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A feeling of fear is often an unreasonable state of panic that interferes with life, preventing a person from realizing himself. What are the causes of fear, and is it possible to cope with it?

Psychology and fear reflexes

Fear is a very strong negative emotion that occurs when there is an imaginary or real danger that poses a threat to a person's life. Fear can be described as an internal state of a person that is caused by a real or perceived disaster.

It has genetic and physiological components that evolved in humans. This is a state that mobilizes the body, allowing it to escape from a certain kind of danger that can threaten life.

In psychology, fear is usually classified as an emotional process. During fear, subcortical limbic structures are mainly activated, which operate in automatic mode. The legendary academician Pavlov called such phenomena “the blind force of the subcortex.” For example, if a person walks through the forest and sees an object that strongly resembles a snake. In this case, the limbic structures will react to it first, which will make the person get scared and jump away. The structure of the subcortical fear centers is more primitive than the structure of the cerebral cortex. Therefore, in such cases, information processing in an emotional state may occur faster, but such processing does not necessarily occur accurately.

Responsible for the development of feelings of fear two neural pathways that operate simultaneously. The first neural pathway is responsible for basic emotions. He reacts to danger very quickly, and the process is accompanied by a large number of errors. The second neural pathway responds to processes much more slowly, but much more accurately, than the first. Thus, the first neural pathway in fear helps us quickly react to danger, but in such cases it often triggers a false alarm. The second way gives us the opportunity to carefully assess the situation and respond to the threat accurately and more balancedly.

When a person feels fear, which is caused by the first neural pathway, the activity of the second pathway is blocked, which evaluates signs of danger as unreal. When a person develops, the second neural pathway begins to work inadequately, which leads to a feeling of fear of factors that pose danger.

What are the causes of fear

A person often faces a feeling of fear. This is a long-term and short-term emotional process that arises as a result of real or imaginary danger. As a rule, this condition is accompanied by unpleasant sensations, which at the same time are a signal for protection, since the main goal that a person faces is the preservation of his own life.

Response to fear represents unconscious or thoughtless actions that are caused by a panic attack or severe anxiety. Depending on the specific situation, the emotion of fear varies greatly among all people in its strength and influence on behavior. If you identify the cause in time, getting rid of negative emotions will be significantly accelerated.

As for the causes of fear, they can be obvious and hidden. Often a person does not remember obvious reasons, and hidden reasons mean fears and fears that have been going on since childhood. For example, strong parental care, the consequences of psychological trauma, temptations, unresolved problems and much more.

In addition to obvious and hidden reasons, there are also so-called cognitively created reasons, such as feelings of rejection, loneliness, depression, a sense of imminent failure, inadequacy and threat to self-esteem. During times of fear, a person develops strong nervous tension, a feeling of uncertainty, and a search for protection, which prompts the person to escape or escape.

Fear manifests itself in the form of a depressed or excited emotional state. With panic fear, as a rule, a depressed state develops. If we are talking about short-term fear caused by some strong factor, then we talk about fear, and long-term and not clearly expressed fear, then it is referred to as anxiety.

For phobias a person experiences frequent and intense experiences. A phobia is a strong, obsessive fear that is associated with a certain situation or object when a person is unable to cope with it on his own.

Hormones of fear

When we experience fear, specific peptide hormones are produced. The most famous of them are adrenaline and norepinephrine. The first causes rapid heartbeat, constriction of blood vessels in the abdominal cavity, muscles, mucous membranes, and also helps to relax the intestinal muscles and dilate the pupils. The main task of adrenaline is to adapt the body to stress. This hormone improves skeletal muscle function. If this hormone acts on the body for a long time, it negatively affects the condition of the heart, muscles and other organs and systems of the body.

As for norepinephrine, it is both a hormone and a neurotransmitter, whose levels increase in stress, shock and other similar conditions. The action of norepinephrine constricts blood vessels and increases blood pressure. Norepinephrine has a shorter duration of action than adrenaline. Both of these hormones contribute to the appearance of tremors. Epinephrine and norepinephrine are released by the adrenal glands when exposed to corticotropin, which is released by the hypothalamus.

Haste is not far from fear, while slowness is closer to true perseverance.

