"How does fear become so powerful? We can't see it. We can't touch it, yet it gets its claws in us and begins to control us."- Gena Showalter, YA author
In my last blog post, I talked about how fear shows up in our lives in ways we don't always recognize. Anger, apathy, the need to control and sometimes, even sadness are all ways that fear appears.
But why are we so fearful? What is it exactly that prevents us from doing the things we want to do? And how can fear be harmful to us?
To be better equipped to address our fears, I think it's helpful to understand where it comes from, why we have it, and how it can have an immense impact on how we live. Let's look at these questions, and then the next blog post will talk about what we can do about it.
First off: What is fear?
At its most basic, fear is an emotional survival response to a threat. That response shows up for us in mental and physical ways. Mentally, parts of our brain shut down and our judgment can become impaired. Physically, our heart rate increases, our breathing gets shallow, we sweat and our hands might tremble.
Because we feel threatened, our system wants us to be able to respond. Our brain tells our body to send blood from our heart to our limbs, so we are ready to fight or flee. The threat can be real or imagined, but in either case, our body responds the same.
Next: Where does fear come from?
There are lots of ideas about where it comes from, but a prevailing thought is that fear is a combination of our evolution and our experiences.
Evolutionary-speaking, when we were still living in our caves and tribes, fear was necessary to alert us to danger. With many predators around, we needed to be able to respond quickly. Though we have evolved from the days of wooly mammoths and saber-toothed tigers, our biology is still wired to perceive threats.
Fears can also develop from our experiences. Get bitten by a dog, say, and you may be scared of them from then on.
These are just a couple theories about where fear comes from. There are a lot more studies about fear's origins from Scientific American, National Institutes of Health, and Harvard Medical School.
Finally, how does fear affect us?
Fear is a protective mechanism. When we feel fear, we can react to whatever is causing it. We can steer clear when we hear the menacing sound of a rattlesnake's tail, for example. But when fear becomes dominant or chronic, it can hinder us from living fully.
Anxiety, phobias and other fear-based dysfunction can severely limit us in mental, physical and spiritual ways, like:
Preventing us from doing things we love, like traveling because we have anxiety around leaving the house or we catastrophize what may happen when things come up we can't control. I have experienced both of those responses, and there have been instances where they definitely limited me. Many times, I've second-guessed a trip I want to take, to the point of foregoing it or canceling my plans.
Causing physical health problems, like eating disorders, sleep disruption, and a weakened immune system. Horror movies scare me, so when I catch a glimpse of one, my imagined fears can keep me up for hours at a time, or even affect my sleep for several days.
Isolating us from others by withdrawing, or enabling loss of connection due to mood swings or an inability to feel and empathize with others. If we fear rejection from someone, we might withhold love, or we reject those who reach out to us, thus generating a vicious cycle of greater fear and even more reclusion.
Lessening our connection to God/Source/the Universe et al., and feelings of despair, bitterness or disgust toward said entity. Perhaps we fear that Source doesn't love us, or that we've done something God won't forgive us for. So we turn our back on our spirituality, creating more disconnection.
Like the quote above suggests, we can't see or touch it, but fear is powerful and can have a severe impact on our lives. So when we start noticing that fear is limiting us, we can also start to address it.
Next blog post, we'll get into some tips to help us manage and work through our fears. Talk with you then!
Comments