Fear

Are You Afraid?

You may not recognize it as such. In fact, you may even deny you ever experience it.

But if you get a feeling of anxiety and apprehension when an object or a situation comes up, then you are demonstrating fear.

Fear is an emotion that arises from a perception that something is harmful. It is a self-preservation “device” wired into our brain. This is why we feel nervousness, panic and exhilaration coming in a sudden rush in moments of fear.

Physiologically speaking, that rush is caused by the body producing and releasing hormones such as adrenaline. Adrenaline as you may already know is an “emergency” feature our body uses to make us do things we may not be able to do under normal circumstances. Fear is a very strong trigger for adrenaline. And as its purposes are mainly for self-preservation, it is only rightly so.

However, fear comes in many forms, not all of which are motivated by the need to protect yourself. Sometimes, the source of fear could be perceived as irrational by some although for the one experiencing it, it may seem perfectly logical. Nevertheless, the more people understand the kinds of fear they experience, the better they are equipped at addressing them.

Phobia is the term most researchers use when describing an irrational, persistent fear of something. A feeling of dread can easily escalate into anxiety and then panic when a person encounters an object or situation that he or she has a phobia about. In extreme cases, a phobia may become elevated to an obsession that hampers a person’s life as well as the people around them.

Phobias triggered by a particular object or situation are called simple phobias. But they are only called as such to pertain to fears triggered by a specific, and therefore, easily traceable source. It is common practice for experts in this field to interchange the terms simple and specific phobias.

Common examples of these would be hydrophobia (fear of the water), arachnophobia (fear of spiders), and acrophobia (fear of heights). There are some unfamiliar names that are used to describe quite common fears such as ophidiophobia (fear of snakes), claustrophobia (fear of closed, small spaces) or ailurophobia (fear of cats). There is even a term to describe the fear of the number thirteen (triakaidekaphobia).