“Fears”: a clever animated short

In the following interview, the therapists from the personal growth workshops of the Institute of Psychological and Psychiatric Assistance Mensalus, share with us “Fears”, an animated short by Nata Metlukh that, in an intelligent way, shows us the essence of fears and their constructive sense.

A short film to understand fears

First of all, you can view the short:

Does living without fear leave us unprotected?

It's curious. We reject fear but, in reality, we need it to live. As we have seen in the video, fear is a protection system. Understanding the constructive meaning of fear helps us to empathize with it and listen to it instead of rejecting it and even fearing it. In fact, when we don't understand its meaning, fear grows and becomes our worst enemy.

When we talk about fear, we rarely think of a “protection system”, we usually understand fear as a limitation. For this reason, the phrase "living in fear" as society interprets it, is rejected, nobody wants it. Now, avoiding fear leads to the appearance of other symptoms that function as an alert mechanism: when we don't listen to it, it looks for a way to manifest itself.

That said, if instead of talking about fear we refer to "constructive fear", things change. It is then that “living with fear” can become another richer and more complete concept that we do accept: “living with a fear that protects us but does not limit us”.

Do we understand then that we should not avoid fear?

Exact. Fear, like all other emotions, contains a message that we cannot reject. Otherwise, fear of fear is generated and negative thoughts grow to the point of transforming thinking and primary emotion in a system full of catastrophizing and totalisms (“everything is going to go wrong for me”/”I will be a failure”/”I will never be able to”).

How can we lose the fear of fear?

As Luis Muiño says: “Fear preserves us from dangers and, at the same time, limits our lives. Being happy consists of losing the fear of fear and managing this emotion in a way that allows us to be cautious but allows us to live freely.

When we talk about limitation, we are referring to the fear that does not invite reflection but rather slows down decision and action. Non-constructive fear can seriously slow down our goals. The well-known book and video entitled "You dare to dream" precisely talks about how, many times, fear overcomes motivation (they work as opposing forces) and, that first step that would help us get out of a comfort zone, is forgotten because of the “and if it doesn't come out good".

Of course, overcoming "the fear of fear" is not an easy task, it requires positive-realistic thinking training as a result of contact with our achievements. The recognition of abilities makes it easier for us to value what we can gain instead of focusing attention on what we can lose. Along the same lines, Matti Hemmi explains: “Your attitude, your beliefs and your fears are embedded in your brain and you will not be able to change overnight”. In fact, what I invite you to is not to change but to develop yourself”.

Developing ourselves as people who are not "afraid of fear" and who understand fear as a constructive element is a very intelligent vision.

What is the difference between change and development?

Development is growth, increase, advancement, progress, advancement, improvement, etc.

When we talk about development, the word change implies, but referring to this first term is especially functional. Talking about development invites us to think that we are the same person we were at the beginning but richer for having integrated different elements.

Understanding personal growth as development makes it easier for the individual to understand that what he needs may not be out there, but is the result of internal work related to putting order and structure to thoughts and emotions (fruit of one's own experience and inheritance received).

"Fears" is a video that has been worked on in personal growth workshops. Specifically, the workshop "Where are you and where do you want to go" has been presented to help its participants understand which fears limit them and which protect them. In what other ways can we work constructive fear?

Constructive fear, the one that stops us in the face of danger and invites us to think functionally, can be worked on from self-awareness exercises, exercises that promote messages related to who we are and how we perceive the world world. For this, the psychotherapist is in charge of guiding the discovery of "the voice of constructive fear" with interviews, narrative techniques, illustrated stories and experiential exercises, among others.

The result of this type of dynamic is greater contact with the discourse of functional fear. Ultimately, the goal is to listen, understand and accept it.

Acceptance is the key point that "allows us to allow ourselves", despite the redundancy. I, you, him and we all feel fear, it is a natural and necessary emotion, it is an essential element to adapt to the environment and for the environment to adapt to us. Working resistance (thoughts that do not allow) is another of the fundamental tasks to make our beliefs more flexible and facilitate the understanding of fear.

Thank you so much.

Interview conducted by Mª Teresa Mata.