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?
What is fear?
Fear is a negative state of the human psyche, provoked by a real or imaginary threat. Everyone in their life has repeatedly experienced this feeling in various situations. Even the most courageous and courageous person can be afraid of something deep down.
In psychology, fear is considered to be a basic emotional process inherent in a person from birth. It mobilizes the body's defense systems, prepares it to fight a threat or to escape.
Fear is a kind of danger signaling that promotes the implementation of the instinct of self-preservation. Under the influence of fear, a person can perform actions that he would not normally be able to do. For example, run at great speed, jump over high obstacles, show amazing intelligence and resourcefulness.
Remember that we live here and now
Imagining the terrible pictures that may await you in the future is a meaningless and stupid activity on which we sometimes waste our time. If you feel that such thoughts have driven your inner fear even deeper, then it’s time to stop wasting precious moments. Live in the present, enjoy what is happening now, and try to look to the future with hope. All the terrible events that you imagined may pass you by, and then you will be very sorry for the time spent on empty worries.
The Nature of Human Fear
Fear originated with humanity itself. Its roots go back to the distant past, when its main function was to preserve the lives of our ancestors. Fear is inherent in humans by nature for the purpose of quickly and accurately recognizing danger.
Ancient people tended to fear everything unknown and incomprehensible. They were horrified by any unfamiliar sounds, natural elements, or previously unseen animals. With the development of science, man gained knowledge about many phenomena that he was previously afraid of.
Today, fear no longer carries the function of the struggle for survival. The exception is those cases when a person finds himself in emergency, extreme situations. However, in the modern world, fear of real danger has been replaced by all kinds of social phobias. This is due to the fact that at the moment it is very important for people to be recognized by society and to command respect for their person.
The most common phobias
A phobia is a manifestation of irrational fear or increased anxiety associated with real or expected objects or situations that cause fear. This is an obsessive state that worsens under specific conditions and cannot be explained logically. Under the influence of a phobia, a person is afraid and tries to avoid certain situations, activities or objects.
Below is a list of the most common phobias in alphabetical order:
- Agoraphobia is the fear of open spaces. People with this fear prefer to always be indoors.
- Aquaphobia is the fear of water. In its hypertrophied form, it can develop into a fear of drinking even a sip of water.
- Acrophobia – fear of heights. Fear causes climbing to any heights, from a stool to mountains.
- Arachnophobia is the fear of spiders. It is considered characteristic of most people in the world.
- Astraphobia is the fear of thunder and lightning. A very common fear that causes people to take shelter during a thunderstorm.
- Aerophobia is the fear of flying and aircraft. It is a hindrance for many people who want to travel.
- Hemophobia is the fear of the sight of blood. At the sight of blood, even on TV, a person with such a phobia may lose consciousness.
- Gerontophobia is the fear of old age. Most often, this fear is observed in middle-aged people.
- Homophobia is fear, or rather rejection, of homosexuality and people with non-traditional sexual orientation.
- Dentophobia is the fear of dentists. People with this phobia would rather endure severe toothache than sit in the dentist's chair.
- Kacorrhaphiophobia is the fear of failure. Characteristic mainly of people focused exclusively on success.
- Cynophobia – fear of dogs. Another type of phobia that is common to a huge number of people.
- Claustrophobia is the fear of closed spaces. A person with an aggravated form of this phobia begins to panic in an ordinary elevator.
- Xenophobia is the fear of strangers. It can develop on sexual, interracial and religious grounds.
- Mysophobia is the fear of germs and dirt. A person with this fear is uncomfortable touching any objects outside his home, where there is always perfect cleanliness.
- Monophobia is the fear of loneliness. It can be expressed as a fear of being abandoned by a loved one, being alone in the world, or being alone in a room.
- Necrophobia is the fear of the dead. A clear example of fear of the unknown.
- Nyctophobia is the fear of the dark. Despite the fact that it mainly affects children, it is also observed in a huge number of adults.
- Ophidiophobia is the fear of snakes. Another example of a common fear. It is a subtype of hypertophobia - fear of reptiles.
- Social phobia is the fear of public attention. This can even include the fear of appearing in public places.
- Thanatophobia is the fear of death. This fear paralyzes a person’s will and prevents him from living a normal life.
- Trypanophobia – fear of needles, pricks and injections. A regular vaccination becomes a test of strength for people with this phobia.
- Trypophobia is the fear of open wounds and any holes in the skin, both on one’s own and on the skin of any living organism in general.
