The physiological and psychological bases of fear

When in certain situations we are overwhelmed by the afraid, we experience sensations and reactions that are truly alarming as well as unpleasant.

This answer that we offer naturally is powerful enough to penetrate the body and mind of the person who experiences it. The autonomous response of fear arises long before our reason has been able to decide anything about it, in a luck chemical peak our body has already been put into operation, preparing for flight or attack imminent.

Fear is one of the most primitive emotions that exist, it was responsible for maximize chances of survival of our ancestors since it allowed them to respond to threats, but ...

… Do we know what mechanisms are put into operation to provoke such an avalanche of reactions in our body?

Physiological responses to fear

The sympathetic nervous system It is responsible for ensuring that the body has its maximum performance for a short period of time, just at the moment when the individual is in a panic. Meanwhile, other functions that are less important in these types of situations, decline opportunely.

Main physiological effects in the face of fear carried out by the sympathetic nervous system are:

• Musculature contracts in an attempt to prepare for flight, while causing some general trembling and cramps.
• The number of stomach enzymes decreases considerably to ensure energy savings while causing us to feel nauseous.
• Our heart is racing and blood pressure rises. This causes us to have greater speed in the distribution of oxygen between the muscles. This action can lead to a sensation of rapid heartbeat, tingling in the arms and legs, and an annoying ringing in the ears.
• Lung respiration accelerates considerably to increase the exchange between carbon dioxide and oxygen; This action is what causes this annoying feeling of tightness in the chest.
• Our immune system declines with the intention of preserving energy, which is why we are more exposed to infections.
• The pupils of the eyes dilate and tear fluid decreases to increase visual perception.

Once the danger has passed ...

Once this period has elapsed, if we perceive a solution to the situation, the parasympathetic nervous system is reactivated, which will lead to counteract the actions taken by your confidant:

• The eyes will increase their tear fluid, which will cause an inescapable cry
• The heart will start to beat slower and blood pressure will drop, which can lead to dizziness and fainting.
• Lung respiration will slow down in an attempt to normalize it, leading to an unpleasant choking sensation.
• Bowels and bladder empty to promote, if it is the case, a more accelerated flight, which can lead to suffering from uncontrolled urination.
• Finally, hemuscle tension is suddenly lost, which is why stiffness and laziness arise in the knees.

When the parasympathetic nervous system takes control of our body, it can lead to a situation or state of shock. This set of biochemical responses respond under the name of "Fight or fly", or better known in English as "Fight or flight".

Surely more than one of us have suffered in our own flesh what is known as panic attack. Well, now we know the physiological functioning through which the body acts and the functional responses it emits.

Fear modulating factors

If we decide to get a little deeper into this construct that we call ‘fear’, we will see that its scientific study has been extensive.

The normal fear and the pathological fear based on certain criteria, such as the duration time or the level of interference in daily functioning, among other factors (Miller, Barrett and Hampe, 1974). In order to classify it properly, we must first know the main existing fear factors, that is, its roots and the causes that generate it.

The causes and initiators of fear

The most consistent factors to classify the types of media seem to be, according to the classification offered by Gullon, (2000) the following:

• Social rejection
• Death and danger
• Animals
• Medical treatment
• Psychiatric stress
• The fear of the unknown

Types of fear

By assessing these factors, we could create a classification that discriminates the level of fear affectation in each person and in certain situation, highlighting the types of fear most studied and treated today, we find the following distribution:

• Physical fear
• Social fear
• Metaphysical fear

How do we deal with fear?

First of all, we must learn to naturalize this emotionOtherwise, it can manipulate our lives to the point of becoming a pathological disorder. You must accept the fear of danger and understand its strictest connotations, in this way we will be able to learn to regulate it.

We must think about its main function, since it is a determining impulse to defend ourselves from a danger, only we have to assess whether when this feeling appears we are facing a real danger or an unreal threat crafted pretentiously by our own mind.

This may seem simple but it is highly difficult to manage on many occasions, since fear tends to paralyze us and there is no use trying to rationalize it. Luckily there are psychological therapies that allow influencing the psychological mechanisms that install fear in our mind.

"Fear is my most faithful companion, it has never tricked me into going with another"

-Woody Allen

Bibliographic references:

• Ekman, P. and Davidson, R. J. (1994). The nature of emotions. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Gullone, E. (1996). Developmental psychopathology and normal fear. Behavior Change, 13, 143-155.