Fear: what is it, the benefits and harms, the reasons and methods of struggle

Fear is one of the very first feelings and states that a person begins to experience. According to some reports, even in the womb, the fetus is able to be afraid. Then throughout our lives we experience fears, and often it is they that save our lives, allow us not to make big mistakes. At the same time, fear can turn into a real problem and significantly complicate a person's life.

Fear is called an internal emotional and psychological state, which is caused by the presence of a real or perceived threat. Psychologists consider it to be a negative emotion, bright and strong, capable of influencing a person's behavior and thinking. Physiologists agree with them, but specify that this emotion is based not only on a dangerous change in external circumstances, but also on past negative experiences, and therefore for the survival of the species, fear is a necessary condition.

It is based on the instinct of self-preservation, old as the world. Fear is considered a basic emotion, innate.

Don't confuse fear with anxiety. Although both of these states are associated with a feeling of anxiety, fear is still a reaction to a threat, even if it does not exist in reality. And anxiety is the expectation of possible dangerous events that may not occur, since it is difficult to predict them.

Fear allows you to survive, which is why people, whom nature has deprived of wings, are afraid of heights. Since humans lack natural armor and the ability to survive without oxygen underground, all of us, to one degree or another, experience fear of earthquakes, natural disasters and catastrophes.

Fear evolved with people. And today we are no longer afraid that a tiger or a bear will attack us at night, but sometimes we are afraid to hysterics to find ourselves without mobile communications and electricity.

As a defense mechanism, fear is still trying to protect us from things that can disturb our well-being (physical and mental). However, many are still afraid of the dark, because ancient memory suggests that an unknown threat may lurk in it. Many are afraid of depth, absolute silence, death.

Scientists who have tried to study the mechanisms of fear at different times have discovered several ways in which this basic emotion tries to "reach out" to our consciousness. These are the so-called "hormones of fear and stress" (adrenaline, cortisol), these are autonomic reactions that occur when certain parts of the brain are excited when a strong fear arises.

As long as a person is afraid of real threats, this is a normal, full-fledged, saving fear, to which a big human "thank you" needs to be said.

Today, almost everyone has one or another phobia (their list is not known for certain, but scientists have already counted about 300 irrational nightmares). Phobias guide a person's behavior and thinking... And although he understands that it is stupid to be afraid of a spider the size of a match head, because he does not pose a threat, a person cannot do anything with his horror.

Such fears change behavior - the fob tries to avoid circumstances and situations that inspire him with terror: a socialophobe who is afraid of society, closes himself in the house and lives as a hermit, you cannot drive a claustrophobe into an elevator, even to the top floor of a thirty-story building he will walk on foot, a kinophobe will never approach dogs, and a kumpunophobe is so afraid of buttons that he never touches them, does not buy such clothes, avoids contact with people who have large bright buttons on their clothes.

There are no completely fearless people. If a person is deprived of this emotion, he will cease to exist very quickly, since he will lose caution, prudence, and his thinking will be disturbed. To understand this, it is enough to know what the mechanisms of fear are.

Fear and fear are emotions that can both save and kill. In extreme circumstances, when the threat to life is more than real, fear is intended to save, but in practice it often leads to the opposite effect. If, in an extreme situation, a person begins to panic, then he loses control over the situation and external changes, which is fraught with death. Dr. Alain Bombard from France, to prove this, was forced to cross the Atlantic Ocean alone in a flimsy lifeboat.

The conclusions he made speak for themselves: the main cause of death for people who find themselves in open water is fear, a sense of doom. He refuted the opinion that the death of shipwreck victims is mainly associated with a shortage of fresh drinking water.

Fears in large numbers can significantly harm the child's psyche. A frightened child is constantly in tension, his personality develops with difficulty, he cannot calmly communicate with others, build contacts, empathize and sympathize.Children who have lived for some time in an atmosphere of total fear often grow up uncontrollable and aggressive.

An excess of fear causes sleep disorders, speech disorders in adolescents and children... Thinking loses flexibility, cognitive ability decreases. Scared children are less inquisitive than their more prosperous peers.

Severe panic experienced in childhood under certain circumstances and without being tied to them can become the beginning of a severe long-term phobia that will require medical attention.

But such consequences cannot be completely ruled out. If a person experiences various fears for a long time and often, it is possible that not only phobias will develop, but also more severe mental illnesses - persecution mania or schizophrenia, for example.

In fairness, it should be noted that fear also has a positive meaning. This condition brings the human body into "combat" readiness, the person becomes more active, and in a difficult situation this is what helps to overcome the dangers: the muscles become stronger and more resilient, a very frightened person runs much faster than a calm person.

