There are no people in the world who would not be afraid of anything. Everyone in his life came across an internal sense of anxiety and more than once. But the nature of the strongest negative emotion is not clear to everyone. People ask themselves: what is fear and how to identify its causes. And also try to understand how to get rid of compulsive states caused by the fear of certain things.
Psychology of fear
For centuries, the feeling of fear causes confusion in people. A lot of attention was paid to the problem from both religion and philosophy, painters and sculptors tried to evaluate the state. With the advent of psychology in the 19th century, the phenomenon began to be viewed scientifically. Fear was called the internal state, due to the state of real or imaginary threat. When a person perceives a situation as dangerous, the body gives a signal. Relations to the outside world and phobias are individual, and experts talk about hundreds of their varieties.
Benefit and harm of fear
Psychologists say: although the emotion of fear is negatively colored, in small amounts it can even be useful. And in general to have fears and phobias - it is normal. This does not mean that every person who encounters an insurmountable fear of something must live his whole life under fear. When a phobia became a problem, it must be fought with, but destroying any manifestation of fear means going against nature. Historically, fear of uncertainty protected people from negative external factors.
What is useful fear?
The use of fear consists in its main function: to protect a person from danger (in other words, to include the instinct of self-preservation ). Only at first glance this emotion is useless, but it arose in the process of evolution to protect the individual from surrounding troubles, external factors and threats. The following situations can be named when fear is useful:
- Fear of height saves from falling. Water - from getting into a storm. Darkness - from meeting with robbers and rapists in the evening park.
- Fear of the unknown and inner flair protects against communication with dangerous objects (matches, knives), people and animals.
- With dangerous situations, the hormone serotonin is produced in the brain, which has a positive effect on muscle tone.
- The influx of adrenaline into the blood becomes the reason that a person starts to think and act faster, more cohesively. But not always.
The Harm of Fear
The absence of fear would put humanity on the verge of extinction, but in some cases, it is harmful to be afraid. A sense of threat does not always help a person to act at the limit of his abilities. Another scenario of developments in the dangerous situation is as follows:
- movements are constrained;
- breathing is broken, knocked down;
- a person can not normally think and act normally;
- there are panic attacks.
Types of fears
Depending on the classification, fears can be divided into several groups. For example, Freud shared all the emotions of this kind on real and neurotic, and his colleague - psychologist Kaplan - on pathological and constructive. That is, the first kind really helps a person to survive, these are the so-called biological fears, and the second is the cause of the disease. In scientific circles it is customary to combine phobias into 8 groups:
- Spatial (fear of depth, height, enclosed spaces, etc.).
- Social (people of a certain gender, status, reluctance to change, etc.).
- Fear of death.
- The danger of contracting various diseases.
- Contrast fear - unwillingness to stand out.
- Fear of sex .
- Fear of causing harm to others.
The Russian psychologist Shcherbatykh had his own idea of what kind of fears there are. They are divided into three groups:
- Social - this is a riot about their own well-being and their loved ones, before public opinion, publicity, changes in life, etc.
- Natural, that is, associated with natural phenomena (thunderstorm, storm, etc.).
- Internal, which were "laid" in childhood.
But it will be more accurate to divide all phobias and anxieties into three (four) groups:
- Biological - that is, related to health and life.
- Social - related and changing status in society.
- Existential - internal, which reveals the deep essence of man.
- A separate group is children's fears.
Social fears
Perhaps the most extensive group of fears that are seen in several classifications are social. Their peculiarity is that the objects to which the phobia is directed do not carry a real danger. They can flow from biological fears - as, for example, children's fear of pain from injections takes root and subsequently becomes pathological dislike of people in white coats. With age, the social aspect replaces the biological one. It is accepted to share the fears of people of this kind on the following types:
- fear of submission (before the boss, teacher, etc.);
- fear of failure;
- unwillingness to take responsibility (in the family, team);
- fear of loneliness and inattention;
- fear of rapprochement with others;
- fear of evaluation and conviction.
Biological fears
The very nature is laid to feel a sense of fear and anxiety before phenomena that threaten the life of man and his relatives, for example, predatory and poisonous animals, cataclysms. Such phobias are justified, and the cause of excitement is indeed a danger. More biological fears are characterized by:
- innate - their existence is inherent in the instincts of self-preservation;
- mass distribution - these phobias are common to all people.
Existential fear
The essence of man manifests itself in the third group of phobias: existential. They are caused in deep brain structures, are not always realized by a person and "live" in the subconscious, so it is difficult to treat (if required). They include:
- fear of oneself;
- fear of space (closed, open, height);
- fear of the irrevocability of time, future, death;
- the emergence of anxiety over the unidentified, the riddles of this world.
Childhood fears
A separate category - children's anxiety, transferred to adulthood. This is the main emotion - fear, and it manifests itself in the womb, when the baby reacts to the experiences of the mother. Biological fears (of bright light, loud sounds, etc.) are typical for the first months of life. These are protective mechanisms. But if the propensity for certain phobias is transmitted at the genetic level, it is more likely that children's emotions will grow into social fears of an adult.
How to get rid of fear?
Having a clear idea of what fear is and understanding its causes, a person can try to eradicate them to permanently get rid of compulsive conditions . A detailed analysis of the problem helps to cope with it. There are many proven ways to cure fear. Psychology calls some effective methods:
- Action against anxiety.
- Logical interpretation of the possible consequences of the situation. Maybe nothing to worry about.
- Visualization of a phobia is on paper or in the head.
- Training courage.
If it is a question of social phobia, you can also deal with it step by step. There are several psychological techniques and ways how to overcome the fear of communication:
- new acquaintances and widening of horizons;
- virtual communication, telephone conversations;
- consultation of a psychologist.
Tablets for fear
It is important to understand that such an emotion as fear does not always cause natural causes. If anxiety is caused by neurological and psychological problems, drug treatment helps. Over-the-counter medication for fear can be bought at pharmacies. These include:
- herbs and extracts - valerian, roseola, motherwort;
- homeopathic preparations;
- Dietary supplements;
- nootropic drugs - adaptol, phenibut, pantogam.
Sometimes different drugs can really help to eliminate the excitement, but not for long. For example, for a person who is afraid to fly on an airplane, it is easier to drink a pill before a rare flight than to undergo a long course of psychotherapy. Regular use of antidepressants and stabilizers can reduce feelings of anxiety, but if the root of fear lies deep down, some pills will not help. It is necessary to work on yourself.
The worst method of eliminating anxiety is to freeze or flee from them. With any phobias - secret and explicit, which interfere in life, you need to fight, boldly look into the face of danger and your own weaknesses. It is important to understand that people do not have power over certain things, and be able to tolerate these kinds of fears. For example, do not try to defeat death or avoid all natural disasters. People should listen to the instinct of self-preservation, but not get overwhelmed by their fears.