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Fear

Fear is a natural human reaction to physical and emotional risk, especially in ancient

periods when men and women often confronted death (Psychology Today). People would not

be able to defend themselves if they did not fear death. While the stakes are lower now, some

people still develop intense freeze reactions to certain items or situations. A lot of people get

nervous or fearful before a flight, first date, or major game. A person with a specific phobia

may have a persistent fear of a specific hazard that interferes with daily life. Having

overprotective parents, losing a parent, or experiencing physical or sexual abuse appear to

increase the risk of acquiring a phobia or fear. People have several paths to fear, including

revulsion.

According to Psychology Today, phobias can be categorized into five broad groups:

A fear of the natural world, such as a fear of storms (meteorophobia), heights (acrophobia),

fears of fire (pyrophobia), and the dark (arachnophobia), Secondly, there is hemorrhophobia,

or the fear of bodily fluids, such as a dread of needles (trypanophobia) or dental operations,

which is a third type of phobia (dentophobia). Thirdly, there are situational fears such as

glossophobia, or the fear of public speaking, aerophobia, the fear of flying, and

claustrophobia, the fear of traveling in enclosed spaces. The fourth category is the fear of

animals, or zoophobia. Lastly, the fear of vomiting and choking is also common (Psychology

Today). It is common for phobias to begin in infancy or adolescence, and the symptoms

might last for the rest of one's life if they are not treated. Fearful stimuli, also known as
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phobic stimuli, can trigger whole or partial panic attacks in some people. An estimated 9% of

all Americans have some sort of phobia at any given time (Psychology Today).

There are several animal species whose fear we can all sense in ourselves and others.

Despite this, there is no scientific consensus on fear. Some say that fear is a mental construct

rather than something that can be discovered through scientific research. The term "fear" is

commonly used in regular conversation, but many people find themselves perplexed when

confronted with queries like these (Adolphs). Psychologists and biologists are also concerned

with the human condition. The area of emotion research is more fragmented than ever,

despite recent results inspired in large part by funding to better understand mood and anxiety

problems. The interdisciplinary character of fear's investigation is a major factor in its

fragmentation and excitement.

To begin, we need to define fear as an intervening variable between context-

dependent inputs and behavioral responses. It is explanatory, and any relationship with other

psychological, let alone neurobiological, states is irrelevant. Variables with stable values

inside an individual and systematically differing values between individuals are candidates

for personality traits (Adolphs). Several aspects of such a dreadful idea must be emphasized.

Fear is a key state for an organism. It is not associated with fearful thoughts or actions such

as screams or fleeing. Of course, feelings and actions can be exploited to support a central

state of fear, but not the state itself. According to Adolphs, consciousness and fear behaviors

are both caused by fear as a primary state. Fear is triggered by specific stimuli. Fear is what

connects stimuli to behavior. Unlike reflexes, this link between an emotion like dread and its

provoking stimuli is significantly more flexible.

"Dissecting Terror: How Does Fear Work?" by Newman examines the science of fear,

including how it developed, how our bodies respond when we are afraid, and why fear can

occasionally get out of control. Everybody, according to him, is frightened by fear. Humans
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are born with a built-in fear of the unknown. Fear is often regarded as a negative emotion, yet

some people go to great lengths to experience it, such as leaping out of aircraft or viewing a

terrible film (Newman). Fear is warranted. Inappropriate fear can also be a problem. Phobias

are considered by many people to be the worst form of fear. These can be attached to

anything, including spiders, and have a huge impact on people's lives. For our survival as a

species, we can owe some of our success to fear, which has been around for a long time.

When it comes to surviving, fear plays an important part.

If a person is terrified, they will experience a "fight-or-flight" response in their body.

As a whole, the animal is better prepared to fight or flee. The skin's blood vessels constrict,

the vital organs' blood vessels dilate, and the muscles are pumped with blood, ready to

respond (Newman). Anxiety disorders include phobias. As previously said, phobias are an

unreasonable and excessive dread of something that rarely causes harm. They can cling to

anything and have a big impact on people's lives. As a matter of fact, most people who

witness someone drop from a bridge don't develop a fear of bridges. Some experts believe

that the intense, horrified anticipation exacerbates the fear response (Newman). Another

study looked at arachnophobia. It found that when these people were warned they would

meet a spider, their brain activity varied from that of non-phobic people.

For the most part, fear is a good thing. Responding to both physical and mental

danger is essential. People could not protect themselves from actual risks if they did not feel

dread. Even if a situation is not harmful, worry might prevent people from experiencing

amazing things like improved hearing. As humans, we are hardwired to protect ourselves. As

soon as we detect a threat to our life or well-being, our body's "fight-or-flight" response kicks

in (Diggory). Our instincts tell us that we need to pay attention to an issue at work,

relationship problems, or possibly a problem in hearing that needs to be handled now that we

have progressed from the rule of the jungle. Extreme attention and the removal of distractions
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are the results of fear. For example, scientists have shown that fear can give us "super

powers," such as the ability to move heavy objects while under intense pressure.

Researchers have found that an optimistic outlook helps us conquer our concerns.

Fear of flying sufferers benefit from anticipating what awaits them at the end of the voyage.

Even if the danger of an accident on a flight is the same whether you are flying for pleasure

or business, your perception of the risk differs (Diggory). Some tips to overcome fear are:

analyzing dread, whether it is rational or based on "what ifs". Second, prioritizing the

potential advantages, as every action has drawbacks. However, one needs to balance these

against the likely rewards of a decision and how their life might improve. Third, learning to

live with some uncertainty. Finally, "doing nothing" is not an option. People need actions to

build confidence, learn, and move forward in life.

Janecic explains that emotions cannot be avoided in her article, "How to Permanently

Overcome Fear." It is a bad idea to try to hide one’s concerns or avoid situations that make

them anxious. To make matters worse, if someone tries to ignore their anxiety, it only

intensifies. Emotions can be bottled up as much as possible, but they will inevitably spread

throughout the world. In the end, fear is a part of life that can never be totally eliminated

(Janecic). Even if they were able to, they should not. In the absence of fear, individuals would

be able to do things like leap out of windows or wrestle polar bears without hesitation. As a

warning mechanism, fear is a beneficial tool. A little bit of self-control is all that is needed, so

it doesn't take over your entire existence. When people are afraid, they become more aware of

the risks that exist in their environment.

The only way to overcome fear for good is to go through a two-step procedure. First,

accept that fear is a part of existence and that we cannot stop ourselves from experiencing it

like any other emotion. Secondly, make an effort to uncover the root causes of your anxiety

and face them head-on (Janecic). When making decisions, do not solely rely on your feelings.
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It is impossible, however, to entirely overcome one's fear, so any attempt to do so will leave

one feeling unfulfilled. Then again, fear can and should be controlled. If they don't, their

terror will engulf them completely. The longer this goes on, the more difficult it will be to

break free.
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Works Cited

Adolphs, Ralph. “The Biology of Fear.” NCBI, Curr Biol, 2014,

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3595162.

Diggory, Katherine. “The Power of Overcoming Fear.” Explore Life, 2018, www.explore-

life.com/en/articles/the-power-of-overcoming-fear.

Janecic, Phil. “How to Permanently Overcome Fear.” Mind of Steel, 28 May 2020,

www.themindofsteel.com/overcome-fear.

Newman, Tim. “Dissecting Terror: How Does Fear Work?” Medical News Today, Healthline

Media, 2021, www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/dissecting-terror-how-does-fear-

work.

Psychology Today. “Fear.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, LLC, 2021,

www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/fear.