And in situations where a person is faced with an unprecedented threat, an unfamiliar phenomenon, it is fear that takes full responsibility for behavioral reactions. While the individual ponders what is in front of him and how dangerous it can be, fear has already triggered the "run" reaction and the legs, as they say in the people, themselves carry the frightened away. It will be possible to ponder and comprehend the strange danger later. And now the main thing is to be saved.

Scientists identify several roles that fear plays. They are not bad or good, they are just necessary:

• motivational - fear prompts you to choose a safer environment for life, for children, for yourself;
• adaptive - fear gives negative experience and allows for the future to form more cautious behavior;
• mobilization - the body works in the "super-hero" mode, it can jump so high and run as fast as no other Olympic champion can in a calm state;
• estimated - fears contribute to the ability to assess the danger and choose the means of protection;
• signal-orientation - there is a danger signal and immediately the brain begins to choose how to behave in order to preserve life and health;
• organizational - because of the fear of being beaten by a belt or put in a corner, the child is less bullied and learns better;
• social - under the influence of fears (to be different from everyone else, to be condemned), people try to hide their negative character traits, criminal inclinations.

There is always only one function of fear - to protect and protect. And all the roles ultimately come down to her.

Anyone who wants to find the only correct classification of human fears will be very disappointed: such a classification does not exist, since there are many different classifications. Emotion, for example, is divided according to the following parameters.

Situational fear is a feeling that naturally occurs when the situation changes (a flood has occurred, a volcanic eruption has begun, a person is attacked by a large aggressive dog). Such fears are very contagious to those around them - they spread quickly and cover entire groups of people.

Personal fears are features of his character, for example, a suspicious person can be scared only because someone, in his purely personal opinion, looked at him with condemnation.

Object fear is always caused by something specific (snake, spider, etc.)etc.). Thematic ones relate to a wide range of circumstances and situations in which fear may arise. So, a person who perceives the height with horror will be equally afraid of a parachute jump and climbing to the observation deck of a skyscraper (the situations are different, the theme is the same). The thematic include the fear of loneliness, the unknown, change, etc.

Pointless fear is a sudden feeling of danger in the absence of any specific object, subject or subject.

Everything is pretty simple here. Rational fear is real, caused by existing danger. Irrational (irrational) fear is difficult to explain from the point of view of common sense, because there is no obvious threat. All phobias, without exception, are irrational fears.

Acute fear is both a normal, perfectly healthy reaction of a person to danger, and manifestations of mental disorders (panic attacks). Be that as it may, acute fear in 100% of cases is associated with a momentary situation. Chronic fear is always associated with some individual personality traits (anxious type, suspicious, shy).

Many children experience numerous fears, but with age they almost always pass (this is how the fear of the dark and a number of others "behave"). Older people are more likely to be afraid of being robbed, getting sick - and this is also natural. Normal fear differs from abnormal (pathological) fear in that it is short, reversible, and does not affect life in general. If fear makes a person change his life, adapt, if the personality itself and her actions change, then they speak of pathology.

He also tried to classify them. According to Freud, fear is real and neurotic. With the real, everything is more or less clear, and the doctor did not come up with anything new beyond what is already known about the normal reaction to danger. But he divided neurotic fears with the obligatory presence of affect into several categories:

• fearful anticipation - foresight, forecasting the worst that can happen in certain situations, anxiety neurosis develops in an extremely form;
• anankastic - phobias, obsessive thoughts, actions, in extreme form, lead to the development of fear hysteria;
• spontaneous - these are attacks of horror for no reason, in extreme form, lead to severe mental disorders.

Modern researchers add to the legacy of the classics of psychoanalysis and psychiatry special species that are a product of civilization. These are social fears.

These are conflict situations in which a person runs the risk of losing normal self-esteem, status, and relationships.

Fear is born in the brain, or rather in that most ancient part of it, the central region called the limbic system, or more precisely, in the amygdala, which is responsible for the ability to make decisions based on the results of evaluating emotions. Upon receiving a dangerous real or fictional signal, this part of the brain triggers a reaction in which you need to quickly choose what to do - run or defend. Electroencephalography, if such a study is done at this moment, shows the activity of the subcortical structures, as well as the cortex.

The human body begins to actively prepare for a fight or escape, in a split second it activates the necessary "military" regime: more blood goes to the muscles and heart (you have to run), because of this, the skin becomes colder, the work of sweat glands is activated and a familiar sign of fear is cold, clammy sweat.

A large amount of adrenaline enters the bloodstream, the heart rate increases, breathing becomes shallow, shallow and frequent.

