Where do fears come from: the main causes, symptoms

0 271 April 21, 2020 at 07:04 pm Author of the publication: Evgenia Astreinova

People's fears are a huge palette. There are widespread ones: fear of the dark, dogs, thunderstorms, air travel, fear of visiting the dentist. There are also the most unusual fears among people: fear of vegetables, clouds, buttons. The general list of human fears known today is a long alphabetical list of hundreds of varieties. Where do people's fears come from, what is their reason?

Fear from a psychological point of view

Fear is an innate emotion that contributes to the preservation of the race. Some psychologists, such as A.I. Zakharov, defined this as something that is based on the individual’s instinct of self-preservation, where one of its useful properties is the protective nature of this emotion.

This feeling was defined as a state of painful experience by V. M. Leibin. William James equated it to the basic and one of the strongest instincts of an individual. Sigmund Freud divided it into 2 groups: phobia and fear. The first he considered was the process of pathological fear, that is, a constant feeling of anxiety and fear, regardless of the situation; “fear” refers to the fear of something specific.

The behaviorist approach to the psychology of fear was studied by John Watson, who identified certain stimuli that contribute to its appearance: blows and jolts at the moment of falling asleep, sharp sounds or loss of support. He called the rest only their different variations.

According to the scientist, fear can be both an innate and acquired feeling. In infancy, there is no fear of certain phenomena (fire, falling, etc.), so acquired fear is added to it. This type is formed on the basis of negative experiences that happened in the past. During the scientist’s research, it became clear that most fears in people are formed during the first year of life.

The idea of the emergence of a behaviorist approach was also developed by other scientists, such as B.F. Skinner. His idea of operant conditioning of fears showed that fears can arise, be maintained and strengthened as a result of certain events in a person’s life. Reinforcement is divided into both positive and negative.

A striking example of positive reinforcement would be a child who, as a result of escaping from this feeling, tries to find refuge in his parents. By asking for help and receiving their care, he develops a certain strategy, during which he will every time resort to the help of his parents in the event of subsequent potential danger.

In this case, it is very difficult to overcome this phenomenon, since the child receives positive emotions from his relatives and this increases some benefit from fear. If the desired care and attention can only be obtained in this way, then the child will sometimes even stimulate his fear in order to receive positive emotions.

Types of human fears

It is impossible to unambiguously determine the types and categories of human fears, since there is no generally accepted classification of them. Some scientists, such as D. B. Sadok and G. I. Callan, divide fears according to the degree of their constructiveness - those that pose a real threat and those that can be assessed as an inadequate stimulus to a certain stimulus, which can lead to psychopathology.

Fear of childbirth may appear based on stories told by someone with negative consequences (death of a child or mother), but it can only aggravate the process of giving birth to a child. The fear of being left in a burning house, in turn, stimulates reflexes, as well as other signs of fear, which help prevent such a situation, thereby adequately responding to certain stimuli.

Yu. Shcherbatykh divides fears into 3 types, which are more characteristic of a socialized modern person:

natural fears associated with natural phenomena: volcanic eruption, earthquake, floods, etc. Fears of animals can be distinguished as a special group of natural fears, especially snakes. This subgroup is often associated with rational fears about death.
social fears are associated with a person in society. This category displaces the basic needs of a person and puts a person’s social status in the foreground. Social fears are dictated by society and the herd instinct, and may not always be detrimental as a result. This category can often affect emotionally unstable individuals.
existential fear generated by emotions about what is happening. The more a person thinks and worries about certain concepts, the greater the likelihood of aggravating the fear, or at least laying its root.

Feelings of fear are innate and can accompany us almost throughout our lives, but it is better to get rid of some of their types by analyzing their origin and understanding their impact on your life.

In the grip of fear

According to doctors, hypochondria is an obsessive fear of illness, most often unfounded. In other words, this is not a desire to consider oneself sick, but a fear of being sick. It has been noted that hypochondria almost always occurs in suspicious people against the background of some kind of severe stress or prolonged depression.

Such people are afraid of getting sick with some incurable disease or contracting a rare infection, and they bother their loved ones, demanding tireless care for themselves. This is often associated with high financial costs for “miracle” drugs.

Over time, this turns into a real mania; hypochondriacs begin to take not just dietary supplements, but real medications, “prescribing” them themselves and thereby causing irreparable harm to their health. They avoid places where there may be large crowds of people, and sometimes avoid contact with anyone altogether.

