Quotes on fear

"Fear is often preceded by astonishment, and is so far akin to it, that both lead to the senses of sight and hearing being instantly aroused. In both cases the eyes and mouth are widely opened, and the eyebrows raised. The frightened man at first stands like a statue motionless and breathless, or crouches down as if instinctively to escape observation. The heart beats quickly and violently, so that it palpitates or knocks against the ribs... That the skin is much affected under the sense of great fear, we see in the marvelous manner in which perspiration immediately exudes from it... The hairs also on the skin stand erect; and the superficial muscles shiver. In connection with the disturbed action of the heart, the breathing is hurried. The salivary glands act imperfectly; the mouth becomes dry, and is often opened and shut.^"

^{charles darwin}

 

"For to fear death, my friends, is only to think ourselves wise without really being wise, for it is to think that we know what we do not know. For no one knows whether death may not be the greatest good that can happen to man. But men fear it as if they knew quite well that it was the greatest of evils. "

socrates

"Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased by tales, so is the other."

Francis Bacon 

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."

Franklin.d. roosevelt

"Just as courage imperils life, fear protects it."

Leonardo Da vinci 

"I have, indeed, no abhorrence of danger, except in its absolute effect - in terror. "

Edgar Allen Poe

"Terror is the feeling which arrest the mind in the presence of whatsover is grave and constant in human sufferings and unites it with cause. "

James Joyce

The Psychology of fear part two

The causes of fear

There are many opinions on the causes of fear as well as there being different circumstances to which a fear an occur. People develop specific fears as a result of learning. This has been studied in psychology as fear conditioning. Fears can become generalised, as learnt from the  John B Watsons study on little albert in 1920. Here an 11month old boy was conditioned to fear a white rat, but this lead to him being scared of anything of similar looks; white, furry. In the real world, fear can be acquired by a frightening traumatic accident, which could have a similar effect to little ablerts rat. Forexample a child falls down a well but manages to be resued, this could lead to a phobia of water, heights, enclosed spaces, the dark... ect.

Other studies show that fear can be learnt regardless to if they have personally experienced trauma, or even just by observing fear in others. 

Although fear is learned, the capacity to fear is part of human nature. Many studies have found that certain fears are much more common than others. 


obviously in everyday we come across ways inwhich to induce fear for fun. a prime example are theme parks. People purposely put themselves in (while controled) rides in which they simulate high speeds, twists turns and generally anything to induce a high adrenaline level. i myself am abit of an adrenaline junkie when it comes to themepark rides. Another of my passions that are fear indusing is the whole of the horror genre. From films, tv shows, books, we spend millions every year to get a short sharp taste of fear. I like nothing more then watching films to see if any of them can get ur heartracing, or books that let ur imagenation run wild and get your heart pumping! none of this sparkly vampire shit that tweens these days seem to fall for, im talking heart pounding goosebumps horror. And the fact that we as a country celebrate a festival to which we homage to horror, death and scares! every year on halloween everyone faces what has come to be pure basics of horror. shops selling toy spiders and plastic snakes and everyones dresses as there favourite creature of the night.  We are a country that seems to get pleasure from fear. 

The Psychology of fear part one

something that very much interested me in this idea was the psychology behind it and for this i needed to do some research, starting off with the basics!

what is fear?

what effects does it have on us?

Most common fears

phobias: difference between fears and phobias!

what is fear?

fear is one of the most primative of human emotions and can settle into two 'stages': Biochemical and emotional.

Biochemical: 

When we confront a perceived danger, our bodies respond in specific ways. Physical reactions to fear include sweating, increased heart rate and high adrenaline levels. over the course of the evolution of the human race, the biochemistry caused by fear has been the underlying effect of the fight or flight responce where the body is getting itsself ready to either stand and fight, or leg it.  this part of fear is automatic and is universal to everyone. 

Emotional:

The emotional stage of fear is whether a person allows fear to be a positive or negative reaction. some people are adrenaline junkies who thrive of the thrill of fear, while others sercumb to the biochemical reaction and fear to consume them and make them want to avoid situations which would induce this fear. This is more personal to the individual person rather the same for everyone.

the effects of fear?
the effects of fear on the body are very apparent.the most common include:

• Rapid heart rate
• Increased blood pressure
• Tightening of muscles
• Sharpened or redirected senses
• Dilation of the pupils
• Increased sweating
• Jumping (see below)

When the stimulus is shocking or abrupt, a common reaction is to cover (or otherwise protect) vulnerable parts of the anatomy, particularly the face and head. When a fear stimulus occurs unexpectedly, the victim of the fear response could possibly jump or give a small start. 
The emotional reaction is far more difficult to monitor as to different people it will cause different emotional reactions. 

Fear can be widely classified into two types: external fear and internal fear.

• External fear is caused by something out of you which you are strongly motivated to avoid, for example: fear of spiders.
• Internal fear is something outside of you that you link a negative emotion, for example: fear developed out of low self esteem.

 I like how the idea of internal fears is somewhat loosely related to the project i did last year on selfdestruction, and the idea that it stems from self loathing. maybe this time i can focus more on external fears? 

Fear can be described with different terms in relation to the degree of fear that is experienced. It varies from mild caution to extreme phobia and paranoia. Fear is related to a number of additional cognitive and emotional states including worry, anxiety, terror, horror, panic, and dread. Experiences of fear can remain long after exposure in the unconscious mind, where they may then manifest as nightmares, or, in an even stronger form, night terrors.


Common fears?
every website i look at seems to have different answers to the question what are the most common fears and phobias? many have overlaps that include 
fears of:

•  flying
• needles
• spiders
• snakes
• the dark
• being alone
• public speaking
• cancer
• terrorism
• tight spaces
• open spaces 
• death and pain
• heights
• water
• clowns
• rejection
• thunder and lightning

and these are just the most common.




what is the difference between a fear and a phobia?
 many people when talking about fears state they have a phobia of some kind, but what is the difference between a fear and a phobia?
 To cut it short, a fear as i stated before is acombination of biological and emotional reactions. it is your bodys reaction to something that is rational, its a natural reaction.
a phobia is an irrational fear. A phobia is a twisting of the normal fear response. The fear is directed toward an object or situation that does not present a real danger. The sufferer recognizes that the fear is unreasonable, yet cannot help the reaction.