We, of course, could list a dozen other common phobias, but if you wish, you can do your own little research, for example, read what people are afraid of on the Internet. And we will add some zest to our article and briefly list some of the strangest phobias found in the modern world:
- agmenophobia – fear that the queue a person is standing in will move slower than the one next to it;
- acribophobia - fear of not understanding the essence of what you read;
- hapotophobia – fear of being touched;
- hexakosioyhexekontahexaphobia – fear of the number “666”;
- genophobia – fear of intimacy;
- hippopotomonstrosesquipedalophobia – fear of long words;
- dextrophobia – fear of objects located on the right;
- decidophobia – fear of making decisions;
- Domatophobia – fear of houses and any buildings;
- dorophobia – fear of giving and receiving gifts;
- Ignorophobia – fear of not receiving a response to a message you read;
- Imojiphobia – fear of being misunderstood after sending an emoticon or sticker;
- cyberphobia – fear of computers;
- kumpunophobia – fear of buttons;
- Lacanophobia – fear of vegetables;
- macrophobia – fear of long waits;
- nephophobia – fear of clouds;
- nomophobia – fear of being without a smartphone;
- omphalophobia – fear of belly buttons;
- Papaphobia – fear of the Pope;
- penteraphobia - fear of mother-in-law;
- Pogonophobia – fear of beards;
- punctumophobia – fear of messages with a period at the end;
- reterophobia – fear of making a mistake in a word or not seeing an erroneous autocorrect;
- Selfiphobia – fear of taking a poor-quality selfie;
- social network phobia – fear of social networks;
- philophobia - fear of falling in love;
- Chairophobia – fear of laughing in inappropriate conditions;
- Chorophobia – fear of dancing;
- chronophobia – fear of time;
- epistemophobia – fear of gaining knowledge;
- Ergophobia – fear of any work.
And this list of phobias does not exhaust the topic, which suggests that it is possible to find some kind of fear, even in a mild form, in almost any person in the world. Moreover, with the passage of time and changes in the specifics of each era, new, sometimes completely absurd, fears appear.
Of course, we sincerely hope that no fears or phobias cause you discomfort in life. If this is still not the case, read our article “Fear. What should you do with him?” in order to better know your enemy and overcome him. However, getting acquainted with this article is useful and simply for general development.
We wish you good luck and successful work on yourself, no matter what it concerns!
We also recommend reading:
- Storytelling
- Interesting and unusual facts about fear
- Overcoming Fear
- What is fear and how to overcome it
- "Hot ten" human fears. How to deal with fears?
- Fear: psychological foundations and famous scientific studies of this phenomenon
- How to work with fears?
- Systematic desensitization method to combat fears
- How to overcome the fear of a white page
- Psychology of fear
- Some fears of modern man
Key words:1Psychoregulation
Is fear a feeling or an emotion?
Psychology interprets fear as a human emotion that has a strong negative connotation. At the same time, some sources consider this concept as a human condition. So what is fear? Is it a feeling or an emotion?
In everyday life, people are accustomed to using the word “fear” to describe both a feeling and an emotion. In fact, there is no clear boundary between these concepts. On the one hand, fear is more related to emotions, since most often it is short-term in nature and is intended to activate the protective functions of the human body. And on the other?
If it does not stop for a long time, transforms, periodically repeats, takes on new forms, then we can say that fear is a feeling. In this case, it no longer serves for salvation, but, on the contrary, has a destructive effect on the body. The feeling of fear is not an instant reaction to some stimulus, but a product of human consciousness.
In Vasmer Max's dictionary
genus. p. -a, ukr. fear, kind And. -u, other Russian fear, old glory fear φόβος (Supr.), bul. fear, Serbohorv. fear, kind. n. fear, Slovenian. strȃh, born. p. strȃha, strahȗ, Czech. strach, slvts. strach, Polish strach, v.-luzh. trach, n.-luzh. tšаsh, lab. stroch. This word is from the beginning. meaning “numbness” comes close to lit. stregti, stregiu “numb, turn into ice”, lt. strēǵele “icicle”, Middle-European strac “tight”, new-century-n. strecken “stretch”, d.-v.-n. stracken “to be stretched” (Persson 432, 450; Ilyinsky, IORYAS 20, 3, 117), hereinafter – without s-: English. оnđreсan “to be afraid”, according to Zupica (GG. 169). Comparison with Lat. strāgēs “devastation, defeat, throwing to the ground” (Pedersen, IF 5, 49) is disputed by Persson (450 et seq.), Walde-Hofm. (2, 600). Endzelin (KZ 44, 66; SBE 70) compares with ltsh. struõstêt, struõstît “to threaten, strictly warn” (see also passion II). According to what was said above, the form on -x must have come from -gs- or -ks-. On the contrary, Brückner (KZ 43, 309) sees glory in *fear. neoplasm in relation to *passion. The comparison with the guard (see), contrary to Mikkola (IF 6, 351), or with *tręsǫ (see shaking), contrary to Jocles (AfslPh 28, 7) is absolutely erroneous. The reconstruction of *sъtraхъ in Iocles is unacceptable. See frighten. •• (Ondrush (“Jazykovedný časоris”, 10, 1959, p. 17) tries to explain fear as an expressive development of *strag-
Types of fear
There are quite a lot of different classifications of fear. It all depends on what caused this depressing feeling. Thus, real, existential and social fears are distinguished. Let's briefly look at each of them.