Creation of fear - where does it come from?

Often fear is something we imagine. This is where similar quotes arise about its essence: “Fear shows us one world, and love another world. We decide which world is real..." - words of Louise Hay. There are also sayings about fear of this kind, that is, often existential - “fear has big eyes.”

Life without this feeling is almost impossible. In order to overcome it, you need to get rid of primitive fear, its primary sources.

The breeding ground for him is the inability to control his imagination. Intentional imagery can be positive for designers, writers, or artists. But when a person begins to believe in negative images or situations so strongly that it develops into fear, one must not only consign it to oblivion, but also question the very pretext of its existence, if there are good reasons for this.

The fear of abandonment, being alone, the fear of betrayal or the fears of children (darkness, heights, etc.) originate from somewhere. Often it comes from childhood. Children are very susceptible to the influence of the external environment, since their psyche is still unstable. Childhood fears can carry over into adulthood.

It is important to be able to understand the starting point of the appearance of this phenomenon in order to stop the process in the bud. It appears gradually. It can all start with anxiety and ordinary fear and develop into phobias and neuroses. It is generated by feeding it, events from life, negativity in the environment.

Fears are generated where they are given free rein. It can be difficult to exclude the possibility of its occurrence, but when understanding its existence, it is best to begin to fight not with its symptoms, but with itself. Do not underestimate the role of your imagination - thoughts and conjectures influence feeding this feeling properly in its favor.

It is worth remembering that it can be reinforced by itself under the influence of a negative stimulus. At the moment of trying to prevent it, the person unconsciously reinforces it. Therefore, read our article on how to suppress feelings of fear.

How to understand the feeling of fear and what it is

To understand the feeling of fear, you should adequately assess the situation and how often it worries you. If there are hints that a certain situation and its harmful or negative results are scrolling through your head from time to time, or moreover, fear appears in a dream in the form of a nightmare, it means that it has crept deep. The fear of the unknown is nothing more than a figment of the imagination.

It is impossible to avoid negative thoughts, but it is important to evaluate their constructiveness. The lack of reasoned ideas why this or that situation can develop into a negative one means that you are controlled by fear.

A constant feeling of anxiety and fear is a signal that you should reconsider your life positions and begin to control your thoughts. Stopping thinking about the negative and focusing on the positive right away won't work, but it can be a good start to reducing the number of unreasonable worries that can develop into a phobia.

Understanding it is the first step towards its eradication. Accepting its presence and the fact that it interferes leads to an understanding of its nature: under what circumstances did it apply and how long has the fear been tormenting, what exactly does it prevent one from doing and is it worth it, they are afraid.

An objective assessment of the feeling of fear already suggests certain approaches to its destruction. The sooner the understanding of the meaninglessness of its existence comes, the more effective the process of eliminating it will be.

To understand it, you first need a banal acceptance of this feeling. Acceptance means that it interferes and the person wants to get rid of it. The second suggests that this is possible. What follows is a deeper study of it, both the positive aspects of its influence and the negative. If there is more harm than good, and the mind does not provide an adequate explanation of why it is scary and whether it really is so, then the process of eradicating it has already begun.

It is much easier to get rid of it by understanding its nature, type and type of origin. The constant feeling of anxiety and fear will gradually fade into the background after the questions: “why is this bothering me so much?”, “Is it really that scary?” etc. The main thing is to understand that you don’t need to build your plans around this feeling.

Where does fear come from or what really controls our lives?

author Veronica Khlebova

Many years ago, I came across a simple saying in one of the books on Eastern philosophy: “The worst thing in life is fear.”

At the time, its meaning was not entirely clear to me.

Now that I started dealing with fears professionally, I clearly realized: fear slows down life, fear changes it beyond recognition, takes a person away from his authenticity, from himself.

It seems incredible, incomprehensible, but it is fear that often guides our actions - from the most sublime to the most base...

We rarely admit our fears - and in vain.

The feeling of fear can bring a person to such a state that all his actions will be aimed solely at saving himself from this fear - alas, useless actions...

In this article I will look at just a few examples to simply highlight the enormity of this topic.

If people knew how many fears they carry within themselves, and how these fears change the quality of their lives, then, perhaps, they would put aside all their affairs and rush to escape - from this psychological natural disaster.