The skin becomes paler.Due to the outflow of blood from the internal organs to the muscle tissue, the stomach contracts, and discomfort in the abdomen may appear. Often, an attack of fear is accompanied by a feeling of nausea, and sometimes vomiting. Intense terror can lead to involuntary relaxation of the sphincters and subsequent uncontrolled urination or bowel movements.

At the moment of fear in the human body, there is a sharp decrease in the production of sex hormones (well, that's right - if danger threatens, it's not the time for procreation!), The adrenal cortex intensively produces cortisol, and the adrenal medulla quickly provides the body with adrenaline.

Dries up in the mouth, there is a feeling of weakness in the legs and a lump in the throat (difficult to swallow). Heart palpitations are accompanied by tinnitus, ringing in the head. Much depends on the individual characteristics of the personality, psyche, health.

Anxiety attacks (panic attacks) are common in people with phobias. A normal healthy psyche, even in the moment of fright, will allow a person to control his behavior and condition. With a phobia, control is impossible - fear lives its own, separate life, in addition to the listed symptoms, loss of consciousness and balance is possible, attempts to harm oneself. Horror fetters and does not let go until the end of the attack.

As can be seen from the mechanisms of emotion development, the main reason is the primary stimulus. It is noteworthy that not even some frightening circumstance that threatens life and well-being can cause fear, horror, panic, but also the absence of any signs of well-being (this origin, in particular, has the fear that a small child experiences, whose mother is forced to go somewhere on their own business).

Human psychology is designed in such a way that regardless of age, education, social status in society, gender and race, we are all afraid of certain things. - for example, unknown. If the event does not occur, although it was expected, or it is not at all obvious what should happen next, the person involuntarily brings his psyche into a state of "full combat readiness." And it is fear that mobilizes him.

That is why, throughout our lives, we preserve and pass on to our descendants the horror of natural disasters and fires. This fear does not depend on the level of culture of the society, on its awareness and technological progress. All other fears are derivatives. A child from an African settlement with no electricity or internet is unfamiliar with the fear of being left without a mobile phone.

In a state of loneliness, all emotions are exacerbated. And this is no coincidence: the prospect of getting sick or being injured alone significantly increases the likelihood of an unfavorable outcome for a person.

There are both external and internal reasons for the development of fear. External - these are events, circumstances in which life puts us every second. And internal reasons are key needs and personal experience (memories, premonitions, the ratio of external stimuli to personal experience). External reasons can be imposed (people have been accustomed to signaling a fire alarm, air raid, etc.). Agree, it is not necessary to see a fire with your own eyes to be afraid of it when you hear that a fire alarm has been triggered in the building where you are.

Traumatic childhood experiences often lead to persistent phobias, even in adults. Often a person is afraid of dogs only because in childhood or adolescence he was bitten by such an animal, and the fear of a confined space comes after, as a child, a child was often locked in a dark closet, closet, or put in a dark corner as punishment for inappropriate behavior.

Personal experience can be non-traumatic, based on culture, upbringing, copying. If a child's parents are afraid of a thunderstorm, and every time thunder and lightning flash outside the window, they close the windows and doors tightly and demonstrate fear, then the child begins to fear a thunderstorm, although there has never been any physical harm directly from thunder and lightning. This is how people “transmit” to each other the fear of snakes (although most of them have never even met them in their lives), the fear of contracting a dangerous disease (none of them had it).

The experience we consider ours is not always the case. Sometimes we perceive statements that are imposed on us from the outside - television, cinema, writers and journalists, neighbors and acquaintances. This is how specific fears appear: an impressionable person watched a film about poisonous jellyfish, and something about them impressed him so much that he will now go into the sea with great apprehension, if at all.

Horror films, thrillers, as well as news releases about terrorist attacks, attacks, wars, medical errors - all this creates certain fears in us. We ourselves do not have personal experience of relevant topics, but we do have a fear of murderer doctors, terrorists, bandits and ghosts. To one degree or another, everyone is afraid of this.

People with a fine mental organization are more susceptible to fears (in the language of doctors, this is called high excitability of the central nervous system). For them, even a circumstance that is insignificant in terms of the force of influence from the outside can cause not only severe panic, but also a persistent phobia.

A healthy fear quickly passes, does not leave "scars" in the soul and does not return later in nightmares. A normal reaction is to remember the traumatic situation, draw conclusions (learn something), laugh at your reaction, and calm down.

But the line between normal and pathological fear is very thin, especially in children and adolescents. If there are personal characteristics of character, such as secrecy, shyness, fearfulness, then prolonged or severe fright can provoke the formation of a phobia, speech impairment (stuttering, lack of speech), delayed psychomotor development.

