Why do people experience fear and how to overcome it?

For many centuries, scientists have been striving to understand the secrets of psychological behavior of the individual. Until now, some questions regarding the psyche remain unresolved. One of the not fully understood areas in psychology is the manifestation of feelings and emotions by a person. It is unacceptable to confuse these concepts, since their definitions have significant differences. Let's take a closer look: what is fear - is it a feeling or an emotion?

Feelings and emotions: differences

Feelings are psychological stable experiences of a person that do not depend on a specific situation. From birth, a child begins to form a complex of feelings, which throughout life is enriched, replenished, improved and accompanies the person until death. The classification of feelings does not yet have a definite scheme. And yet, scientists were able to identify the main categories of feelings:

• High ones are a person’s feelings towards society. The most common of them are love, infatuation, friendship, hatred, as well as patriotic ones, such as love for the Fatherland, small Motherland. This is the category of the most long-lasting feelings that can accompany a person throughout his life.
• Moral is, first of all, a person’s conscience, his moral values. Formed at an early age.
• Practical are feelings related to a person’s work activity. For example, a sense of duty, responsibility, diligence.
• Feelings associated with intelligence . This category includes curiosity, the ability to analyze, build logical chains, and draw appropriate conclusions.
• And finally, aesthetic feelings .

An emotion is a psychological outburst of certain personal experiences under the influence of a particular situation. It is temporary and is accompanied by chemical changes in the human body (for example, the release of adrenaline into the blood). Vivid examples of the manifestation of emotions include:

• Showing interest in any subject, phenomenon, etc.
• Joyful feelings from events occurring in a person’s life.
• Astonishment.
• Compassion for certain people or categories of people.
• Suffering (mental anguish endured by a person under the influence of unfavorable situations).
• Anger.
• Fright, fear or horror.
• Shame.

The main difference between these two concepts is the dependence of emotions on a specific situation. The emotion is also temporary. For example, friendship is a feeling or emotion, it’s not difficult to understand. Friendship is experienced by a person for a long period (sometimes throughout his life), we can definitely say that it is a feeling. Or, for example, shame is an emotion, since it arises situationally and lasts a short time.

Top 10 most terrible human phobias

1. The fear of loneliness is the worst.
2. Fear of death is one of the most terrible phobias.
3. Social phobia is a fear people have.
4. Fear of specific objects - each person has his own worst phobias.
5. Fear of intimacy affects the inhabitants of the planet of all ages.
6. Fear of madness is the fear of losing a sense of reality.
7. Fear of germs and bacteria is a terrible disease of modern man.
8. Fear of cowardice is a big phobia for men.
9. Fear of poisoning is a phobia of the rich.
10. Fear of old age - wrinkles and helplessness.

Fear is an emotional state

There is probably not a single person in the world who does not experience this feeling. For a long time, scientists have tried to study the influence of emotions on the psychological state of an individual. In order to clearly understand the nature of fear, it is necessary to know a clear formulation of the concept of fear, its definition.

Fear is an emotional state characterized by the threat of real or imagined danger. A feeling of apprehension and fear is common to every person. And that's okay. After all, if fear does not develop into various types of phobias, it is useful. This is the body's protective reaction to threatening danger. For example, if people are afraid of getting into an accident, they always drive a car carefully and attentively. But if fear haunts a person constantly, the emotion turns into a phobia, and this is a mental disorder that you need to fight either yourself, or, if this is no longer possible, seek the help of professional psychologists or even psychiatrists.

Classification by type

There are several classifications of the emotion fear. The first classification divides this emotion into three categories:

1. Fears of social origin . These are fears associated with the people around us and life in society. For example, fear for your family. Or the fear of expressing your opinion publicly, of radically changing something in your life, of worsening your own material well-being.
2. The next category is fears of natural phenomena . These include fear of water, heights, closed or open spaces, and various natural disasters, such as thunderstorms.
3. The last category is fears embedded in the consciousness of the individual in childhood .

You can also organize it by duration:

1. Fright . This is the shortest-lasting emotion in response to external stimuli. Depending on the situation, fear may develop into fear, or it may disappear completely if the threat is eliminated or not confirmed.
2. Horror . This is a long-term feeling of fear, during which it is very difficult for a person to control their emotions and actions. It can quickly transform into a state of panic, when a person generally ceases to understand anything and react adequately.
3. Anxiety . A lingering heightened sense of danger, often imaginary. As a rule, it leads to mental disorders.

Reasons for appearance

The occurrence of one or another type of fear is strictly individual and depends on the characteristics of the individual, her age category, social status or belonging to the female or male gender.