Types of fears

There are different classifications of fears, according to one of them, all types of fears can be divided into three large groups:

1. Biological fears. This is fear that is directly related to a threat to human life.
2. Social fears. This type of fear is associated with fears and fears in social status. All social fears are associated with situations that can undermine a person’s social status, in particular, lower his self-esteem. These include, for example, fear of public speaking, social contacts and a sense of responsibility.
3. Existential fears. They are associated with the human intellect and are caused by certain reflections on the topic of death, fear of time, the meaninglessness of existence and a number of other existential aspects of human life.

There are also fears that are intermediate in nature, that is, they can be classified into different groups. For example, fear of illness. On the one hand, this is a biological type of fear, because the disease is associated with pain and suffering. On the other hand, the disease also undermines a person’s social status. In general, in each type of fear all three components are noted, but one of them dominates.

Getting rid of fears and phobias- a rather complex and time-consuming process, but the good news is that every person is able to cope with it. Overcoming fears will allow you to achieve your goals, fulfill your dreams, achieve success and realize yourself in all areas of life. The main thing here is to develop the habit of actively acting and not paying attention to the fear that arises in the process of overcoming fear. You must understand that in this case, fear is only a reaction that arises in response to your efforts.

The feeling of fear arises from trying to do something contrary to one’s beliefs and fears. You must understand that you should step over fear, because over the years of your life you have already formed your own worldview and circumstances that keep you on a chain, not letting you go into a free life without fears and suffering.

The very first step towards overcoming fears and phobias is to admit it to yourself. Say: “Yes, I’m very scared.” Understand that there is no shame in this. Every person has the right to be afraid of something. Do not fight your fear under any circumstances, accept it, humble yourself and move towards it.

After you accept your problem, it's time to consult a psychotherapist. A famous psychiatrist speaks about the intricacies of treating fears and phobias.

Psychiatrist, psychotherapist, medical psychologist, member of the Alumni Association of Harvard Medical School, head of the Supervisory Board of the international charitable organization “Mental Health Initiative”

To eliminate phobias and feelings of increased anxiety, combined treatment is used: medication and psychotherapy.

There are several approaches. First, you need to accurately determine the causes of the disorder and establish a diagnosis. As a rule, a patient with increased anxiety also has a number of other mental pathologies. Often this is a depressive or obsessive state. A person with such disorders tends to observe rituals, perform certain actions that he believes will save him from the source of fear.

In his book, Luciano Pavarotti admitted to the whole world that he experienced stage anxiety! However, how did he manage to so easily control his voice perfectly in a place that was intimidating? It turns out that before each appearance on stage, Pavarotti performed a ritual: he “put” on a nail a photograph of his first teacher, who prophesied the famous tenor a complete fiasco in the singing Olympus, and spat on it. This is how Pavarotti compensated for his fear, and he believed that after what had been done everything would be fine, there was nothing to be afraid of.

- Any human mood is determined by several substances: serotonin, dopamine, adrenaline... Having their normal balance means the ability to adapt to living conditions without increased anxiety. If a failure occurs, violations are possible. Thus, a large amount of adrenaline entering the blood during severe fear leads a person to panic.

Undoubtedly, When you're scared, adrenaline rushes are normal., and in such situations the body “screams” to us: fight or run! For example, if an angry bull runs at you, you will be very surprised at your athletic talents, since your brain will give you the command to “run”, and very quickly. However, this is an exceptional case in life, and unless you are a matador, you do not have to deal with bulls every day.

Now imagine a person living in a metropolis who has a fear of red cars. Any car of this color will be like an angry bull for him, and the brain will again order: run, run...! The pulse quickens, it becomes more difficult to breathe and the person breaks out in a sweat from intense excitement. Therefore, drugs are used to suppress panic, so that a person can avoid those terrible consequences when encountering an anxiety factor. However, pills cannot eradicate the causes. In order to completely eliminate the problem, psychotherapy is necessary, which consists of cognitive behavioral therapy, with the help of which a person’s attitude towards the source of fear changes. Negative attitudes in the thought process are eliminated. As a rule, strong negative thoughts and terrible “pictures” arise suddenly. It is their appearance that gives rise to fears.