Fear of punishment

This woman speaks in a quiet, plaintive voice. She cries a lot, and it is obvious that she is suffering greatly.

She is a housewife, and lives to provide her family with comfort and convenience in everyday life - a clean house, delicious food, the availability of all the necessary things at the right time...

Of course, she does not think about her own interests, believing that taking care of others is her interest. Every year, her skills in caring for her home and loved ones are becoming more and more perfect, but for some reason she herself is getting worse...

She notices that she often gets offended, and her eyes are always in that wet spot. She herself already understands that she resembles a big child, but it’s as if she can’t do anything about it. She is haunted by a feeling of helplessness, uselessness, uselessness.

She talks about how her opinion is not taken into account, and many people do not hear her - as if she does not exist. And then she tries even harder - but she fails to be even more perfect in the matter of predicting other people's desires.

Where did she get this attitude that she needs, first of all, to take care of others, to adapt, to endure?

No, these are not the consequences of humanism and philanthropy. These are the consequences of fear. Fear of punishment.

When she was a girl, she dared to ask her parents a question. She doesn't remember which one.

But either the parents were in a bad mood, or they considered this question too impudent...

They punished her. Locked in a closet. She was very scared, hurt, hurt. And she couldn't do anything about it.

She couldn't even question their actions - and how could she?

Parents are adults, smart, omnipotent. The child is small, stupid and dependent.

Sometimes one such experience is enough for fear to settle in the soul.

In some cases, several similar events are needed for fear to forever capture a person’s inner world.

This is exactly what happened in this woman’s life.

She no longer asked inappropriate questions. And in general I tried to be unnoticeable, comfortable, and not annoying.

Even now she is afraid of being locked in a closet, although no one and nothing threatens her anymore.

From now on, fear began to control her fate.

Fear of being bright and noticeable

Looking at this young beautiful woman, it is difficult to look away with admiration. She is beautiful and talented. She speaks beautifully, knows a lot, and has many virtues.

The thought creeps into her that she is good and worthy of admiration, but...

She stubbornly drives her away from herself. And she doesn’t just drive, but mercilessly pulls back and scolds herself.

This drama plays out in her inner world again and again, bringing pain and suffering almost daily. And, since it is difficult for her to recognize herself as bright and worthy of attention, she is constantly in search of recognition from other people.

She literally physically needs admiration and compliments, but - alas! - for some reason they are not “assigned”. As if the power of this external recognition was not enough for her to internally believe in them.

No wonder! After all, deep down in her soul, she is always ready to overthrow herself from the pedestal.

Where does this mechanism come from?

The most common case is when a child spontaneously showed himself, demonstrated his talents to loved ones, and was completely carried away by it - and they were indifferent or even dismissive about it...

This happened to her too... She was 5 years old, and she danced when there were guests in the house.

Have you seen a child dance? Selflessly, giving yourself entirely to the dance, when he himself is this dance?

She was shocked by her mother’s careless words: “Oh, look how my sausage is dancing!” What she put her soul into was rudely ridiculed by the person closest to her.

Now she is afraid to express herself.

She is afraid of being ridiculed and misunderstood. And, dying of horror in fear of exposure, she cannot allow herself to be bright and noticeable. In relation to herself, she now does the same thing that was once done to her.

Fear of defending yourself and your interests

It was a pleasure to work with her. She was kind, helpful, diplomatic. She cared about me, my time and even my comfort.

At first I liked all this, until one thought arose, which became more and more annoying over time: “Something is wrong.”

As we delved into her story, we discovered that her whole life was structured in the same way. It became obvious that she was trying her best to prevent conflicts - neither her own nor even those around her.

Any aggression causes almost physical disgust in her. And, of course, she does not allow herself to express anger, relying on her diplomacy.

Alas! This did not always work.

Even being a sweetheart, pleasant to everyone, it is not always possible to avoid anger, irritation, and dissatisfaction from other people.

Of course, there is no discovery in this, because any compensatory mechanism - and this is exactly it! – unable to protect his master completely, even though that is exactly what he is counting on.

Compensatory mechanisms appear unconsciously, in childhood, when the child is forced to adapt to an unstable and sometimes unsafe and aggressive environment.

