The Psychology of Physical Fear

Fear, and the reason we feel it, is one of the most intriguing subjects to study in modern psychology. Why do we get scared when we see a clown, when we are in the dark, or when we are at a high altitude? It turns out, fear is rather instinctual, and we don’t feel it only because we are “scared” but we also sense danger and impending doom, which leads us to become fearful. Although certain types of fears are triggered by medical disorders and conditions (PTSD, etc.), everyone has a fear, and there is a very intricate psychological basis for how this occurs. Some may be afraid of horror movies, and some may love horror movies. Individuals experience fear in different ways, and this is due to neurological and psychologically based processes, like bodily reactions and phobias.

Fear can be categorized into two central reactions—biochemical and emotional reactions. The biochemical reaction consists of negative feedback (regulation via negating a previous action) in our signal transduction pathways that require a signal and produce a response. These processes require an external source of fear (i.e. the dark), and through the cell signaling pathway in the individual’s body, our body decides to sweat, increase the heart rate, or start producing adrenaline, which is typically regarded as the “excitement hormone.” Negative feedback loops like these are examples of regulations in our body that take place when we are exposed to something “scary.” (Fritsher, 2022) While this biochemical reaction can be more commonly applied to every living thing, the emotional reaction produced as a byproduct of fear is more personalized. Some people may find horror movies exciting, while others may find them, well, horrifying. This is a real life example of how fear is experienced in different ways for different people. Individuals go through different experiences and traumas, so something frightening to one individual may be something laughable to another.

So, what are some examples of these varying fears that different people experience? Some of the most common ones are generalized anxiety, panic, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), social anxiety, separation anxiety, or one of the thousands of possible phobias. In fact, for most things that exist on this planet, there are people with phobias for them. (Guy-Evans, 2022). With this in mind, it is important to understand that some phobias are extremely specific in nature and therefore will not affect anybody to a harmful extent on a daily basis. For example, arachnophobia, or a fear of spiders, is something that is not going to cause any distress until a spider is actually seen, which is not a common occurrence. For this reason, disorders like arachnophobia are considered a specific phobia. Social phobia (fear of social interaction), however, is likely to be much more negatively impactful on an individual’s life and have constant implications. For this reason, disorders like these are considered complex phobias. Other health conditions, like panic attacks, are actually considered deadly because they can occur at very inconvenient times and could lead to fatalities. (Guy-Evans, 2022)

There is a general assumption that if someone is afraid of something, they should learn to face the fear and avoid being afraid. While this sounds good in practice, certain fears can be beneficial to us. For instance, humans are not supposed to be around lions in a zoo, as we would not be able to defend ourselves against one and so we should stay away from them. Certain individuals who have a fear of lions (or fear of deadly animals in general), would likely take any measures possible to stay away from the wild animals and keep themselves safe. In this scenario, the individuals who are “scared” are actually the beneficiaries of their fright, as they stay away from a situation that could possibly be deadly. Someone who isn’t afraid of lions might move even closer towards the animal, and while this obviously wouldn’t happen in every instance, they might not make it out of the zoo alive. So, fear is often useful in that it signals danger to us in situations where fleeing may be in our best interest.

Fear, and the psychological basis behind it, is something very important to understand in order to fully comprehend the ins and outs of the brain and the human body. From the biochemical and emotional reactions, to phobias, to the logical applications of fear, the concept of being afraid of something and acting upon it is something that humans are constantly doing, and it shaped our entire existence and everything that we do. While the word fear may contain a negative stigma around it, it is not necessarily always a bad thing, and just like everything else in psychology, it is complex by nature.

Bibliography

Fritscher, L. (2022, February 10). The psychology behind Fear. Verywell Mind. Retrieved April 8, 2022, from https://www.verywellmind.com/the-psychology-of-fear-2671696

Guy-Evans, O. (2022). What is fear?https://www.simplypsychology.org/what-is-fear.html. Fear: Definition, Symptoms, Traits, Causes, Treatment | Simply Psychology. Retrieved April 8, 2022, from https://www.simplypsychology.org/what-is-fear.html