HOW FEAR CAN BE POSITIVE
HOW FEAR CAN BE POSITIVE
When you are afraid, you are being given a message that something needs to be done. Fear isn’t the problem—it is the messenger. Fear is generated in the Amygdala region of our brain, and as a result, it triggers the "fight or flight" response. For all of us, fear can seem like a paralyzing, amorphous beast. We can’t see it but we can feel its impact; it manifests as physical symptoms like shaking, sweating, or an upset stomach. We’ve all encountered it, whether we see it as a challenge to be conquered, or as a hindrance to our journey. Fear is a primal emotion present in all living creatures. While some are more afraid than other people, it would be inaccurate to say that no one is ever afraid. Many of us experience fear on a daily basis, so much so that it has become an accepted part of daily life. But understanding where the feeling comes from and how to best manage it can make our lives better. Many of us deal with fear on a daily basis, with differing levels of impact on our lives. We all have something that makes us cringe—it could be an unruly dog, getting lost in the woods, public speaking, or even losing your smartphone. Fear is not a bad thing; it's what helps keep you cautious. However, it can get in the way of you doing things. As you might know, this is not always helpful.
WHAT IS FEAR?
Fear is one of the seven universal emotions experienced by all human beings. Fear arises with the threat of harm, either physical, emotional, or psychological, real or imagined. While traditionally considered a “negative” emotion. Fear response is a physiological reaction to a perceived threat or danger. It’s the body’s way of preparing for a flight or fight when facing a threat—whether real or imagined. The fear response triggers the adrenal glands to release adrenaline into the bloodstream and causes physical changes such as increased heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension, sweating and dilated pupils. The difference between fear and phobia is simple. Fears are common reactions to events or objects. But fear becomes a phobia when it interferes with your ability to function and maintain a consistent quality of life. If you start taking extreme measures to avoid water, spiders or people, you may have a phobia.
TYPES OF FEAR
Fears can be diagnosed using how long the symptoms have persisted, their intensity, and situations that tend to trigger them.
(1) Phobia
Phobias may be diagnosed when certain situations, events, or objects create a strong, irrational fear.
Some symptoms of phobias include:
A sensation of uncontrollable anxiety when exposed to the source of fear.
The feeling that the source of the fear needs to be avoided at all costs.
Not being able to function properly when exposed to fear.
They may acknowledge that fear is irrational and exaggerated combined with the inability to control feelings of fear. There are different types of phobias that can be diagnosed: specific phobias, social phobias, and agoraphobia. Specific phobias are intense, irrational fears of a specific trigger.
Some common specific phobias are spiders and snakes. Social phobia is a profound fear of public humiliation or being judged negatively by others in social situations. Agoraphobia is an intense fear of situations from which it would be difficult to escape if a person were to experience extreme panic. This could be a fear of open spaces as well as confined spaces.
(2) Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
Those who experience GAD typically have chronic and exaggerated worries about everyday life and worry about multiple things. They may be fearful about their health, finances, and safety to the point where it can become exhausting. People with GAD tend to experience a lot of the physical symptoms associated with fear but more often and for more reasons.
(3) Social anxiety disorder
Also known as social phobia, those with social anxiety disorder have an intense fear of social situations, often driven by irrational fears of humiliation. If faced with a social situation, it is common that someone with social anxiety will experience physical symptoms such as sweating, blushing, rapid heart rate, and trembling. They may feel these sensations before, during, and after a social situation alongside thoughts such as worries of being judged, making a mistake, or drawing unwanted attention to themselves.
HOW FEAR CAN BE POSITIVE
(1) Fear helps us navigate risk.
Fear is a normal and healthy emotion when we feel it in the right way in response to a perceived threat. Positive fear can be a survival instinct that helps us to assess whether we are in danger, but it can also be an emotion that is useful for making good choices if we can remain calm! Fear is an emotion that humans and animals experience when they perceive a threat. This can be a harmful event, an imminent occurrence of some injury (e.g., facing a predator), or approaching an uncertainty which cannot be changed by any action that can be taken (e.g., being robbed by one's assailant)
(2) Fear makes you resilient.
“Resilience is about maintaining flexibility, being able and willing to adapt and adjust to situations we create in our mindset as fearful, tense, difficult,” The ability to bounce back from fear can help you learn how to be resilient. fear creates an empowering assessment of the risks involved and what might happen. When you focus on your fearful experiences they become sources of personal strength, helping you learn strategies that can build resilience.
(3) Fear helps you lose weight.
Believe it or not, feeling a bit of fear burns more calories than when you are not afraid. As your pulse quickens, your body experiences a surge in adrenaline. Your metabolism goes into high gear and starts to burn sugar and fat, and your heart starts beating faster to get the resources to your muscles. In one study, physiologists at London’s University of Westminster found that when subjects watched horror movies such as The Shining or The Exorcist, they burned an average 113 calories—about the equivalent of what they would burn on a half-hour walk.
(4) Fear helps you manage stress and relaxes you.
Stress is fear-based. You worry that things won’t turn out right or the way that would be the most beneficial for you. Physically, under stress, your body and brain are bombarded with adrenaline and dopamine, which speeds up your heart rate and blood pressure, flooding your muscles with oxygen to prepare you for fight or flight. Your senses buzz to life. That cascade of natural opioids released from your brain makes the “noise” in your head fade, and you may feel very calm.
(5) Fear temporarily boosts your immune system.
In a 2009, Coventry University, United Kingdom, study, participants were shown a horror flick. Blood samples from the study participants were taken before and after the viewing. The results showed that physiological fear responses caused film-watchers to experience a lift in activated white blood cells, the type of cells that enable you to fight disease and repair your body. The amount of white blood cells you have is a marker of the strength of your immune system.
Fear will often cause us to avoid taking action and instead remain in a place of comfortable familiarity. This can lead to stagnation in our lives and lack of growth. That said, fear is critical in delivering a balanced perspective on situations. It provides us with a sense of alarm that can prevent us from doing something dangerous or ill-advised. Understanding this emotional side of ourselves is important, as it can assist in making better decisions moving forward.