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.