Real or biological fear is fear associated with an immediate threat to human life or health. In this situation, something poses a potential danger to the individual. For example, a huge dog trying to attack a person, or natural disasters such as tsunamis or earthquakes.
Existential fear is an unreasonable fear of something that does not pose a real danger to a person. Such fears lurk in the depths of people's subconscious and cannot be fully explained. This group includes fear of the dark, death, aging, and closed spaces.
Social fears are a relatively new group of human phobias that did not exist before. They cannot cause real harm, but carry only a symbolic threat. This includes fear of superiors, responsibility, public speaking, failure, and blows to self-esteem. Fears of this type are the most common in the modern world, cause psychological discomfort to a person and lead to a lot of problems.
Why are we afraid?
Fear is a very ancient feeling, and in some ways we can be grateful for our survival as a species. Any creature that does not run or hide from larger animals or dangerous situations will likely die before it has a chance to reproduce. In other words, if you are an animal in a hostile environment, it makes sense to be a little nervous.
For a stylish arch in the garden you only need a couple of old doors: instructions
Some tattoos will make you give up skinny jeans: the artist gave advice on care
Einstein told young Jerome about music - it became a valuable lesson for him
Children's fears and their causes
Children's fears most often have no real basis; they are far-fetched and exaggerated. The imagination of kids is so rich that even a simple thing can seem sinister to them. For example, the shadow of a toy may seem like a frightening monster to a child.
In addition, children do not have sufficient information about our world, which can also give rise to some kind of fear. It is good if a child shares his fears with adults, asks for help and protection. Parents should try to explain to the child the nature of the phenomena that frighten him, calm him down and give him a feeling of security.
But in some cases, children's fears are caused by real events that made a huge impression on them. This can happen if, for example, in front of a child, a passerby is hit by a car, or he himself is bitten by a dog. Such phobias can remain with a person for life, although they will weaken over time.
How does our brain react?
The hippocampus, a part of the brain responsible for memory consolidation, helps control the fear response. Along with the prefrontal cortex, the frontal part of the brain involved in high-level decision making, the hippocampus assesses threat. These centers help us understand how real and justified our reaction to fear is.
If they think the fear is exaggerated, they may reduce activity in the amygdala. This partly explains why people enjoy watching scary movies - their brains overcome the first phases of the fear response. Thus, first we experience a rush of fear, and then our brain centers weaken it.
Children outdid their fathers in beauty: famous men and their sons (photo)
I can’t imagine my sleep without a lavender eye pillow: I make it myself
Gentle heels at home: water, moisturizing socks, Vaseline
Fear of death
Some people practically do not think about the fact that they will not live forever, while for others the fear of dying becomes a real phobia. Fear of death is one of the most powerful emotions; it is basic for a person. It is quite logical to be afraid of dying, because everyone fears for their life and strives to preserve and prolong it.
There are many reasons for a person to be afraid of death. This is the frightening uncertainty of what will happen after, and the inability to imagine one’s non-existence, and the fear of pain and suffering before leaving for another world.
People who have not previously thought about death, when they find themselves in situations that really threaten their lives, begin to experience real fear. This can happen, for example, if a person was almost hit by a car, or a plane miraculously avoided a crash. At such moments, everyone begins to value their life and think that we are all impermanent.
Responsiveness
The flight-or-fight response begins in the amygdala, which is a bundle of neurons that is part of the brain's limbic system. It plays an important role in the formation of emotions, including fear. The amygdala, in turn, influences the hypothalamus, which activates the pituitary gland, the brain appendage where the nervous system meets the hormonal system. The pituitary gland releases adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) into the blood. At this time, the sympathetic nervous system prompts the adrenal glands to inject a dose of adrenaline into the blood.
