys the individual morale. Other fear includes about the public speaking or giving a report in a class, speaking at an assembly, or reciting lines in school play.

The Fear Issue

The politics also a target for fear and this motivates the political violence. People are social in nature, with shared values, religion, tradition, language, etc. Whenever the basic characteristics that tie a group together are threatened, the group will fear for its survival. As a result, the group will also attempt to get rid of the threat, sometimes through distorted or violent means.

Dealing with Fear

There are many approach in dealing with Fear, since it is a personal issue, the individuals are the focus of the following approach:

1. becoming aware of it,

2. identifying the ways you express fear,

3. recognizing the situations which trigger fear, and

4. using behavioral techniques to reduce fear and stress.

It is also important to know and understand the fear of the others, so that it can allow the persons to deal with it appropriately. It is like the empathy, or wearing the other person’s shoes and seeing it in their own perspective. Once that the fear is fully identified, the individuals are aware on how to handle it right.

Conclusion

All in a second or so, the brain reacts instantly, sending signals that activate the nervous system which causing physical responses, such as a faster heartbeat, rapid breathing, and an increase in blood pressure. Blood pumps to the large muscle groups to prepare the body for physical action (such as running or fighting). Skin sweats to keep the body cool. Some people might notice sensations in the stomach, head, chest, legs, or hands. These physical sensations of fear can be mild or strong.The fear is all around us; it is there since the day we are born. The fear that makes our bones shiver, makes our hands cold and bringing heart attack are sometimes caused by a simple event, which won’t really hurt us in return.

People tend to avoid the situations or things they fear. But this doesn't help them overcome fear — in fact, it can be the reverse. Avoiding something scary reinforces a fear and keeps it strong.⁷ If an individual really wants to break through the strong trap of the thing that fear us, which for someone looks silly, then it’s time to face it. But first don’t push yourself to face it if you are not yet ready. Learn how to manage your feelings and always be prepared onto what will be the come up of the decision. Fear is sometimes acknowledge as a feeling created by mind, but if you let it stay in you, it will haunt you back. It is develop in a process, so it’s better if at the earliest time, if you can defeat it. But of course, it is not good if a person will live in the fear of nothing, because there’s a chance to lose a public moral. Are you still scared?

Sources:

Ohman, A., (2000). Fear and anxiety: Evolutionary, cognitive, and clinical perspectives. In M. Lewis & J. M. Haviland-Jones (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (pp.573-593), New York: The Guilford Press

Barker, P., (2003) Fear [Online] Available at: http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/fear/ [Accessed 26 August 2009].

Tancer, B. (2008) Click: What millions of people are doing online and why it matters. New York: Hyperion.

Lyness. D., (2007) A Review on The Phobias, [Online] Available at: http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/mental_health/phobias.html# [Accessed 26 August 2009].