What causes fear and how to deal with it

What is the use of fear?

If we don’t delve into the essence of things, then we end up in a lot of trouble from various fears. This is unpleasant, destroys joy, prevents pleasure, and can also cause diseases of the psyche and nervous system in people. However, this is only at first glance.

Fear can bring certain benefits to a person. To begin with, fear arose during the period of evolutionary development of people, as protection from all kinds of threats in the world of primitive man. With changes in the environment, this reaction had to be changed as it gave certain failures with its consequences.

The purpose of fear, like pain, is to guard the body, protect it from external harmful influences, and help maintain health and well-being in life. A person needs to be able to benefit from his fears. And it is often useful and can help each of us.

• Fear in a dangerous situation can save a person’s life. For example, we are afraid to swim behind buoys or walk through dark alleys.
• Fear is capable of mobilizing our potential for active work. This is also useful in critical cases.
• It regulates aggressiveness and keeps many citizens within the law, forcing them to fear punishment.
• Thanks to your fears, your memory is activated. For example, a person never forgets the misfortunes that happen to him and tries not to expose himself to the same threat in the future.
• When you are afraid, there is a chance of action with a lack of information and time to think about strategies and decisions. In such a situation, we trust our instincts.
• Fear also sharpens the reaction of all senses, allowing you to notice the causes of the threat and even predict them.
• And finally, fear will always contribute to the improvement of people, pushing them to look for their mistakes, new achievements in their lives, and take responsibility for their future.

The Harm of Fear

In extreme situations, some experience panic attacks, losing control of their emotions and control of the situation. And this can even threaten death.

What other harm can you expect from a feeling of fear?

• In the practice of psychologists, fear can greatly harm a child’s psyche. Fear keeps the child in a tense state, inhibits development, prevents normal contact with others, and causes discomfort in communication and showing empathy. And this entails uncontrollability and aggressiveness in adulthood.
• Being constantly in a state of fear, children and adolescents stop sleeping peacefully at night, and they may develop speech problems. It also provokes a loss of flexibility of thinking and the desire to learn new things. They become withdrawn and apathetic individuals.
• Adults are less susceptible to fear, but they are also susceptible to panic and fear.
• People who are often and for a long time under the influence of fears are at risk of developing various phobias and even such serious mental illnesses as persecution mania, schizophrenia, etc.

What are phobias?

The type of anchoring of fears in the absence of any motives, activity under its influence causes many of us

different phobias. In fact, you can be afraid of many things. Typical, culturally approved phobias are the following types:

• agora - fear of remaining in open space;
• acro - fear of being in high places;
• arachnoe - a feeling of fear of spiders;
• auto – fear of being alone with oneself;
• vermino - fear of existing in a world with bacteria, microbes, worms, insects, fear of getting sick and becoming infected;
• geronto - fear of communicating with older people, fear of one's own aging;
• hydro - a feeling of danger from the water element, fear of convulsive swallowing of water, any reminder of water;
• gyno - fear of the fair sex;
• hypno - fear of dreams;
• godo - fear of traveling;
• homo - a feeling of danger from homosexuals, a feeling of hatred towards them;
• demo or ohlo - obsessive fear, non-acceptance of crowds of people, crowds;
• zoo - a panicky feeling of fear of animals, often of a certain species (cows, turkeys, dogs, etc.);
• kakorrafio - fear of failure, bad luck;
• klimako - a feeling of fear of moving up the stairs;
• cinema - an obsessive feeling of threat from dogs;
• cypri - fear of contracting a sexually transmitted disease;
• claustro - a feeling of danger in enclosed spaces;
• xeno - intolerance to everything unfamiliar, alien, unusual;
• Mizo - intolerance to pollution or contamination, fear of touching surrounding objects and things;
• patho - panicky fear of getting sick;
• psycho - a feeling of danger in front of the mentally ill, mental illnesses;
• radio - a feeling of threat from various sources of radiation;
• sect - fear of any type of sect, sectarian manifestations, fear of being drawn into its ranks;
• socio - a feeling of threat from surrounding people, society, society;
• thanato - apprehension, fear of death;
• tetra - fear of fours;
• triskaideka - feeling of threat from the number 13;
• photo - feeling of danger from light;
• electro - fear of electricity, in particular the threat to life from electric shock;
• eroto - obsessive fear of intimate relationships, sexual intercourse.

How to get rid of your fears?

In fact, every person is quite capable of overcoming fear and freeing themselves from their fears. We will have to evaluate all the chances of the reality of the most terrible incident and realize their insignificance. In other words, a detailed analysis of existing risks should be made.

You will definitely stop being a victim of fears if you listen to the following tips:

• We find a stronger analogue to our fears.

Some people feel threatened by everyone around them. Literally everything is in danger, including material wealth, career growth and relationships with close circles of people. How to cope with your fears in this situation? However, there is always a way out. There is no need to panic and give in to your fear. Others have things and circumstances that, compared to your case, are much more dangerous and difficult.

For example, a person who is on the verge of death is able to overestimate his life so much that he does not take into account trivial experiences and appreciates every minute.

• We imagine the subject of fear as something that has already happened.

Even the most critical situation, hopeless in your opinion, should not force you to submit to fear. Take a deep breath, exhale and assess the situation. Calmness is always vital in the fight against fears. Visualize the worst possible outcome. Try to understand everything. Relax, gather all your will and energy in order to prevent such a result.