Some - like this woman - decide to be nice and comfortable - in the hope of avoiding aggression, others - choose to be flawless perfectionists - counting on the fact that no one can punish them for a mistake, others - hide their emotions - mistakenly believing that showing them - rejoicing or grieving - become weak, unable to withstand the pressure of life...

There are a great many of these mechanisms; often a person carries dozens of them.

The trouble is that, using these mechanisms, a person unconsciously tries to save himself from the vicissitudes of fate - and, of course, loses, because fate does not play hide and seek, and it will always find a loophole and hit in a weak spot.

What happened to this woman, and why did she “choose” this particular model of protection?

Listening to her story, I could hardly contain my indignation - so often the suppressed aggression of my clients “speaks” through me. For many years she had to resist the terror and aggression of her own father.

She could not do anything to make him happy, because he wanted the impossible - to make her not exist at all.

Why this happened is a separate story.

But this poor child was forced every day to give up her personality - and even her life itself, for her father reproached her with a piece of bread and drove her out of the house.

And he took out any dissatisfaction on her - to the joy and horror of other family members.

I think he was especially irritated by her quiet resistance to the fact that he was trying to destroy her personality, but she resisted. And along with the unbearable feelings from emotional abuse, she rejected anger, aggression, all types of pressure - except quiet resistance.

This is also natural, because a person often strives to expel from his life what he suffered so much from.

Ultimately, this has led to her finding it difficult to assert her boundaries - because sometimes this leads to conflicts.

And the only option to protect them was to establish a huge polite distance from other people, as well as create such a situation that confrontation became impossible...

She is used to calculating multi-move combinations, so that, God forbid, she does not offend the interests of other people, so as not to inflict tyranny on herself.

And so she lives very little, but she calculates a lot, and still cannot escape from other people’s discontent - and suffers greatly when this happens...

Fear to trust, to open up

A child trusts his parents - as long as his trust is treated delicately, as with the greatest value.

Trust is “woven” from very subtle, intimate feelings - it is as necessary for a person as it is fragile.
A person needs to share, to trust - after all, we are social creatures, and cannot exist without other people.
Having lost trust, we cut off important energy exchanges with other people - warmth, acceptance, help...

...She has not trusted others for a long time - neither feelings, nor dreams, nor secrets.

She is even, calm, self-possessed - but does not let go of the feeling that she is frozen.

She carefully selects her words and makes sure not to say anything unnecessary... It’s as if the life has left her, and what she shows to others is more of a shell than herself.

When did she lose her trust?

Perhaps when a stepfather appeared in the family. And from then on, a feeling of threat and insecurity settled in the house forever.

She remembers how her stepfather touches her, or rather, harasses her. She is no more than 7 years old. Did she tell her mother about this? Does not remember. Most likely no.

Why? Because she considered herself guilty and was ashamed of what the rapist did to her.

It seems incredible, but for some reason the victim takes responsibility for the violence. But why, why didn't she complain to her mother?

The child seeks protection from his parents.

It is normal for him to be afraid, to complain, to ask for help. Who else can he turn to if not the closest people?

And only greater fear can make him refuse to seek this help.

Here are just a few ways to lose trust:

Bitter disappointment from the fact that they do not believe, are not taken seriously: “There is no one in the dark, and there is nothing to be afraid of!”, Fear of being ridiculed: “He’s so big, but he complains,” Fear of accusation: “It’s your own fault! It wasn’t necessary...”, The bitterness of being ignored, of not paying attention to a child’s grief...

Without receiving help from those closest to you, the child is left alone with his fear.

He adapts, adapts - with the help of defenses, some of which are described above, but also - is forced to cut himself off from deep connections with other people.

And, having lost trust in the people closest to you, it is almost impossible to trust everyone else.

And then you have to keep everything to yourself - feelings, experiences, dreams. And carefully ensure that no one discovers them and causes them pain...

Fearing suffering, a person who has lost trust causes himself even greater pain - spending all his efforts to hide... what could arouse the interest, support, human participation of other people.

How fear affects our lives

By cultivating our fears, we almost completely lose sincerity, trust, and openness. What makes our life truly interesting. We act exclusively within the limits of our defenses - blinkered, programmed.
And our life is limited by the framework of several tired psychological models, but trying something new is even scarier, because we don’t know how to live differently.

The heroines of this article dared to explore their fear, following difficult roads to its origins. But this is the only way - by openly admitting: “I’m afraid,” and by starting your search - you can weaken its power and come to freedom of choice.

