Fear

We explain what fear is for biology and psychology. Also, what happens in our body and brain when we feel fear.

What is fear?

The fear It is one of the primary emotions of humans and animals (i.e., one of its fundamental and primitive reactions), and It is caused by the presence (real or imaginary) of a danger a risk or a threatening situation. It is an unpleasant emotion, closely linked to anxiety, and whose maximum degree is represented by terror.

The word “fear” comes from Latin metuswith the same meaning, and is more or less equivalent to dread, fear, fright or fear. Since ancient times, fear has been present in cultural considerations of an ethical and moral nature, or in codes of conduct and traditionally promoted values.

Thus, for example, in certain Eskimo communities, fear is perceived as a positive emotion, a sign of caution and compliance with the group's law; while in many other cultures it is considered a shameful emotion, a sign of weakness or handicap.

Fear, furthermore, has occupied a prominent place in art and mythology. The ancient Greeks, for example, associated him with the god Phobos, son of Ares (god of war) and Aphrodite (goddess of passion), and twin brother of Deimos (god of terror).

The Romans baptized this same god Timor and, like their predecessors, linked him to the fear prior to combat in wars, or to that inspired by the most ferocious creatures. While other peoples, such as the Vikings and the Nordic tribes of Europe, chased away the fear inherent in their warlike existences with religious stories of an afterlife exclusive to those who fell in combat.

On the other hand, fear is present in the stories that accompany us throughout life. He is inspired by monsters and creatures from childhood stories which originally sought to teach or warn children about the risks of life, or to incorporate a moral code from the earliest age: the big bad wolf, witches or monsters under the bed are just some early incarnations of fear.

Literary horror stories also explore this, such as those abundantly cultivated at the end of the 19th century by romantic authors such as Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890-1937) or Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (1836-1870).

Fear in biology

Fear has been studied, throughout the history of humanity, from numerous perspectives and by different disciplines, each in its own way. For example, Biology considers it an adaptive scheme that allows animals to anticipate and respond to threatening stimuli which translates into greater survival margins.

The fearful individual reacts in advance to the coming danger, and prepares his body for quick and instinctive fight or flight reactions. Many animals, feeling threatened, react by preemptive aggression, desperate flight, or the release of defensive body fluids.

Fear according to psychology

The psychology approach distinguishes between two approaches to fear:

• According to the behaviorist approach, fear is an acquired emotion that is, learned through direct or indirect experience, so that it is a defensive reaction to prevent an unpleasant or dangerous event from occurring again or occurring for the first time after it has been noticed.
• According to the depth psychology approach, a fear is the reflection of a basic and unconscious conflict which, since it is not resolved in the deep psyche, manifests itself in a primitive and bodily way, often without the person being able to understand why they feel it.

Fear is also interpreted evolutionarily as a complement to the function of pain, that is, as a mental and emotional alert regarding the reappearance of painful stimuli, both for the body and the mind. Thus, for example, fear of the unknown or fear of rejection are linked to a previous trauma and react with anguish and fear at the opportunity to experience something similar again.

What is fear for?

Fundamentally, fear is a feeling of alert comparable to pain. We feel pain when a stimulus is harmful to our well-being, for example, when we accidentally cut ourselves on the edge of an object. The physical damage received is reported to the brain in the form of pain, and it tries to protect itself from the harmful stimulus.

The same thing happens with fear: a threatening or risky situation triggers fear. to prepare the body and deal effectively with a context in which we must fight or escape. It is, therefore, a fundamental emotion for self-preservation and the processing of traumatic experiences, to the point that the memory of a painful situation is sometimes enough to unconsciously trigger fear.

But this “function” of fear is not entirely conscious, and we can react with different levels of fear or anxiety to situations that do not pose a real or immediate danger, but that are unconsciously interpreted as if they were. Thus, for example, a person who suffers from stage fright will experience great amounts of anguish and fear when he or she must address a packed auditorium; a situation that for other people could be a source, rather, of happiness and enthusiasm.

What happens in the brain when we feel fear?

In both humans and animals, The part of the brain responsible for feeling and processing fear is the so-called “reptilian brain.” that is, the most primitive, in charge of the basic functions for survival, such as eating and breathing, in conjunction with the brain's limbic system that is, the one in charge of regulating emotions, avoiding pain and controlling fight or flight reactions.