Madrid: More than 200 Porsche owners visited the open-air cinema
You can remove wax marks, straighten wallpaper and more: life hacks with an iron
The elite and their superyachts: how the very rich are going to vacation this summer
In response to ACTH, the body releases cortisol, which leads to increases in blood pressure, sugar levels and white blood cells. Cortisol converts fatty acids into muscle energy. Other hormones, including adrenaline and norepinephrine, also prepare the muscles to react if the need arises. These hormones can also activate the heart and lungs and decrease the activity of the gastrointestinal tract. They prevent the appearance of tears and salivation, which explains the dry mouth of a frightened person, and also dilate the pupils.
Fear of failure in love
Many people, having been disappointed in their partner at least once, are afraid to build a new relationship. For them, love is the fear that negative emotions and suffering will happen again. Now it is difficult for them to believe a person, to open their hearts to him and begin to trust.
Fear of new failures in love makes people withdrawn, closed to communication and new acquaintances. Very often, it takes many years to overcome this feeling, and some people never cope with their phobia throughout their lives.
In such situations, it is important to understand that there are very few people in the world who have never experienced a love failure. Having made a mistake once, you should not consider all men or all women the same. It is important to believe that you will definitely be able to find a person who will make you happy and help you forget previous troubles.
Remember positive experiences
Using this method, you can eliminate minor recurring fears that regularly plague you. For example, the possibility of making a negative impression when giving a presentation in public is frightening. And if past experience shows that the worries were in vain, then is it worth wasting time on such negative emotions? It is better to take care of a worthy performance by carefully preparing for it.
Be prepared for anything, but don't make a problem out of it. Even if your performance was not up to par this time, take this as an opportunity for further self-development.
How to get rid of fears?
Fear is an emotion that overcomes every person from time to time. People are afraid of completely different things, so there cannot be a single recipe for getting rid of our phobias.
First, you should try to understand what exactly causes your fear. Sometimes this is very difficult to do, since the fear of certain things is hidden deep in our subconscious. Having found out the original source of your phobia, you need to think about whether your fear really means living in a constant nightmare and worries, or whether, in principle, it does not cause you much inconvenience. As a rule, fear as a short-term emotion does not require much struggle, but if it begins to develop into a phobia, then you need to get rid of it as soon as possible.
Next, you need to understand yourself, analyze at what moments you begin to fear the most. Try to minimize stressful situations in which you feel discomfort, anxiety and fear.
In the fight against your phobias, you need to learn to switch your attention to something positive and kind as soon as you feel that fear has begun to creep up on you. If you cannot cope with the problem yourself, do not hesitate to seek help from specialists.
Attend group therapy sessions
We all believe that our problems are the most complex and unique. But this is not so, we are not alone in our fears. This is why group therapy sessions are so effective. By getting to know and meeting people who have similar problems, discussing difficult situations together, you will notice that your emotions have become less intense and your inner fear has subsided.
Therapy methods
A feeling of fear in which there is no obvious threat is spontaneous anxiety, which Freud defined as “Free fear.” When this feeling manifests itself, it is not possible to establish a connection between anxiety and any specific situation or stimulus. This feeling of fear can manifest itself as causeless anxiety or vague forebodings. However, with more detailed examination, precipitating events can sometimes be identified. For example, in some people, “taboo feelings” or painful memories may be identified. At the same time, “forbidden feelings” and painful memories can be quickly suppressed through psychotherapeutic sessions on psychological protection, but the anxiety and feeling of fear caused by them remains. The duration of this feeling of fear (spontaneous anxiety) can vary - from a short attack to a constant feeling of fear or anxiety.
Feelings of fear can spontaneously arise and accompany various mental disorders, such as:
- Anxiety mental disorders
- Depressive mental states
- Post-stress mental states
- Acute, psychotic mental disorders
- Phobic mental disorders
- Post-traumatic mental states
- Neurotic mental disorders
- Toxic brain damage
- Schizophrenia and schizophrenia spectrum disorders
A person’s feeling of fear or its absence is one of the most important instructions for a psychotherapist who conducts a diagnostic examination of a patient. The doctor, focusing on the general condition and the presence or absence of a feeling of fear, in conjunction with other indicators, establishes a diagnosis, clarifying it with indications of the identified true factors in the development of this mental disorder.
In the overwhelming majority, mental disorders, accompanied by various forms and strengths of feelings of fear, are surmountable and can be treated by a psychotherapist.
Depending on the identified reasons causing the feeling of fear, the psychotherapist individually selects and conducts the necessary treatment, which must be comprehensive and contain such necessary elements as: drug therapy, psychotherapy, diet and daily routine.
If we talk about prevalence, today, according to medical statistics, more than 60% of people with various mental disorders experience a feeling of unreasonable fear.