My task as a psychotherapist is to isolate a negative thought and eliminate it from a person’s thinking apparatus. Thus, the patient begins to gradually change his attitude towards the source of fear, since the logic of his reasoning takes on a different, safe trajectory.

In an already healthy person, many restrictions are removed and a qualitatively new worldview arises. Imagine a patient who has been cured of nosophobia (obsessive fear of a serious illness). He will no longer donate blood every week in search of tumor markers, or fall asleep at night with the fear of dying from. A person literally experiences a “new birth”, since now he can think about a career, family, and a good future.

Man is an undeniably intelligent creature, clearly aware of his own actions, but certain reactions of his body cannot be controlled, or considerable effort must be expended to achieve this. In particular, in moments of panic, when, by force of circumstances, a person finds himself in a frighteningly difficult situation, his actions are often devoid of logic - harmless things become a source of negative emotions, the body trembles and weakens, control over thought processes is lost, as, indeed, over any emotions .

As a result, you have to think about how to cope with the phobia and pacify the uncontrollable fear. Some fears are harmless, others can turn into an unbearable burden, since they become an obstacle to social life, communication, work activity, and prevent you from enjoying pleasant little things. The fight against phobias in an advanced form is quite difficult, but quite real - clinics and psychological centers are created for this purpose.

Phobias cannot be ignored, but must be treated correctly

Before you think about how to get rid of a phobia, you need to be sure of its presence - first you need to distinguish such phenomena from the fear of certain events and things inherent in any person. There are four factors that help recognize uncontrollable fear:

1. Significant intensity attached to certain objects, thoughts or circumstances.
2. Stability, since the nature of the phenomenon under consideration is constant, it does not go away on its own.
3. Unreasonableness is when uncontrollable fear arises without basis as a result of certain expectations.
4. Life restrictions - ordinary fear can be overcome, but an uncontrolled reaction forces a person to avoid participating in certain events and situations with all his might.

A number of signs indicate that treatment of fears and phobias is required:

1. Exaggerated fear, panic at the sight of a certain object or in the event of a special situation.
2. Uncontrollable trembling, rapid heartbeat, increased sweating, dry mouth, possible feeling of nausea and dizziness.
3. There is mental retardation and the impossibility of constructing a logically verified action plan.
4. An uncontrollable desire appears to run away as far as possible, to hide securely.
5. After what you have seen or experienced, you feel weak, have nightmares and become paranoid.

Despite the fact that psychiatrists say that a complete logical explanation of fear is impossible, this statement can be disputed, since there are many methods to get rid of a phobia, which requires understanding the root cause of its occurrence. There are many types of fears - a person can be afraid of spiders, sharp objects, water, open spaces and other things. However, there are the most common causes of uncontrollable fear, these include:

1. Fear of closed spaces – claustrophobia. The phenomenon may be accompanied by strong rapid heartbeat, chest pain and dizziness.
2. If you have a fear of heights, they talk about acrophobia, in this state a person experiences a real panic attack and is unable to think normally.
3. At social phobia a person experiences panic when it is necessary to perform public actions. In general, about 13% of the planet's inhabitants suffer from this type of pathology.
4. At zoophobia a person is afraid of certain animals, and the phenomenon can be a consequence of negative communication experiences or transmitted from other people.

Because of acrophobia, a person behaves inappropriately when he is at a height

The danger of the condition and the possibilities of modern therapy

Now let's talk about whether treatment for phobias is required, how necessary professional intervention is, and how to get rid of phobias and fears on your own.
Considering that panic states, even those that do not occur too often, have a negative impact on the quality of life, it is necessary to ask the question of how to cure a phobia, especially since today there are many techniques that allow you to cope with this condition. The effectiveness of therapy is high both in the case of professional intervention and in self-medication, subject to the basic rule - there must be a willingness to analyze the underlying factors that provoked the development of fear and a sincere desire to eliminate it from one’s own life. When approaching the problem, specialists use a specific scheme on how to get rid of phobias, fear and panic states:

1. First stage– a clear definition of the phenomenon that causes fear and worsens physical condition.
2. Second phase– work with the very cause of fear, while professionals at this stage use hypnosis and psychotherapy techniques. Conducting special sessions helps the patient to realize and accept his fears, and allows him not to lose constructive thinking in the event of a critical situation.
3. Third stage how to treat phobias - controlling fears in practice and the ability to make the right decisions without the desire to escape from reality.