Many fears originate in childhood - when the child was defenseless and found himself face to face with a frightening reality.

However, now that we are adults, we can go back to where it all began and support ourselves.

And we can do this not with the help of persuasion, denial or rational explanations - they will not help.

On the contrary, by recognizing the power and greatness of our fear, taking it seriously, we have every chance of gaining strength and confidence in order to get out from under its influence and become truly free.

Source: Veronika Khlebova https://www.pro-zhivi.ru/psychology2/otkuda-beretsya-strax

Fear of physical and mental pain

Since fears are divided into subtypes, this means that their nature and methods of destruction differ. Fear of physical pain is not characteristic from birth; it is innate, as it is directly related to the central nervous system. The pain that our body feels is one of the incentives for self-preservation. An individual who does not feel pain is less susceptible to the fear of its existence, which means that his instinct of self-preservation is less pronounced.

Fear of mental pain can only appear as a result of a negative experience. People's fears and fears are often just a figment of their imagination. A sad story conveyed through literature or spoken word is nothing more than someone's bad experience. Such experience does not always mean absolute defeat in certain situations (due to the risk of investing finances in some business or in a love story).

In most cases, this means that the person was either not competent enough in his actions or did not fully understand certain risks.

Scary stories about evil wolves that are told to children from childhood carry not only a negative semantic load: they are afraid of wolves and should not go into the forest, but they also teach them to be careful. But often this can simply cause natural fear, which in turn develops into panic.

Mental fears are more dangerous than physical ones, as they are formed under emotionally oversaturated impressions, often even those of others. They are classified as acquired existential fears.

As they progress, they often suppress the psyche and negatively affect the individual’s body. The mobility of human reaction processes only worsens, which can lead to neuroses.

“Mental pain” is a process when depression, depression and melancholy begin to dominate a person’s life. Their severity is equated to physical pain, so mental pain sometimes torments much more than physical pain.

The fear of experiencing such feelings reinforces their very essence.

The Nature of Fear: 3 Main Stages of Fear

What happens in the body when we are afraid of something? The three main stages of the fear response are:

Fading
Attack
The escape

Sometimes they occur one after another and appear in the same person. In others, only one stage appears, and he freezes at this stage. What are the positive and negative aspects of fear, or rather the manifestation of these stages of it: Let's start with the positive ones:

freezing helps when you have brought yourself to that emotional state when all thought systems simply turn off and the body blocks everything, both movement and thoughts. This provides stability to the nervous system. According to the principle of a machine in the electrical network, when the voltage jumps, the machine knocks out the plug so that all the wiring and all household appliances do not burn out. This is how fear saves our nervous system.
an attack in a state of fear is the most dangerous for the other party, but very resourceful for you. Often people in fear commit heroic deeds without planning it.
escape is the second most common state, after freezing. Helps maintain the integrity of both physical and psychological condition.

Negative aspects of the stages of manifestation of fear:

when you freeze, paralyzing your actions and thoughts, you cannot make the most rational and beneficial decision for you. People in this state most often lose a lot of opportunities. For example, you came to your manager for a salary increase, he looked at you sternly and with contempt, you felt that you couldn’t squeeze out a word, and even if you were able to start a conversation, then most likely in this state you would not be able to defend your position . She is obviously a loser.
attack. Negative manifestations are most often observed in the family. When a man becomes afraid that for some reason, in his opinion, he has ceased to correspond to the desires of his woman, or the woman feels that the man is moving away and this frightens her very much. In such cases, people with the main stage of manifestation of attacks become tyrannical towards their loved ones. Because of a completely insignificant situation, they can create a quarrel or even destroy everything around because of this fear. Often both women and men do not realize their fear of losing their soulmate, but at the same time they often create scandals, hysterics and devalue their partner.
The escape. When fear takes over, you are better off surrendering without a fight, leaving the battlefield for your interests. Most often, people with such a reaction to their own fear do not even begin to defend anything. The very thought that a conflict might happen scares them, and they leave, run away. And the saddest thing is that it is possible that there would be no battles; if this person had asked the question, he would have received a positive answer for himself. But fear binds and forces you to run. This is extremely wasteful.

How to overcome panic fear

The meaning of the word panic from Greek is “sudden”, “senseless”. Hence - panic fear - something like a phobia, which was initially in the form of fear, but then grew into a strongly reinforced feeling of fear.