The person himself may not remember what happened many years ago at a tender age, but his brain remembers perfectly and uses the connection formed then between the object and the occurrence of panic.

From the point of view of psychosomatics, fear is a destructive emotion, especially if it is chronic. It is he who becomes the true cause of a variety of diseases. Fears are most often associated with ailments of the heart and blood vessels, the musculoskeletal system, dermatological diseases, and autoimmune diseases. How can fear cause real illness? It's very simple.

The mechanism of fear at the physiological level was described above. If the fear is healthy, then the psychological state quickly stabilizes, adrenaline is removed from the body, blood circulation is restored and evenly distributed between the internal organs, skin, muscles.

Adrenaline does not have time to leave the body, its new emissions provoke high levels of stress hormones. This causes problems with the production of sex hormones (the connection between them is proven and beyond doubt). For a child, this is fraught with violations of puberty, growth, development. For adult men and women - psychogenic infertility and a variety of reproductive health problems.

Chronic fear causes muscle tightening. We remember that when frightened, the blood rushes to the muscle tissue and flows from the internal organs, the distribution of blood flow changes. If this happens all the time, the muscles are tense. This leads to a variety of diseases of the musculoskeletal system, nervous system, and insufficient blood supply to internal organs during periods of fear leads to the development of chronic diseases.

But without correcting the psychological background neither pills, nor potions, nor operations will give the desired effect. The psychosomatic illness will persist in recurring.

The risks of getting a serious psychiatric diagnosis in fearful people are always several times higher. Fear that a person cannot control leads to neurosis, phobias at any unfavorable moment can progress and transform into schizophrenia, manic disorder. People who are habitually afraid of something are more likely to suffer from clinical depression.

When they are afraid to cross the streets, people create routes to avoid this action. If there are no such routes, they may refuse to go somewhere. Agoraphobes often cannot make purchases in large stores, with a phobia of sharp objects, people avoid using knives and forks, with social phobia, they often refuse to go to work, public transport, leave the house, and when they are afraid of water, people begin to avoid hygiene procedures and why is this can lead, no need to explain.

It is fears that prevent us from becoming who we want, doing what we love, traveling, communicating with a large number of people, having animals, reaching heights in creativity, becoming smarter, more beautiful, better, more successful. They do not allow us to live so that in old age there is nothing to regret. And isn't this a reason to think about how to get rid of your own fears?

You can fight fear on your own only if it is not pathological. In all other cases, you cannot do without the help of a psychotherapist. Since there are many reasons that can cause fear in a person, there are enough ways to deal with the problem.

A more preventive mission is entrusted to educators, teachers and parents, but everything should start with it. If adults create an environment for the child in which everything is clear and simple, then the probability of the onset of irrational panic fear is minimal. Whatever the child does, he must be prepared for this, this applies to both games and learning. New demands, new information, if there was no preparation, can provoke fear.

In both cases, a very fertile ground is created for the development of not only anxiety disorder, but also a more serious mental illness.

The Russian scientist Ivan Sechenov pointed out the need to educate children with will from an early age. It is she who, according to the physiologist, will give the opportunity "to perform feats, regardless of fears." And Ivan Turgenev argued that, in addition to will, the main means of fighting cowardice is a sense of duty.

And then it is important to reveal the truth and report that there was no insurance and that we managed to do everything on our own. This is how kids are taught to ride a bike. While the parental hands hold the vehicle, the child is driving quite confidently. But when he finds out that the bike is no longer being held, he invariably falls or becomes frightened. And this is the best time to report that he was not held before, and he was driving all this time himself. This approach can be applied at any age in any situation.

Whether you are an adult or a child, your psyche is designed in such a way that it can adapt to any circumstances. Please note that children living in a war zone or in border areas are not at all afraid of the sounds of shooting, the roar of aircraft, and adults in such an environment get used to living more or less adequately.

In practice, this means that you can pick up your own key to any fear. If a child is desperately afraid to swim, send him to the section in which an experienced coach works - with insurance, and then without it your child will surely swim, and the feeling of fear with each subsequent workout will decrease, dull, and be perceived by the brain less acutely. But do not throw the child into the water from the boat according to the principle - "if you want to live, you will swim out."

With a strong fear of the dark, you can practice drawing with a light pen (it will not work with the light of the picture), and gradually the darkness will turn from an enemy for you or your child into a companion and like-minded person. If you are afraid of heights, visit the amusement park more often and ride those that involve a high rise, this will help you adapt faster and the height will cease to be terrifying.