It should be noted that when deciding how to treat phobias in adults, a specialist can use pharmaceutical drugs that help relieve nervous tension and reduce the occurrence of panic attacks. However, such drugs are quite dangerous to health, their use is fraught with the risk of developing pharmacological dependence, and therefore it is undesirable to get carried away with them.

Getting rid of the problem yourself

When considering how to deal with phobias and fears on your own, the most common opinion is that treatment should be handled exclusively by a professional. However, this approach is incorrect - in the case when the patient is determined to have a successful outcome and believes in himself, it is possible not only to reduce the manifestations of panic fears, but also to completely get rid of them.

Phobias need to be treated by a psychotherapist

In many ways, an independent approach to how to deal with fears and phobias resembles the approach of a professional psychotherapist, excluding the technique of hypnosis. First of all, you need to ask yourself what exactly is the source of panic fear - not justified fear, but a feeling that cannot be controlled. After all, fear in the usual sense is a natural instinct of self-preservation characteristic of any living creature.

After determining the source of the problem, you should master the basic method, which will allow you to treat phobias and fears yourself. We are talking about desensitization, which is the ability to relax precisely at the moment when panic begins to manifest itself. Now about how to use it - first you need to completely relax and realize your fear by determining the answers to two important questions. How bad and scary is it really? Is it possible that the victim is exaggerating the danger?

When considering phobias and how to combat them on your own, relaxation deserves special attention. The desired position is horizontal, after which the auto-training session begins. To achieve the desired effect, a voice recording can be used, turned on if necessary. This kind of sessions needs to be carried out not only during panic attacks, but also in a calm state, when there is no source of fear, which in the future will allow you to more quickly achieve the required state.

A very important aspect is proper breathing, which helps restore psychological balance and reduce heart rate and pulse rate. During the relaxation process, it is recommended to listen to your own breathing, while fully surrendering to the physical sensations, which will speed up the procedure and achieve a more complete effect.

To summarize the above, we can distinguish six stages on how to deal with phobias on your own:

• analysis of the source of unreasonable fear;
• awareness of fear and its acceptance;
• a gradual decrease in the strength of the manifested fear;
• the ability to relax in a critical situation;
• restoration of breathing;
• restoration of psychological balance through auto-training.

Effective techniques to combat pathology

There are special techniques that allow you to cope with far-fetched pathological fear.

Breathing exercises help fight phobias

Let's look at the most effective ways to get rid of a phobia yourself using the following techniques:

1. Turning off negative thinking, which allows you to cope with fixation on negative aspects, suggests using the “electric switch” technique. Your own fear is represented in the form of a relay that turns off with one jerk downwards - you should imagine this process as clearly as possible in all the details.
2. You get rid of fear with the help of breathing - inhaling gives courage to the body, exhaling eliminates panic. In this case, after inhalation there is a slight delay, but exhalation should take twice as long as inhalation.
3. It is necessary to do exactly what causes panic - in this case, a “drive” arises, a special energy that can help to realize oneself. If, for example, a person has social phobia and fear of public speaking, it should be done at every opportunity.
4. The principle of “knocking out wedge with wedge” suggests the use of a technique based on the independent invocation of physiological reactions corresponding to the phobia - rapid heartbeat and intermittent breathing. This approach destroys the integrity of the fear response, resulting in the possibility of awareness and taking control of emotions.
5. The technique of “playing a theatrical role” allows you to overcome subconscious attitudes - you need to portray a confident person, deliberately straightening your shoulders, taking on an imperial posture with your chin held high. A slight smile is also necessary - it is enough to stay in this state for just a few seconds so that the brain can respond to the body’s reactions and eliminate fear.

Consolidating the effect obtained

In order to prevent the panic state from returning, constant work on your own personality and self-esteem will be required.

Focusing on the positive is the best prevention of phobias

For this, there is also a certain scheme of actions that should be followed in order to get the maximum positive effect:

• all victories, even the most insignificant ones, must be recorded;
• failures are carefully analyzed in order to be able to write the next script that will be aimed at success;
• it is necessary to create your own support by building support in the form of faith in science or in higher powers - the main goal is to gain confidence in a successful outcome when using your own capabilities to the maximum;
• a person should be focused on the positive; one can rely on the love of loved ones, a friendly attitude towards others and the perception of a reciprocal disposition.