If natural - mobilizes a person’s abilities, during which it becomes easier to avoid some unpleasant or harmful processes, then panic, in turn, suppresses the state of the psyche. A decrease in capacity can be caused due to a discrepancy between the conditions of reaction to a particular situation. As a rule, sensitive individuals are subject to panic fear.

Scary stories give rise to fear of heights, childbirth, death, etc. I work in fear rooms in such a way that the unknown is often frightening. Anything can happen in the unknown, and especially impressionable people can even get a heart break (one of the extreme cases).

In this regard, neuroses may arise, which lead to a series of somatic symptoms, such as suffocation, rush of blood to the head, chest pain, until loss of consciousness. Sleep disturbances and persistent nightmares and insomnia may begin.

Sudden panic fear complicates life and can appear completely unexpectedly.

If the process is started and it turns into panic, then the root of the problem should be sought immediately. But, if a person cannot overcome it on his own, which can be extremely difficult, then he should contact a specialist.

Neurotic symptoms are treated with both psychotropic drugs and psychotherapy.

The first method comes down to taking benzodiazepines, which are the most effective. The process of using them should be short-lived, as this can lead to addiction and complications.

The second method is based on psychotherapist sessions and long-term psychoanalysis, which can help both the patient and the doctor deal with the problem. Sometimes both methods go hand in hand to solve a problem faster.

This means that if panic takes hold of you from time to time, then you should immediately solve this problem, as this can lead to a number of somatic symptoms that not only reduce capacity, but also suppress a person’s mental health.

How to deal with neurotic fears?

When we fantasize about some kind of horror, we see something blurry in front of us. We ourselves do not develop our imagination, we do not detail it.

But once we start to detail our fantasy... For example, the fear of getting cancer. How will this all happen, how will we do the tests, how will we find out about the diagnosis, what kind of tumor it is? Where is it located and how? Detailing, we can notice that our overwhelming fear changes a little, perhaps some other experiences appear. After all, we begin to understand that everything we think may not be so, and even in what we fantasize we can live and there are many options for the development of events. Fear begins to take on some visible forms, becoming not blurry and limitless, but, on the contrary, targeted and understandable. Ideas and ways to protect yourself and what measures to take begin to emerge.

On the other hand, one might wonder what exactly leads to such a fantasy?

Let's say there are no objective reasons to get cancer. No diagnosis, no real disease. But in my head, it’s as if it already exists. Where does it come from? Why exactly - cancer, and not hepatitis or lupus erythematosus, for example...

And here you can explore what fears grow from. It's always some kind of past experience. What is he like? Someone was sick and died in their arms? And then we can be “merged” with this person and for some reason now “must” also suffer, like him, to try on his fate.

Or perhaps something similar has already happened to you? Have you already experienced some element of a “cancer” disease?.. For example, you could have something removed, cut out, you could lose some organ.

Fears, illnesses, some kind of evil directed at oneself - this is a very auto-aggressive action. That is, in my fantasy I realize a lot of aggression and anger (and maybe even hatred) directed at myself. That is, for some reason I want to torture myself, kill myself, mock myself. Why? What is this about in my life?

Treatment of fears

To treat fear, a specialist diagnosis should be performed. From the above, we can conclude that it is divided into congenital and acquired. If the problem is not natural, but social or existential fear, then it can be eliminated using several methods.

Ways to eliminate it:

Psychotropic drugs
Psychotherapy (specialist help)
Breathing techniques
Imagination control
Meditation and other practices
Face your fear

The first method is most often used for neuroses, the affect of fear (with strong excitement and loss of self-control). Such cases are extreme, so treatment should be immediate.

Psychotherapy is used for the ability to understand and recognize one’s fears, the concept of their original source and eradicate them in the future.

It is important to maintain deep breathing to calm yourself down. It is rapid breathing that precedes fear, so bringing it into the right direction will help you calm down.

“7/11 Technique” is called that because of the score. Its essence is this: take a deep breath, counting to seven, and exhale deeply, counting to 11. It is not necessary to use these exact numbers, the main goal is to increase the time for exhalation, in comparison with inhalation.

The first thing that gives rise to fears is the limitless possibilities of our imagination. On the one hand, its immense possibilities can benefit people of certain professions, but on the other hand, their reinforcement comes precisely from these same opportunities.

