Research: Fear

Fear is an emotion that is induced by a threat which causes entities, something that exits by itself, to quickly pull away from it and usually hide too. It's described as a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to stimuli such as pain or the threat of danger. In other words, fear is an ability to recognize danger leading to the urge to confront or flee it, also known as the fight or flight response or in extreme cases of fear there's a horror or terror response, a freeze or paralysis response. Some psychologists have suggested that there are a small set of innate emotions and fear falls into this category. Other emotions in this category are joy, sadness, panic, anxiety, acute stress and anger etc.

Fear should be distinguished from anxiety because fear is related to the specific behaviors of escape and avoidance whereas anxiety is the result of threats which are seen to be unavoidable or uncontrollable. Fear almost always relates to future events such as worsening or continuation of a situation. Fear can also be an instant reaction to something presently happening. All people have an instinctual response to potential danger which is important to survival of every species. Fear can be a manipulating and controlling factor in an individuals life.

 

Common Fears And How They Affect Me

 

According to surveys, some of the most common fears are of demons, evil powers, insects, spiders, snakes, heights, water & drowning, small spaces, bridges, social rejection, failure and public speaking. Here is some information on a few other fear that have been proved to be the most common.

• Death: A lot of psychologists have been interested in the fear of death and how it can impact on the life of a person. One of the most interesting theories that they have studied is how the fear of death can influence religious commitments. Top psychologists have stated that those who are most firm to their faith and attend regular religious practices are the ones who are least afraid of dying. Another survey showed that  church-centered religiousness and spiritual seeking are distinct ways of tackling fear with death and old age. Shelly Kagan says that the conditions needed for fear to occur are that the requires something bad to happen and there must be a non negligible chance of the bad things to happen in the mind of the person with the fear. This means that death is a very common fear because everybody has a non negligible chance of dying; it happens to everybody at one point. I would say this is one of  my biggest fears because I don't know when it will happen to me.

• Heights: A fear of heights is also known as Acrophobia and it belongs in a group called specific phobias. Most people experience a slight degree of natural fear when exposed to a height especially if there is no protection, however some people people can be quite confident in these situations. Sufferers of a fear of heights can experience a panic attack in a high place and become too agitated to get themselves down safely. It can be triggered when looking down from a height or by looking straight up at a height.I personally have a fear of heights and I think at it is of the thought of falling from the height. It is a possibility that the actual fear is of death and the fear of heights it a knock on effect from this phobia. My fear has probably developed through me getting older and having more challenges or opportunities to experience heights and I have not learnt to deal with each step and it has gradually got worse and worse.

• Public Speaking: The fear of public speaking is official called Glossophobia, and can also be called speech anxiety. This is just one branch of a collected group of fears called social anxiety disorder. The symptoms of a fear of public speaking are;
-Intense anxiety prior to or at the thought of having to verbally communicate with any group,
-Avoidance of events which focus the group's attention on an individual,
-Physical distress, nausea or feelings of panic in such circumstances.
I think that my fear of public speaking has come from a want to not be embarrassed. Public speaking is an intimidating thing and if you make a mistake it can have long and hard consequences. It has developed over time from getting older and being expected to make presentations to a class or stand in an assembly. Although I would try to avoid public speaking I can not get out of it sometimes so at times my fear can be improved by practice. 

Below is my class work. We had to write down 2-3 of our fears and explain how they came into existence within our lives and how they have developed in time. Rebecca used the green pen, Jack used the blue pen, Jake used purple and I used the orange pen. I have magnified my work and in case my writing can not be read well, I have written what it says.

"Anything that could kill me. The concept of death isn't the worst part of 
knowing we all die, it's not knowing how you will die. This is what scares 
me. This fear has developed by me getting older, and realizing that there
 are hazards everywhere."

"Heights. The idea of being at a level where if you fall you will probably
 die scares me. This has developed as I've got older and you can go to 
greater heights"