It should be understood that courage in a person cannot be developed either by this method or by another. But it is quite possible to make the perception of fear less tangible.

People with irrational and prolonged fears, with panic attacks, and uncontrollable attacks of horror need treatment from a psychotherapist or psychiatrist. The doctor helps the patient to get rid of wrong attitudes that lead to non-existent, imaginary fears. The method of cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy helps well in this. It includes identifying all traumatic circumstances and objects, working to change attitudes (sometimes NLP and hypnosis are used), and then the person begins to gradually adapt to the circumstances that previously frightened him.

Among the therapeutic approaches for non-triggered and shallow phobias, the method of desensitization can be used. With him, a person immediately begins to gradually accustom him to what he is afraid of. If there is a fear of riding the bus, they are first asked to come to the bus stop and sit there. Realizing that this is not scary, you can go into the bus cabin and get out right away, and the next day go in and pass the bus stop.In most cases, the method requires constant accompaniment of the patient at the very beginning of therapy - someone whom he trusts, or the doctor must do everything with him, and then discuss the situation together, focusing on the fact that nothing terrible has happened.

The therapist creates a "dangerous situation" (sometimes under hypnosis). Describes her, asks the patient to tell what is happening to him. And when a person's emotions reach their peak, the doctor asks to see who is now standing next to him in the created illusion (in the cabin of the bus, for example). If this is a woman, what is she wearing? Is she beautiful? What's in her hands? If this is a man, does he inspire confidence? Is he young? Does he have a beard? Distraction allows you to focus the point of attention from a panic attack to a new object. Even if it does not succeed immediately, gradually the results appear.

Subsequently, people can use this technique themselves, without hypnotic influence. I started to worry, worry - pay attention to the small details of something that has nothing to do with the object of the fright.

Sometimes, medication support may be needed if the condition is complicated by accompanying mental problems.

But there is no cure for fear. It simply does not exist. Tranquilizers, which were not so long ago considered effective, cause chemical dependence, moreover, they only mask the manifestations of fear, dulling the perception of the whole, and do not solve the problem. After the withdrawal of tranquilizers, phobias usually return.

Significantly better results are shown by antidepressants, which can be prescribed simultaneously with psychotherapy (apart from them, there will also be no effect). In case of sleep disturbance, hypnotics are recommended, and in case of neurosis or neurotic condition - sedatives, sedatives.

The main thing in treatment is diligence, diligence, great and strong motivation. Without cooperation with the doctor, without observing all his recommendations, the desired effect cannot be achieved.

Prevention of the development of pathological fears should be dealt with from childhood. If you want to raise a person who will not become a hostage of phobias, use the advice of psychologists:

• if the child is afraid of something, do not laugh at it, even if it is a really ridiculous fear, treat the feelings with respect and be ready to listen seriously and analyze the frightening situation together;
• give your child more time, warmth, affection - this will be his "insurance", with which it is easier to go through frightening situations;
• build a relationship with a child so that the child trusts you, can at any time, even in the middle of the night, come and tell his nightmare, share his fear;
• do not artificially create situations in which the child may experience a panic attack (do not teach him to swim, throwing him into the water despite protests, do not force him to pet the hamster if the rodents scare him);
• constantly overcome your fears, do it so that the child sees the result - this is an excellent visual example and the correct attitude for the child for the future - "I can do anything."

It is strictly forbidden:

• blame the child for his fear, call him a coward, a weakling, provoke him to some actions, scold and punish the child for his fear;
• pretend that nothing happened - ignoring childhood fear does not solve the problem, but drives it deeper, which then almost always results in the formation of a stable phobia;
• cite myself as an example "I'm not afraid, dad is not afraid, and you should not be afraid!" - it doesn't work at all;
• to assert that someone died due to an illness, the child's psyche quickly connects the concept of “being ill” and “death”, which leads to the development of an anxiety state in situations when someone is ill or is ill himself, as well as outside the disease due to for fear of getting infected with something;
• take the child goodbye to the dead, to funeral ceremonies before adolescence;
• come up with "horror stories" - Babay will come, if you don't eat, you will die of exhaustion, if you don't go to sleep, the Gray Wolf will take it away, etc .;
• overprotect the child, prohibit him from contact with the world, limit his independence;
• watch horror films before reaching the age of 16-17.

There are a great variety of methods - from art therapy to physiotherapy exercises - that will help you overcome any nightmares under the supervision of an experienced psychologist or psychotherapist. If you do not contact a specialist in a timely manner, the consequences of a neglected anxiety disorder will be very negative.

For what fear is, see below.