Controlling the imagination is the path to exploring oneself and understanding whether what it seems is as scary as it seems. Of course, it is impossible to completely control your thoughts, but you can limit their negative flow by surrounding yourself with positive information and limiting access to negative information.

Meditation is a more extensive practice than controlling the imagination and is one of the auxiliary techniques for achieving this goal.

The Austrian psychologist and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl proposed a direct meeting with them as a treatment. Fear of closed spaces means you need to be there more often, arachnophobia means holding a spider and repeating the procedure several times. Of course, all this should happen gradually and under the supervision of a specialist with his recommendations, but this should already give positive results the second and third time.

How can I get rid of it once and for all?

Looking fear in the eye is what you need to do to begin the process of eradicating it. To avoid its aggravation, it is worth thinking about their origin and influence on your life.

Fear has big eyes - something that is always worth remembering. It is not he who rules you, but your imagination. The more you think about it, the more it affects your life, and at the same time you feed it.

Scary stories are partly interesting, but they frighten those who are especially impressionable. Psychology will tell you how to deal with it.

The study of neurochemistry and physiology shows that it has much more negative effects on the human body, since social and cultural attitudes towards humans have increased, which has contributed to the generation of new fears. They began not only to dull some reactions, but also to make a person unsure of himself, nervous, etc.

Natural fear prevailed among our ancestors, therefore, when they saw it, the work of the muscular system predominated: they either fought the enemy or fled.

Nowadays, human fear is of a nature that is less pronounced in animals; this includes fears such as: losing loved ones, loneliness, losing social status, which suggest that the primary needs of a person are not only the ability to sleep, eat and breathe. The range of human needs has increased, and with it the number of related problems.

Since this feeling is one of the basic emotions, its harm should be noted if there are groundless reasons for concern.

Try to comprehend its harm and panic (senseless) nature, if any. Accepting this will prompt treatment measures. If there is no way to fight it except medically and the body is not able to overcome it on its own, you should resort to the help of a psychotherapist and psychotropic drugs. The second will help to dull this feeling at least for a while.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help, because he drives you into certain limits and does not give you the opportunity to live in peace. Its effect on the body is much stronger than it seems.

Fears in questions

Why should my organs be burdened with a malignant tumor. Why can't they be healthy?

And if these organs are responsible for some area of our life - for example, the reproductive system - for the area of sexuality, childbirth, respiratory organs - for the area of breathing as a manifestation of life, the right to life in this world, the opportunity to breathe this air, to have one’s place , claim it. The digestive system is for the ability to use us, “absorb”, digest what we need and get rid of, reject what is unnecessary.

Isn’t such an aggressive fantasy about illness a manifestation of self-sacrifice, hatred of oneself or of some specific organ or system that for some reason should not live?.. Why shouldn’t my liver live? Why shouldn’t I breathe?.. Is there a place for me in this world?.. Do I give myself the right to live? Why shouldn’t my reproductive system live? Do I allow myself to be sexy, to realize my arousal? Do I allow myself to get pregnant and have children?..

Can I absorb what is in this world - food, information, care, relax, take advantage of all this, appropriate something for myself? Digest, reject? What about throwing something away? Perhaps I don't have the right to do this? Or did I not deserve it, I didn’t do enough to “eat”? Or maybe I swallowed something and I can’t refuse it anymore, I can’t spit it out? How much and what will I owe for being “fed”?..

To begin to contact neurotic fear, to begin to deal with it, it is important to “unpack” it and detail it.

How to overcome feelings of fear

Fear itself is an unpleasant feeling that takes away excess energy. To understand how to deal with it, you need to determine its original source.

If the nature of fear is sudden in a certain situation, and does not accompany you constantly (fear of heights or darkness, fear during childbirth), then there are certain ways to eliminate or neutralize it for a while.

Psychologists often recommend getting rid of the negativity around you by limiting the following information:

Unsubscribe from negative mailings, channels and groups (on social networks, etc.)
Limit your ability to communicate with people who fuel it (if there are any).
Try to eradicate bad thoughts in the bud. As soon as they are born, drive them away.
Try to read more positive information.
Keep conversations about good things with your interlocutors.
Surround yourself only with good emotions, pleasant words, and kind deeds.

