Option: Try reading with a beginner's mind or from a perspective that is not accepting or rejecting of the information.

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Fear

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Fear is a vital function signaling our human instinct

to avoid situations that may cause us harm. We take

in experience through our senses before declaring whether

a situation warrants an embodied, hormonally charged

fight or flight response, or a return to a calm state.

 

We are biologically and socially conditioned to be fearful to

ensure our continued survival.

This makes it simple for the fear of the unknown, fear of failure,

fear of losing control, fear of death, etc. to instruct and construct

how we view and live life.

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So, how do we react to fear and how is it imbedded into us?

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Example 

 

While walking on my favorite trail, I stumbled across a cobra who scurried off into the jungle. This occurred one week after I nearly stepped on a large brown snake as half of its body laid across the trail.

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After seeing the snakes, I noticed that I started to scan every detail on the ground with a stronger sense of alertness. Each serpent shaped root and stick caused a strong reaction as I immediately shifted backward and inhaled quickly with a hand upon my chest.

 

The stored experience in my nervous system of almost stepping on two snakes shifted me into fear. This fear altered my usual care free walks with unattached observation, into thinking of the "what if's" involved in seeing another snake.

 

What happens in our brain when we are in fear?

 

Joseph LeDoux (2017) is a neuroscientist with experience studying the processes of fear, emotions and memory in the brain. He purports that our brain simultaneously moves in two directions in response to a sensed threat.

 

1. Our Brain takes the "Low Road" which is an innate and unconscious path

• We see, feel or hear a threat  - I see a long tube like and thick dark brown thing on the ground.

• Information passes to the amygdala to try and understand what the threat is.

• The amygdala reports "Its a snake!" and stimulates the hypothalamus to start the fight or flight response where hormones are released in the brain increasing our heart rate and respiration to prepare us to run, fight or freeze.

(For a more technical definition of the fight or flight reaction see The Effects of Trauma)

 

2. It takes the "High Road" which is conscious and logical.

• We see, feel or hear a threat and the information goes to the cortex or the part of the brain that provides us context for what our senses have absorbed.

• Cortex determines that this object could be something other than a snake.

• Cortex sends the information over to the hippocampus who questions "what happened last time I saw this?" It determines that the object is not moving and is more solid and shiny...it is a root!"

• Phew! the information is sent back to the amygdala who signals the hypothalamus to turn off the fight or flight response.

 

Basis of Fear

 

We do not need to experience trauma to live a fear based existence. The theory of social constructionism or the ability for interactions with society to create our reality is the basis for this understanding (Galbin, 2014) .

 

Fear may be passed from one person to the next similarly to the chain reactions within a herd of animals when one member is spooked by a perceived threat. As part of the collective human community, fear carries through our interactions as we take in energy and information through our senses. Even the unseen energetic transfers of information or the 'vibes' we get from others might have an effect.

 

“Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd.” ~ Bertrand Russell

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A quick flip through a news website or moment watching a television broadcast shows the potential for fear in our world. We are exposed to stories of accidents, traumas, death, and destruction. When we watch, we have reactions, “Oh that is horrible” or “so sad, those poor people.” We all have something called mirror neurons (see The mind's mirror (apa.org)) that make us feel the emotions of an experience whether we are observing others go through it or experiencing it ourselves. Therefore, we are internalizing these experiences thus breeding fear of recurring situations.

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Fear as an Agent of Control

 

Fear is drawn into our identity with the opportunity to dictate our life. It is a conditioned response that capitalizes on our survival instinct with a potential for subconsciously orchestrating our behaviors in a perceived effort to protect our psychological, emotional, and physical selves. 

 

As the graphic below demonstrates, who we are is often buried deep inside fear which is entrenched in and at the same time cushioned by the defense mechanisms we project outward to shield ourselves.

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Lori Mariani (2015). Interplay of Fear and Self. [Blog Post] 

 

For instance, a fear of vulnerability may keep one from enjoying the depth possible in relationship with others. We may shy away from personal challenges through avoidance in order to protect a fear of rejection. A fear of the unknown may create an expression of anxiety so thick that panic strikes causing isolation and self-judgment. People can also be so fearful of who they are that they operate out of a pseudo identity fashioned by what they think society expects of them rather than consciously facing past experiences.

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Take a moment to read through a list of 15 defense mechanisms created by Dr. John Grohol, Psy. D. These mechanisms are subconscious for most people but extremely powerful as they steer our interactions with self and other. What shield has fear caused you to create?

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Facing Fear

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As with most of this mental health stuff, awareness is a first step in shifting an engrained way of being. Work to fully unpack the way you experience the world and your self. Take a view of the defense mechanisms to see what gets in the way and try and trace back each defense to an underlying fear. Notice your reactions to images and messages via the media. Listen for signs of herd like mentality or fear in conversations with peers and family members. Think critically to shift that which gets in the way of living life on your own terms.

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"Always do what you are afraid to do." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

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References

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Dias, B. G., Maddox, S., Klengel, T., & Ressler, K. J. (2015). Epigenetic mechanisms underlying

   learning and the inheritance of learned behaviors. Trends in Neurosciences, 38(2), 96–107.       

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tins.2014.12.003

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Galbin, Alexandra. (2014). An introduction to social constructionism. Social Research Reports. 26.

   82-92. 

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LeDoux, J. & Brown, R. (2017). Emotions as higher-order states of consciousness. PNAS. 

114 (10) E2016-E2025. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1619316114

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Yehuda, R. & Lehrner, A. (2018). Intergenerational transmission of trauma effects: putative role of epigenetic mechanisms. World Psychiatry.17(3):243-257. doi:10.1002/wps.20568