Many studies say that women are more susceptible to fears and phobias than men. And this is natural, because women react with feelings to various kinds of “bad things”.

We, women, worry and worry about our children, about our loved ones, and thereby give them a signal - " I love you, you are important and valuable to me".

However, fear often becomes obsessive, irrational, and causes more problems than benefits. When fear itself already causes the fear of “thinking up”, “materializing thoughts”.

Of course, in such a situation it is better to seek help from a specialist, but you can also begin to understand what is happening on your own. Let's find out what fear is, how and when it arises, and how you can cope with it.

Fear is part of our life, part of our reality. A person can experience fear in a variety of situations, but they all have one thing in common. They are felt and perceived by a person as situations in which his peace or safety is threatened.

Causes and conditions for the appearance of fear

Fear doesn’t just appear out of nowhere; there can be many reasons, mechanisms and conditions for their occurrence as well:

• fear can appear when a person, for some reason, loses confidence in himself, in the future, and loses a sense of security;
• the peculiarity of the existence of emotions is due to the fact that emotions and feelings are “friends” with each other, and any emotion can activate fear according to the principle of emotional contagion;
• according to some researchers, fear and arousal may have similar neurophysiological mechanisms, which means that a person can call some feeling/state fear, while “it” is not such;
• fear can be triggered through cognitive processes when we remember something scary, mentally imagine a threatening situation, fantasize about how an object or situation can be threatening to us. Cognitive processes often reflect not a real threat, but a fictitious one;
• fear can be activated by experiencing pain, both physical and psychological, in a similar situation. That is, as soon as a situation or event or object begins to remind us of the experience of pain, fear may appear, which forces us to change the situation, to avoid it;
• we can be taught (by family, society) to experience fear in certain situations (for example, fear for a child is a reflection of maternal care and love, this was accepted in the family and as soon as a woman becomes a mother, she acts as she was taught).

And, probably, such a list can be continued indefinitely, dividing these causal factors into many small ones and clarifying their background. These conditions for the appearance of fear can be grouped:

1 group: when fear arises against the background of a real situation - pain, loss (security, confidence). This could be the loss of a loved one (death, divorce, illness), a stressful situation in which doubts about self-confidence arose (dismissal, conflict);

Group 2: when fear arises “thanks to” or “instead of” other emotions (instead of anger, care or love; due to excitement, interest, joy);

Group 3: when fear arises thanks to our memories, fantasies, ideas, that is, the real situation is long in the past or did not exist at all, everything else is completed by our imagination;

Group 4: when we were taught fear in society, in the family, and this fear “sleeps” for some time until a situation arises in which we “need” to be afraid.

“Oh-oh-oh mommy!”, or How we experience fear

Fear is a very strong emotion, and when it arises, we focus on the situation or object that poses a threat to us. Our consciousness becomes a “tunnel”, all energy is directed only there, all free time thoughts are devoted only to this.

As Izard says, in fear a person ceases to belong to himself, he is driven by one single desire - to eliminate the threat and avoid danger.

And such an experience of fear is justified when the threat is truly real, then all forces and energy are aimed precisely at eliminating the danger. When in a situation of threat there is no way to avoid it, the phenomenon of delayed fear may appear.

However, when there is no real threat, and all human nature is directed into this fear, experiencing it, then fear gradually becomes “the best worst friend.” Fear becomes stronger and stronger, draws energy upon itself, and begins to frighten itself. And this turns into a vicious circle.

“Help me, my heart is dying...”, or How to cope with fears

It is definitely worth recognizing that fear exists, and fear has its own useful functions that it performs. In any situation, be it fear of a real threat or fear close to obsession, for some reason you need it, for some reason it is important to you.

Try to acknowledge this first. And, therefore, understand why it is important to you, what role it plays in your life, what function.

The task of understanding “why I need fear” is not an easy one. Because, as a rule, people try to “excuse themselves” - like “what nonsense, I don’t need him.” This is what stops the work in the direction of living fear.