Psychologists identify the following groups of causes of fear:

• Congenital. This is a subconscious fear controlled by the instinct of self-preservation. This emotion has been formed in people since ancient times, when natural dangers threatened health and life. For example, fear of wild animals forced a person to behave carefully. In a healthy mental state, this emotion is not dangerous.
• Purchased. Incidents from the person’s past that posed a real threat. Memory stores the remnants of a strong emotion experienced, which causes fear of a similar situation in the present. For example, the fear of getting into an accident.
• Fictional. That is, fear of a phenomenon or situation in which the person himself was not, but only heard from other people or saw on TV. This group includes fears of earthquakes, supernatural forces, etc.

Human life is uneven. As they say, the “white stripe” is followed by the “black stripe”. That is, people periodically experience either a feeling of happiness, or emptiness, or uncertainty or hopelessness. During difficult periods, when the nervous system is under extreme tension, feelings of fear, anxiety, horror and even panic may arise. It is worth highlighting some factors that negatively affect the psyche and provoke the appearance of fear:

• Firstly, people who were born and raised in an unfavorable family environment (parental drunkenness, beatings, intimidation, tyranny) are most susceptible to fear.
• Secondly, the already established family life does not bring satisfaction (financial problems, bad relationships with a spouse, illnesses of loved ones, difficulties at work). The inability to build a family life in time is also a powerful catalyst for the emergence of fear or anxiety (women are more susceptible).
• Thirdly, genetic predisposition.
• Fourthly, women are very suspicious by nature, so the manifestation of this emotion is observed in them much more often than in men.
• Fifthly, oddly enough, a person’s mental state depends on his physique. Overweight people are less likely to experience the emotion of fear than people with a thin figure.
• Sixthly, some individuals have a tendency to set themselves impossible or inflated tasks that obviously cannot be completed. When the first unsuccessful results appear, the first signs of anxiety and fear arise. Then, under the influence of these negative emotions, such people cannot concentrate and only worsen their already unfavorable situation. As a consequence, the emergence of various phobias and depression, from which it is sometimes very difficult to get out without the help of medical specialists.

Symptoms of fear

Since, by definition, fear is a negative emotion, its manifestations can be expressed by certain physical and mental signs. There are two types of symptoms: somatic and mental. The first include:

• the occurrence of tachycardia (rapid heartbeat);
• painful sensations in the chest;
• high blood pressure;
• the appearance of a feeling of chills or, conversely, sweating;
• flushes of nausea, sometimes vomiting;
• dizziness;
• deterioration of vision and hearing, as well as coordination of movements;
• in critical cases, fainting may occur;
• Children experience uncontrolled urination.

Mental signs include:

• feeling of a “lump in the throat”;
• difficulty breathing (not enough air);
• fear of dying;
• loss of reality;
• increased excitability, manifestations of aggression;
• memory deterioration;
• inability to concentrate.

Ways to overcome anxiety

In unadvanced cases, you can cope with the manifestation of anxiety yourself. Psychologists have developed several options that reduce or completely eliminate feelings of anxiety. They help a person identify the causes of anxiety, understand himself, and then eliminate all factors affecting his psycho-emotional state. As a result, a person is freed from unnecessary negative emotions and lives a full, joy-filled life. If you still cannot cope with the problem yourself, you should immediately contact a specialist.

So, what, according to professional psychologists, should be done first to eliminate unreasonable fears:

• There is a method of art therapy. It consists of depicting your problems on paper. Then this sheet needs to be burned.
• It is important to learn to completely distract yourself from negative emotions by doing something else.
• It is imperative to find out the nature of the fear, to remember from what moment it appeared, what was the reason for its occurrence. A detailed description on paper carries a deeper awareness of your problem. Having written down all your experiences, anxieties and fears point by point, you need to burn the sheet.
• It is recommended to do the breathing exercise “Inhale strength, exhale weakness.” The exercise is that when you inhale, a person is subconsciously filled with courage and bravery, and when you exhale, anxiety and weakness go away. While performing the exercise, you should completely relax.
• Under no circumstances should you avoid your fears; you need to try to overcome them. For example, you are afraid of dogs. Read special literature about these animals, study their behavior, the reasons for aggression. Then try petting the dog you meet under the supervision of the owner. In this way, you will gradually get closer to your goal of getting rid of fear.
• If you are scared or panicking, take 10 deep breaths. This will help you calm down and return to a state of balance.
• Sometimes it helps to talk to yourself out loud. Talking through problems helps to better understand them and find a way out of a difficult situation.
• Anger helps take your mind off anxiety. So find a way to evoke this feeling in yourself.
• Laughter is a good way to cope with fear, panic attack, and anxiety. Watch a comedy show, read jokes, visit fun and noisy companies.

You can also treat fears with the help of medicinal plants. These include valerian officinalis, mint, hawthorn, viburnum fruits, oats, and chamomile.

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle, proper nutrition and daily routine, playing sports and active recreation affect the emotional state of people. You can also master the technique of meditation.

Social phobia: how not to be afraid of other people

If some people are afraid to be alone, a certain category of the planet's population is afraid of people. The phobia is divided into many large blocks: many of them have touched each person at least once.