By being afraid, we waste our strength. There is no need to panic and waste your energy on meaningless worries. This only weakens and prevents a person from concentrating on the problem. You will find a way out much faster if you do not give in to fear and soberly assess your potential and situations.

• Those who are afraid of something should be loaded with work to the maximum.

Implicit threats are only scary until they appear. When complete clarity comes, all energy is spent on solving the issue. There is no time to give in to panic and fear.

In order not to give fear a single chance to get the better of you, you need to immerse yourself completely in your work. Intense activity makes it easy to cope with fear, anxiety, and worry. If you are afraid, your blood gets a boost of adrenaline. Keep yourself busy with work so that your brain becomes more active. This helps to increase vitality. According to Dale Carnegie, this is the most reliable and proven way to deal with fears and anxieties.

• We remember that there is group therapy for fears.

If it is important for a person to overcome his phobias, he can turn to specialists in the field of psychology. He must understand that many of us live with such problems. Some of us are afraid of communication, intimate relationships, others are afraid to close their eyes and fall asleep at night. And there are many such options. One way to overcome fear may be group therapy. You find yourself in a group where you can discuss your problems and share your experiences. At the same time, the severity of the experience decreases, and situations become less hopeless.

• We choose the behavior model of someone who has freed himself from his fears.

The reactions of each person at the physiological and emotional levels are interconnected. Even if he is afraid at the moment, he can simply imagine that he has stopped doing this. This method can help to gradually bring inner feelings into line.

An excellent option for consciously finding joy is to demonstrate to others that you look joyful. The situation is similar with fear. If you want to feel courage, act like courageous people. Tension of will dulls fear and gives a surge of energy and courage.

• We live in the current moment - only here and now.

This advice should primarily be used by those who are afraid of an unpredictable future in their lives. We cannot know exactly what awaits us even in a year. You should act where everything is clear and understandable.

It is foolish to live in fear of future events. This is the most thankless task that takes time and energy. It’s better to spend all this on pleasure, self-realization, development, etc. Even a strong personality may not be able to withstand the weight of the past and future.

Therefore, the best thing you can do is to live in the present moment and not get distracted by worries, worries, and fears. There is always hope for the best. And even if the result is not so rosy, there will be no chance to reproach yourself for the present being spoiled by empty worries. It’s not for nothing that they say “live for today and hope for a better future.” Groundless fear does not actually change life for the better.

How to get rid of fear?

Having a clear understanding of what fear is and understanding its causes, a person can try to eradicate them in order to get rid of it forever. A detailed analysis of the problem helps to cope with it. There are many proven ways to cure fear. Psychology names some effective methods:

1. Action against anxiety.
2. Logical understanding of the possible consequences of the situation. Maybe there's nothing to worry about.
3. Visualization of a phobia - on paper or in your head.
4. Courage training.

If we are talking about social phobia, it can also be dealt with step by step. There are several psychological techniques and ways to overcome the fear of communication:

• making new acquaintances and expanding your horizons;
• virtual communication, telephone conversations;
• consultation with a psychologist.

Pills for fear

It is important to understand that an emotion such as fear is not always caused by natural causes. If anxiety is caused by neurological and psychological problems, medication can help. Over-the-counter anxiety medication can be purchased at pharmacies. These include:

• herbs and extracts – valerian, roseola, motherwort;
• homeopathic medicines;
• dietary supplements;
• nootropic drugs – adaptol, phenibut, pantogam.

Sometimes various drugs can really help eliminate anxiety, but not for long. For example, for a person who is afraid of flying, it is easier to take a pill before a rare flight than to undergo a long course of psychotherapy. Regular use of antidepressants and stabilizers can reduce anxiety, but if the root of fear lies deep down, pills alone will not help. You need to work on yourself.

The worst way to deal with worries is to freeze or run away from them. You need to fight any phobias – secret and obvious – that interfere with your life, and boldly face danger and your own weaknesses. It is important to understand that people have no control over some things, and to be able to come to terms with these types of fears. For example, do not try to defeat death or avoid all natural disasters. People should listen to the instinct of self-preservation, but not silt into their fears.

Fear is one of the basic emotions of a person of any age. There may be individuals who never experience feelings of anxiety, but there are only a few of them, and they, oddly enough, are most often not very successful in life. What can you tell about fear, about the benefits, harm and purpose for a person and its types? Can such a natural emotion as fear be useful? Is it necessary to fight fear or is it better not to pay attention to it, or maybe even look for the positive in it and use it for your own purposes?

What does fear do to a person?

What happens to a person when he experiences horror? She tries to hide in the most hidden parts of the soul, the blood rushes to the head, the heart tries to leave the chest, the pressure jumps to the mountain peaks, and the adrenaline in the blood breaks all records. A man runs without looking back, without seeing anything in front of him. There is only one thought left in my head - run, run, run even faster.

Or it could be quite the opposite. Terror in the eyes, trembling in the legs and arms. All you can hear in your head is your heart beating wildly. It's all over. The person is unable to think or even move. Stupor sets in.

It all depends on the situation and people. Flight and stupor are not the only manifestations of fear. Some individuals in a stressful situation turn into angry tigers, capable of biting into the throat of anyone who gets in their way. Then aggression becomes the engine and the brain. Fear of the dark, water, heights, space, enclosed spaces, spiders, snakes, jellyfish, heat, cold, the dead. This is a short list of what people are afraid of.