Since, in fact, the psyche, with the help of fear, copes with something, only with what - it remains under a thick, thick film of the unconscious. And the more a person tries to understand and feel what the function of fear is, the greater the likelihood that “sim-sim will open up.”

Each of us has experienced a feeling of fear in real life or in our imagination. This state is always accompanied by negative emotions. What fear is, what are the reasons for its occurrence and how to cope with it will be discussed in this article.

What is fear?

Fear is an emotionally charged short-term emotion or a relatively long-term mental state, a feeling of internal tension generated by the experience of real or imaginary (expected) danger.

Fear is based on the natural instinct of self-preservation and is protective in nature. It is fear that forces a person to protect himself from present danger and warn about future danger. Fear can put a person into a stupor, make him think irrationally or, conversely, concentrate and choose an unexpected and correct decision.

At the mental level, it is accompanied by restlessness, anxiety, low mood, and at the physiological level - increased heart rate and breathing, increased blood pressure, decreased voice, sweating, weakness, etc.

If fear is short-term and disappears after the danger has receded, it can protect and not cause harm to health. This is a natural reaction of our body to an external stimulus. If fear accompanies a person for a long time, interferes with life, depresses, becomes obsessive - this is already a pathological fear, which is almost impossible to get rid of without a psychotherapist.

The reasons for the appearance of fear are both common and different for everyone. Often they lie in childhood. If a child was raised in an authoritarian, overprotective family, where there was always a threat for failing to complete a task or falling from a swing, where parents were dominant or overprotective, then this influenced the formation of a future personality and attitude to life. Or raising a child in dysfunctional and conflicting families.

The causes of fear may be related to past illnesses or those present at the moment. The reasons are also hidden in critical or crisis situations experienced by a person.

Whatever the reasons for fear, a person always experiences discomfort. But the experience of fear is always individual and depends on the personal characteristics of each person.

"Fear has big eyes" , says popular wisdom. We cannot help but experience a feeling of fear, short-term or long-term, it goes with us through life. And life itself has been presenting us with such surprises lately that we cannot do without this strong emotion. How to overcome fear?

– If this fear is pathological, then you can fight it only with a specialist using psychotherapeutic methods individually.

– A person is able to overcome ordinary fear on his own. It's important to realize that Everyone has a feeling of fear , and this does not characterize a person as weak and cowardly. If someone tells you that they are not afraid of anything, then this is either bragging or a “diagnosis”.

– You don’t need to constantly replay your “terrible” situation in your head, by doing this you fill your subconscious with negative information, set a program, consciousness and logic give in and it turns out, “the further into the forest, the angrier the wolves.”

“Any fear needs to be analyzed and questions asked: “What exactly am I afraid of?” Why? Is there enough reason for my fear? What is more important: to overcome fear and act or to continue to be afraid? What result awaits me? When you analyze the situation, fear will not seem so “scary”.

– You can use the method of self-hypnosis (“I’m scared, but I can cope”), scroll through the scenario of your actions in your head, after defeating the fear in your head, it will be easier for you to cope in reality.

– Draw an image of your fear on a piece of paper, look carefully and say: “You disgust me, and I say goodbye to you forever!” – tear the sheet into small pieces and throw away or burn.

– in oneself, understated – the best friends of fear. Until you improve your self-esteem, fear will accompany most life situations. Personal self-esteem is the best defense against fear. Practice shows that people with high self-esteem are less susceptible to feelings of fear.

– I’ll give you a few examples of wise sayings, perhaps this will help you rethink your attitude towards fear:

The fear of danger is ten thousand times worse than danger itself (D. Defoe).
There is nothing worse than fear itself (F. Bacon).
Fear tends to exaggerate the true meaning of a fact (V. Hugo).
To be a slave to fear is the worst kind of slavery (B. Shaw).
Fear makes the smart stupid and the strong weak (F. Cooper).

– Experience more (by reading jokes, watching comedies and comedy shows, attending concerts...) – this will improve your mood, shift your attention from the irritant, and give you strength. Negative emotions only make the situation worse and help destroy you from the inside.

It is clear that we often depend on circumstances, but attitude to circumstances depends only on us ! In order to prevent fear from taking over us and distorting our lives, we need to reconsider our attitude towards this natural and unpleasant reaction of our body.