These brain structures continuously monitor (even during sleep) what record the body's senses and evaluate the corresponding response in a structure called the cerebral amygdala or amygdaloid body responsible for triggering basic emotions, such as affection or, precisely, fear. Activation of the amygdala produces immediate reactions of aggression, paralysis or escape, and for this it secretes an antidiuretic hormone (vasopressin).

This brain reaction triggers certain physiological changes in the body:

• The metabolic rate and the amount of glucose in the blood increase (to have more energy).
• Increases blood pressure and heart rate (for more intense physical reactions).
• Adrenaline shoots.
• Non-essential bodily functions are interrupted.
• Increases blood clotting (in case of injury).
• It also increases brain activity, although in a very specific way, totally focused on what causes fear. In fact, the frontal lobes of the brain (which allow conscious attention to be shifted from one object to another continuously) are temporarily deactivated and the entire mind is dedicated to evaluating the risk or threat.

The latter explains why people who suffer a panic or anxiety attack have so much difficulty distracting themselves or changing their thoughts, which would paradoxically deactivate the vicious cycle of anguish and fear.

Body expression of fear

Fear is externalized in the human body in very characteristic and distinctive ways:

• The eyes widen and pupils dilate to increase vision and threat perception.
• The features of the face are modified: the lips are stretched horizontally, the mouth is slightly opened, the eyebrows are raised and the forehead is wrinkled.
• The body tenses (for physical reactions) or shrinks (to go unnoticed), and it is common for the arms to be crossed over the body, as an unconscious protection of the trunk (and vital organs).
• Uncontrollable physical reactions may occur such as tremors, sweating, vasoconstriction, increased body odor and even loss of sphincter control (in the face of very intense or very sudden stimuli).
• Paralysis can occur: the body remains tense and motionless, and attention remains fixed on the threat.
• Body movements are short abrupt and erratic.

Strategies to face fear

Not all fears are the same and, therefore, not all are faced in the same way. There are reasonable fears natural, that any person would feel in a situation of life danger, risk of death or severe damage, and in those cases the body reacts in the best way it can to protect itself.

Those reactions, however, can be trained, as rescuers and the military do, to try to stick to a specific protocol of action during moments of intense emotions. However, what will happen to us when we face such a situation, deep down, cannot be known in advance.

Instead, The problem manifests itself when the symptoms of fear appear in situations that do not really represent a life-threatening situation and thus hinders our happy development in everyday or enjoyable situations. In this case, it is a pathological fear, that is, a fear that is not normal and that deserves to be combated, through strategies such as the following:

• Go to psychotherapy. The best ally you have when facing situations of irrational fear is the office of a specialist. The latter can accompany us in the process of facing and overcoming our fear, and can even help us understand if it is really an irrational fear or if we should analyze it in some other way.
• Know yourself. There is no point in facing fear if we don't know what we fear, how we usually react, or what kind of solutions are most within our reach. Self-knowledge is vital to find the ideal path to overcoming phobic fears.
• face fear. It is said that the best way to overcome an irrational fear is to confront it, but this must be done gradually, controlled and, in the best of cases, accompanied by a specialist. Otherwise, reiterating the trauma and brutally exposing ourselves to a situation that generates fear could aggravate the symptoms and deepen our fear even more. On the other hand, a gradual and gradual exposure can little by little lead us to minimize and finally overcome fear and anguish.
• Practice meditation or mindfulness. Certain breathing and full attention techniques from yoga, mindfulness or guided meditation can be useful when facing a situation that generates fear, since they teach us through controlled breathing to induce a state of relative normality in the body and, from the body, also in the mind.
• Reconnect with faith. If we are religious people, it is possible to use faith as an instrument to combat fears, to the extent that we can place our need for protection in an omnipresent and omnipotent deity.
• Avoid alcohol and psychotropics. Substances that restrict our control over the mind and body, such as alcohol, drugs or certain medications, should be avoided in cases of irrational fears, since it is impossible to predict how they will influence the appearance of the latter, or the management that occurs. let's make of them.

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References

• “Fear” on Wikipedia.
• “Fear” on ABC Bienestar.
• “Etymology of Fear” in the Online Spanish Etymological Dictionary.
• “How to overcome fear and anxiety” in The Mental Health Foundation (United Kingdom).
• “5 Things You Never Knew About Fear” in Northwestern Medicine (USA).
• “Fear (emotion)” in The Encyclopaedia Britannica.