The most common fears among social phobes include:

• crowds;
• public speaking;
• to be ridiculed, rejected;
• going out;
• be condemned.

Most have learned to cope with the phobia, but for some inhabitants of the planet it becomes the worst nightmare that interferes with life. In severe cases, it leads to serious disorders: a person begins to avoid people, becomes a recluse, and begins to live in imaginary worlds. Social phobia can be successfully treated, the main thing is to start psychological classes. The mild form is easier to correct: leaving the comfort zone, communicating through strength, overcoming barriers will help isolate fears.

Fear of intimacy: platonic relationships only

Intimate relationships in modern society, although greatly liberated in recent decades, continue to be under an unspoken ban. Many people, especially those raised in strict families, consider sex to be a sin. Any thought about physiological contact with the opposite sex causes horror: such sensations are called genophobia.

There are objective reasons for genophobia: they are characteristic, for example, of impotent people. People with sexual dysfunction know that such an experience will be doomed to failure, so they are afraid of situations leading to it. For some, the fear of intimate relationships is associated with unsuccessful, unpleasant, scary previous experiences: violence, laughter, humiliation, dissatisfaction on the part of the previous partner.

Contact a psychologist

When simple solutions to the problem do not help, it is recommended to contact a specialized specialist. The help of a psychologist is also required in cases where it is difficult for a person to understand the problem or understand its causes. To do this, doctors resort to different methods.

Hypnotherapy

Hypnotic suggestion allows you to quickly cope with anxiety states. Using this method, psychotherapists deal with the problem in just a few sessions. Thanks to hypnosis, the doctor bypasses psychological barriers and finds out the real reasons for fears. The technique is one of the gentlest, since the person is in a trance and does not fully experience traumatic memories.

Education

During it, the psychologist shows by his own example how to cope with an unpleasant situation. The main thing is to find the irritant and learn to react neutrally to it. As a result of such work, a person will learn to neutrally perceive situations that previously caused an attack of fear.

Desensitization

The method involves gradually immersing a person in an unpleasant situation to develop immunity to the stimulus. The entire process must be strictly supervised by a doctor. The psychologist observes the patient's reaction and gives his advice.

Fear of madness - how to remain yourself and feel reality

The biggest fear of spiritually rich, educated people is going crazy. In search of self or truth, while immersing in spiritual practices, as well as studying complex philosophical or religious topics, there is often a feeling of loss of reality.

Sometimes understanding the world leads to the feeling that the support under your feet is lost, and all the basic things that previously seemed unshakable are called into question. At such moments, it seems to a person that he is going crazy or has already gone crazy, and the world around him is an invention of a sick consciousness. When the basic landmarks return to their place, the fear of losing them again remains one of the greatest of those experienced in personal experience.

Specific objects: spiders, mirrors, dogs, dolls

When you think about something scary, what first comes to a person’s mind is not the philosophical fears described above, but everyday irritants. Moreover, for each, the most terrible, frightening, leading to hysteria, throwing into panic will be different:

• snakes;
• spiders;
• dogs;
• dolls;
• clowns;
• ghosts;
• darkness.

Thus, one of the most terrible, terrible phobias is mirrors: the fear of seeing a reflection is eisoptrophobia. It is connected with a mysterious halo that has been enveloping the mirror for a long time. Mystically minded people claim that mirrors can show another world and ghosts, that creatures from a parallel universe come to us through the glass, and everything reflected in it remains forever in the memory of the mirror. It’s not for nothing that in the distant past our ancestors used a mirror to tell fortunes about their betrothed during Christmastide, and many films use mirrors to weave the main outline of the plot. Eisoptrophobia is generated due to external pressure from society, cinema, and literature. Under the influence of such information, people think they saw something supernatural in the mirrors. If what he saw made too strong an impression, and the person turned out to be receptive and suggestible, later such an experience turns into paranoia.

Causes

Fear arises from a real or perceived threat. Thanks to it, the body mobilizes to change its behavior. There are several reasons for this emotional state; they are divided into 3 groups.

Genetic

The fear of falling or loud noises is in all of us. Fear of the dark also has a genetic cause; this is due to the dangers that awaited ancient man in the dark. The inability to navigate in the dark and the danger of being attacked by predators are ingrained in the genes.

Social

This group of reasons points to a person's life experience. For example, the fear of cats arose after the animal attacked him or seriously injured him. Social reasons arise not only because of one’s own life experience; sometimes it is enough just to observe an incident to begin to worry about something.

Sometimes fears arise simply because people adopt other people's experiences. It is enough to hear someone's story or see another person's negative reaction to adopt their fear.

Psychological

These reasons indicate an erroneous understanding of the situation, suppression of one’s own desires, incorrect assessment of further events and other problems that provoke the development of fears.