Observe fear to understand what it does to your body at that fateful moment. Consider its negative impact on your body and accept the fact that it is bothering you.

Try to act as if you are not afraid. Feel this for yourself and think about which position you look more advantageous in: the first or the second. Try to convince yourself that there is no reason for fear, it was once invented by your imagination. Tune in to positive emotions and believe that the steps listed above will help you in the fight against it.

Remember what fears you were able to overcome earlier in order to feel the positive emotions that you experienced. Realize their significance in your life, because every step to fight it is an approach to a small victory

Fighting it by directly interacting with it will be much more successful than trying to escape from your thoughts. The more we run from ourselves, the more phobias can overtake us.

How to properly respond to fear?

So what can you do about it? How can you change the situation and your behavior to overcome fear?

READ ALSO: Psychologist's column: what is healthy thinking?

The very first thing you can do for yourself is to realize exactly how you react to your fear. Determine which processes are included. There can only be one reaction. Let’s assume an attack, then decide for yourself in which situation it helps you defend your interests, and in which it ruins your relationship.
The second action is to determine in what area of life you are not satisfied with your reaction to your own fear. Realize for yourself why exactly you want to change your behavior. Let’s say I want to change my reaction to fear in the sphere of relationships, since in this area such a reaction is destructive and will not allow building harmonious relationships.
The third action is the most responsible. After the first two, it is necessary to understand and feel the previous state before the reaction itself. For example, when we cry, before the tears begin to roll from our eyes, we feel a lump in our throat and feel a lot of fluid appearing in our eyes. This state is called the previous one. You need to track it for yourself.

And the fourth and final step on how to overcome fear will be to have a plan built in advance in your head of exactly how you want to act in a new way.

Not everything will work out according to plan right away, since fear is a very strong emotion. Fear can cover your head. But when you try to do something new, you will notice how fear gradually transforms, and you no longer feel so strongly the need to run or attack.

Remember a very important condition: if you do not gradually train your new reaction, it will not change on its own. Our body is a stable system that fights for its preservation. And you can only change anything in your life consciously and intentionally, taking consistent actions. And you will definitely be able to overcome fear! The main thing is to want to do it!

Why you shouldn't be afraid when you're scared

The concept of fear and its essence is innate for us and grows with us, but the types of this feeling that affect a person’s life often differ depending on the methods of their acquisition.

It is most difficult for more sentimental individuals, since the role of influence on them increases due to the peculiarities of their psyche. Perceiving everything at least at the level of feelings, they are less aware of the objective influence of fear on their lives.

It can be divided into several types, depending on the approach to studying them:

According to the degree of their constructiveness - those that pose a real or imagined threat.
Natural, social and existential. The first type was inherent in our ancestors - fear, which is directly related to natural processes in the external environment that can adversely affect a person (earthquake, poisonous animals, etc.). Social is associated with the fear of losing a certain social status in someone’s eyes. The mechanism of existential fears behind Franklin is simple: what a person fears, the person begins to be afraid and it begins to torment him.

In the fight against them, you can resort to various methods, but the main thing is to look your fear in the face. The more you accept it and consider its negative effects, the more likely you are to eradicate it.

If understanding fear is possible without receiving outside help, you should use this opportunity. Otherwise, there is the help of a psychotherapist , psychotropic drugs , breathing techniques , control of the imagination , meditation and other practices.

The ability to overcome your fear is based on the ability to directly pretend that there is no reason for concern.

You should also resort to surrounding yourself with all kinds of positive information and exclude receiving negative information through the media, your relatives, friends, etc.

Constant feelings of anxiety and fear can be overcome. If you are not afraid to admit its presence and adequately assess its harm. A long-term analysis of your fears will help you look at them from a different angle, then there will be many more opportunities to get rid of them.

Don't be afraid to face your fears, and you will feel much better after getting rid of what has been controlling you for a long time.

Summarizing

When you understand the essence of fear, you come to the realization that it is very dangerous to be in such a state. If you are constantly afraid, or you have constant phobias, then you urgently need to stop your suffering. Why are some people afraid and others not?

Because they have a different degree of perception. To overcome your short-term or permanent fears, you need to undergo a course of psychotherapy. But first you need to consult with a psychologist and conduct a basic diagnosis.

You need to look fear in the eyes and overcome this feeling within yourself. For this to happen, all it takes is a little desire and readiness for self-development.